Systolic blood pressure measurement and prevalence of proteinuria in diabetic cats

ABSTRACT. Moura M.P., Corgozinho K.B., Cavalcanti J.V.J., Souza H.J.M., Castro M.C.N. & Ferreira A.M.R. [Systolic blood pressure measurement and prevalence of proteinuria in diabetic cats.] Avaliação da pressão arterial sistólica não invasiva e do grau de proteinúria em gatos domésticos diabéticos. Revista Brasileira de Medicina Veterinária 37(4):334-338, 2015. Setor de Clínica e Patologia Veterinária, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rua Vital Brasil, 64, Niterói, RJ 24230-340, Brazil. E-mail: marivuff@yahoo.com.br Diabetes mellitus is the second most common endocrinopathy in cats. Hypertension is a common finding in human diabetic patients, but it has not been properly studied in diabetic animals. It is known that early diagnosis of hypertension in human diabetic patients can provide longer survival time, better disease control and decrease in nephropathy frequency. The objective of this study was to evaluate systolic blood pressure and proteinuria in diabetic cats, independently of disease control state or treatment. Seventeen diabetic cats without concurrent disease were studied, regardless of age, breed, sex. Diagnostic tests included determination of complete blood count, biochemistry profile, serum total thyroxine and serum fructosamine. Urine samples were collected by cystocentesis from all the cats in the study. The same urine sample was used for the urinalysis, urine culture and urine protein-creatinine (UPC) ratio. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured indirectly using Ultrasonic Doppler. The final SBP values used in this study were the mean of five successive measurements over a five to ten minutes period. The overweight and obesity were the most frequent scores in these cats. Proteinuria defined by a UPC > 0.4 was present in five diabetic cats (35.7%). The fructosamine had significant and positive correlation (r = 0.53, p = 0.02) with systolic blood pressure, indicating that higher systolic blood pressures occur when there is a poor glycemic control. Diabetic patients had mild (58,4%) to moderate (23,5%) risk of target organ damage development. Based on these results, it is recommended that systolic blood pressure must be early assessed in feline diabetic patients, in order to prevent target organ damage such as eyes, heart, brain and kidneys due to proteinuria and hypertension