Jugan MC, Plattner BL, Ford AK, Freilich L, Bieberly Z, Schermerhorn T. Plasma glucagon-like peptide-2 in cats with chronic enteropathies. J Feline Med Surg. 2025 Jan;27(1):1098612X241305923. doi: 10.1177/1098612X241305923. PMID: 39840661; PMCID: PMC11755514. An EveryCat-funded study
The diagnosis of chronic enteropathies (CE) in cats can be challenging as most diagnostic tests are unable to accurately capture the severity of gastrointestinal (GI) disease. An EveryCat Health Foundation funded study performed at Kansas State University investigated the utility of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) as a non-invasive biomarker for feline GI disease. GLP-2 is a gastrointestinal hormone that assists in the maintenance of normal intestinal function and structure. In dogs and humans with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), altered GLP-2 concentrations have been demonstrated in uncontrolled GI disease conditions. This first-of-a-kind prospective peer-reviewed study compared blood GLP-2 concentrations in feline patients with chronic inflammatory disease or low-grade gastrointestinal lymphoma and healthy controls.
Nineteen adult cats were enrolled with uncontrolled GI disease clinical signs of > 4 weeks, upper and lower GI endoscopic biopsy diagnoses, and extra-GI causes of disease ruled out. Exclusions included cobalamin, probiotic, or steroid administration within the last 4 weeks of enrollment. Ten of 19 cats were diagnosed with low-grade alimentary lymphoma (LGAL) and the other nine were diagnosed with chronic idiopathic inflammatory enteropathies (CIE). Six healthy adult cats with a lack of GI signs, stable weight within the prior 6 months, and normal examinations and blood profiles composed the control group.
Fasted and 30-minute post-meal plasma GLP-2 concentrations were measured with a commercial ELISA test kit during the enrollment process and repeated 30 days later in cats with CIE after therapy was introduced. There was no significant difference in fasted GLP-2 concentrations among healthy, CIE, or LGAL patients at enrollment. At the 30 days recheck time point for the CIE group, there was also no significant difference in concentrations.
The investigators felt the results of this study were unexpected as differences in GLP-2 concentrations have been described in dogs and humans with GI disease conditions. Possible reasons for these non-significant results include enrolling some patients with low grade histopathologic scores, undetermined pancreatitis status in the majority of patients, and the possibility that GLP-2 secretion is not altered in feline CE.
In conclusion, future studies evaluating a larger population of feline patients with varying subsets of CE as well as different analytical methods to measure GLP-2 needs to be undertaken to determine if GLP-2 is a viable biomarker for gastrointestinal disease. ~BP
For further reading:
Marsilio, S., Freiche, V., Johnson, E., Leo, C., Langerak, A. W., Peters, I., & Ackermann, M. R. (2023). ACVIM consensus statement guidelines on diagnosing and distinguishing low‐grade neoplastic from inflammatory lymphocytic chronic enteropathies in cats. Journal of veterinary internal medicine, 37(3), doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16690
Riehm MD, Mayhue EJ, Jugan MC. Plasma glucagon-like peptide-2 concentrations are lower in dogs with chronic enteropathies than in healthy dogs. Am J Vet Res. 2023 Sep 5;84(11):ajvr.23.06.0149. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.23.06.0149. PMID: 37657734; PMCID: PMC10840783.