Abstract：
Renal disease is often identified as a cause of morbidity and mortality in avian patients. However, currently, early antemortem detection of renal disease in avian patients is difficult. Anatomical and physiological differences between mammals and birds mean the use of commonly employed diagnostic testing (ie, measurement of blood urea nitrogen [BUN] and serum creatinine, urinalysis, and ultrasonography) are either nondiagnostic or difficult to achieve. Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) is considered a more sensitive marker for renal disease in humans, dogs, and cats. However, SDMA has not yet been assessed for diagnostic use in any psittacine species. In this study, we establish reference ranges for SDMA in both Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis, HAP) and Quaker parrots (Myiopsitta monachus, QP). Blood was collected from 23 Amazon parrots and 32 Quaker parrots maintained in research facilities. Measurement of SDMA through a commercially available immunoassay (IA-SDMA) as well as creatinine, BUN, uric acid, phosphorus, calcium, sodium, potassium, and chloride were determined through IDEXX Laboratories. Plasma SDMA concentrations ranged from 6 to 15 µg/dL and 3 to 15 µg/dL for the HAP and QP, respectively. Sex was a confounding factor for the QP population, but sex did not have a significant effect on SDMA for the HAP population. No significant correlations were identified between SDMA concentrations and other parameters in either psittacine species. Our results show proof of concept for the IA-SDMA and provide reference intervals for SDMA in HAP and QP. Further investigation is required to determine the validity of this assay and the predictive power of SDMA in the detection of renal impairment for parrots and other common companion birds.
摘要：
肾脏疾病通常被认为是禽类患者发病和死亡的原因。然而,目前,在禽类患者中早期发现肾脏疾病是困难的。哺乳动物和鸟类之间的解剖学和生理学差异意味着使用常用的诊断测试（即，血尿素氮[BUN]和血清肌酐的测量，尿液分析,和超声检查）要么无法诊断，要么难以实现。对称二甲基精氨酸（SDMA）被认为是人类肾脏疾病的更敏感标志物，狗,和猫。然而,SDMA尚未被评估为在任何鹦鹉素物种中的诊断用途。在这项研究中,我们在两个西班牙裔亚马逊鹦鹉(亚马逊腹侧，HAP）和贵格会鹦鹉（Myiopsittamonachus，QP）。从研究机构中保存的23只亚马逊鹦鹉和32只Quaker鹦鹉中收集了血液。通过市售免疫测定（IA-SDMA）以及肌酐测量SDMA，BUN,尿酸,磷，钙，钠,钾，和氯化物通过IDEXX实验室测定。HAP和QP的血浆SDMA浓度范围为6至15µg/dL和3至15µg/dL，分别。性别是QP人群的混杂因素，但是性别对HAP人群的SDMA没有显着影响。在两种psittacine物种中，SDMA浓度与其他参数之间均未发现显着相关性。我们的结果显示了IA-SDMA的概念证明，并为HAP和QP中的SDMA提供了参考间隔。需要进一步研究以确定该测定法的有效性以及SDMA在检测鹦鹉和其他常见伴侣鸟类的肾功能损害中的预测能力。
