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Abbreviations:
Hyc
MMA
MTHFR
FIGLU
homocysteine
methylmalonic acid
methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase
formiminoglutamic acid
Study Design
A prospective, observational study design was used. At the
time of study enrollment, all cats were required to be clinically
and biochemically hyperthyroid. After their initial evaluation the
cats were treated with subcutaneous radioiodine (ie, I 131) using
a standard treatment algorithm, with dosage based on the severity of the cats clinical signs, size of the goiter, and serum total
T4 concentration.21 Cats were reevaluated 60 days after radioiodine treatment, when 95% of cats are euthyroid using this protocol.21 During the 60 days observation period, cats were
maintained on the same diet they were eating at the time of
study enrollment. Data collected at the time of recruitment and
at the 60 day reevaluation included age, breed, sex, spay/neuter
status, medical history pertaining to hyperthyroidism and gastrointestinal (GI) disease, current diet, body weight, current drug
therapies, and any concurrent conditions. A physical examination and body condition score (scale 19) were performed in all
cats by a single clinician (BG). In addition, an illustrated fecal
scoring charta was used by the owner to subjectively score their
cats stool quality. Each cat was assigned a whole number value
between 1 (i.e. very hard) to 7 (watery) based a visual comparison.
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Statistical Analysis
An a priori power calculation was used to determine our target
enrollment of 30 hyperthyroid cats and was based on the previously reported prevalence of low cobalamin in hyperthyroid cats12
and the anticipated prevalence of high serum MMA concentrations if hypocobalaminemic.11 The enrollment of 30 cats provided
>95% power to detect a signicant dierence between serum
cobalamin and MMA concentrations in hyperthyroid cats.
Descriptive statistics were used to dene baseline characteristics
(age, body weight, and clinicopathological values) of the hyperthyroid cat population and values were compared before and after
radioiodine treatment using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The prevalence of hyperthyroid cats with a serum cobalamin concentration
<290 ng/L and MMA concentration >867 nmol/L before radioiodine treatment was calculated. Serum cobalamin and MMA concentrations were compared in hyperthyroid cats before treatment
and after restoration of a euthyroid state using Wilcoxon signedrank test. Cats in which the hyperthyroid state persisted at the 60day recheck were excluded from the after treatment analysis. In
cats with clinical and biochemical hyperthyroidism, clinical scores
(body condition score, body weight, and fecal score) were evaluated for correlation with serum cobalamin concentrations using a
Spearman rho correlation. Statistical calculations were performed
with a commercial software package.b All values are reported as
median and ranges. Statistical signicance was set at P < .05.
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Results
Study Population
During the active enrollment period, a total of 69
hyperthyroid cats were evaluated and treated with
radioiodine treatment with a total of 39 cats enrolled
into the study (Fig 1). Demographics, clinical scores
(body weight, BCS, fecal score), and results of selected
diagnostics of the hyperthyroid cats at enrollment and
60 days after radioiodine treatment are summarized in
Tables 1 and 2. After radioiodine treatment and return
to the euthyroid state there were signicant increases in
body weight, BCS, and folate concentrations and a
decrease in total T4 concentrations. There was no signicant change in the cats cobalamin concentrations or
fecal scores after radioiodine treatment.
Table 1. Signalment and clinical scores of the hyperthyroid cats at study enrollment and after radioiodine
treatment (60 days). All values reported as median and
ranges.
Study
Enrollment
(n = 39)
After I131
(60 days)
(n = 29)
Cats
Breeds
DSH/DLH/DMH
Other
Sex (FS/MC)
Age (years)
12/8/5
1 Siamese
19/20
13.5 (7.518)
19/6/3
1 Siamese
16/13
13.5 (7.517.5)
N/A
0.77
Clinical Scores
Body weight (kg)
BCS (19)
Fecal score (17)
3.7 (2.35.7)
4 (28)
2 (27)
4.5 (2.97.1)
5 (38)
2 (26)
0.0058
0.0087
0.64
P-value
N/A
Discussion
In this well-characterized population of hyperthyroid
cats the prevalence of hypocobalaminemia was low
(13%), and none of the cats with low cobalamin had a
concurrent increase in MMA concentrations. Half of the
hyperthyroid/hypocobalaminemic cats had a signicant
increase in their cobalamin concentrations once euthyroid. The results of this study suggest that hyperthyroid
cats with a concurrent hypocobalaminemia do not experience a functional cobalamin deciency or altered
cobalamin concentration at the cellular level. In addition, there was no correlation between serum cobalamin
and T4 concentrations or clinical score further supporting that a low serum cobalamin in some hyperthyroid
cats is not clinically important. Two cats had
Fig 1. The progression of study events for all cats evaluated and enrolled over the 60 day observation period of the study.
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Table 2. Results of the selected diagnostics of the hyperthyroid cats at study enrollment and after radioiodine treatment (60 days). All values reported as median and ranges.
Selected Diagnostics
Reference
Interval
TT4 (lg/dL)
Blood pressure (mmHg)
HCT (%)
BUN (mg/dL)
Creatinine (mg/dL)
Urine SG
ALT (U/L)
ALP (U/L)
Albumin (g/dL)
Globulin (g/dL)
TLI (lg/L)
Folate (lg/L)
Cobalamin (ng/L)
MMA (nmol/L)
0.63.5
<150
3148
1535
0.92.3
>1.035
20108
23107
2.73.9
2.33.8
12.181.9
9.721.6
2901000
139898
Study Enrollment
(n = 39)
9
150
39
23
1.0
1.026
136
68
3.2
3.5
40
12.5
774
292
(426.8)
(96200)
(3048)
(1136)
(0.402.2)
(1.0091.057)
(47683)
(30262)
(2.33.9)
(34.5)
(12.6145.1)
(5.234)
(<150>1000)
(1291215)
P-value
1.4 (0.73.2)
144a (121223)
N/A
28 (2046)
1.7 (0.903.3)
1.025b (1.0121.060)
60 (31120)
35 (2263)
3.4 (2.63.9)
3.9 (3.24.5)
N/A
18.25 (9.230.7)
866 (<150>1000)
347 (1291555)
<0.0001
0.30
N/A
0.0004
<0.0001
0.18
<0.0001
<0.0001
0.012
0.0002
N/A
<0.0001
0.24
0.16
As a result of cat compliance blood pressure measurements were only available in 27 cats.
As a result of cat compliance urine specic gravity measurements were only available in 20 cats.
Abbreviations: I131, iodine 131 or radioiodine; TT4, total thyroxine; RI, reference interval; HCT, hematocrit; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; SG, specic gravity; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; TLI, trypsin-like immunoreactivity; MMA, methylmalonic acid.
b
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dicult. For example, cats relative to humans have differences in Hyc metabolism9,10 and dietary amino acids
(ie, taurine, arginine, and methionine) requirements.33
The ndings of this study further support species dierences (ie, human versus cat) in B vitamin concentrations
during illness.34,35 Hyperthyroid cats do not have
abnormally low cobalamin and higher folate concentrations as do hyperthyroid women14 but rather have no
signicant change in serum cobalamin and signicantly
decreased levels of serum folate. Experimental studies in
hyperthyroid humans and rodent models support
increased activity of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) leading to decreased folate concentrations.14,36 A similar mechanism seems unlikely in
hyperthyroid cats. Further assessment as to the
mechanism and/or clinical importance of decreased
folate concentrations in hyperthyroid cats may include
an assessment of MTHFR activity, Hyc concentrations,
and/or urinary FIGLU levels, which were not evaluated
in this study.
The strengths of this study are the prospective study
design and the use of a well-characterized population of
clinically hyperthyroid cats before and post denitive
treatment with radioiodine. As previously discussed, the
limitations of this study include the relatively small population of hyperthyroid cat studied and the inability to
more denitively rule out concurrent gastrointestinal
disease in this cat population. However, the studys
inclusion/exclusion criteria used not only history and
clinical signs but also biochemical testing and previous
gastrointestinal biopsies to exclude any cat suspected or
diagnosed with underlying gastrointestinal disease from
study enrolment, minimizing the confounding variables
in the interpretation of the serum cobalamin concentrations. Additional diagnostics including a noninvasive
abdominal ultrasound of the cats with low cobalamin
may have helped rule out concurrent malabsorptive
disease, however, ultrasonographic changes generally
correlate poorly with small intestinal histological
ndings.37
In conclusion, the prevalence of hypocobalaminemia
is low in this group of hyperthyroid cats. In some
hyperthyroid cats in which underlying gastrointestinal
disease is unlikely, concurrent hypocobalaminemia is
not a functional deciency in need of supplementation.
However, further investigation for subclinical gastrointestinal disease is recommended in any cat with persistent
hypocobalaminemia
once
euthyroid
after
radioiodine treatment. Signicantly lower serum folate
concentrations occur in cats when hyperthyroid, but
levels increase once euthyroid, suggesting a clinically
unimportant observation.
Footnotes
a
b
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Small Animal Internal Medicine
technicians for their assistance in patient recruitment
and care as well as sample collection and handling.
Conict of Interest Declaration: Authors declare no
conict of interest.
O-label Antimicrobial Declaration: Authors declare
no o-label use of antimicrobials.
Grant support: University of Wisconsin-Madison,
School of Veterinary Medicine, Companion Animal
Grant.
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