The Role of Red Blood Cell Distribution Width in Feline Panleukopenia: A Focus on Anemic Manifestations

Öz

Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has emerged as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in both human and veterinary medicine. In human medicine, RDW has been linked to a wide range of disorders. In veterinary medicine, however, its application has been explored more selectively. In dogs, elevated RDW has been associated with cardiac injury, inflammatory and/or immune-mediated conditions, pneumonia, endocrine disorders involving the thyroid and adrenal glands, and vascular problems. In cats, research has mostly focused on cardiac disease, and overall, RDW remains a relatively underexplored marker. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate RDW in relation to the anemia profile of cats infected with feline panleukopenia virus (FPV). For this purpose, the study population comprised 60 cats naturally infected with feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) and 10 healthy controls. Infected cats were stratified into anemic (n=30) and non-anemic (n=30) groups based on comprehensive erythroid parameters (RBC, HCT, HGB) in accordance with established reference intervals for the species. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) did not differ significantly between groups (P=0.802). RDW failed to distinguish anemic from non-anemic individuals. This lack of discriminatory power was confirmed by ROC curve analysis, which demonstrated AUC values of 0.505 and 0.433 for the respective groups. We conclude that RDW lacks statistical significance as a differentiator between anemic and non-anemic states in cats with FPV infection. These findings highlight the need for larger-scale studies to determine whether RDW holds any clinically meaningful diagnostic or prognostic value in this context.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Diagnosis
• feline
• haemogram
• panleukopenia
• RDW

Destekleyen Kurum

No financial support was received from any institution or organization for this study.

Etik Beyan

In this study, all the rules specified in the ‘Directive on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics of Higher Education Institutions’ have been followed. None of the actions specified under the second part of the Directive, ‘Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics’ have been carried out.

Panleukopenili Kedilerde Eritrosit Dağılım Genişliğinin Rolü: Anemi Belirtilerine Odaklanma

Öz

Kırmızı kan hücresi dağılım genişliği (RDW), hem insan hem de veteriner hekimliğinde tanısal ve prognostik bir belirteç olarak önem kazanmıştır. İnsan hekimliğinde RDW, çok çeşitli hastalıklarla ilişkilendirilmiştir. Ancak veteriner hekimliğinde bu belirtecin kullanımı daha seçici olarak araştırılmıştır. Köpeklerde yüksek RDW, kalp hasarı, enflamatuar ve/veya bağışıklık aracılı durumlar, pnömoni, tiroid ve adrenal bezlerin endokrin bozuklukları ve damar sorunları ile ilişkilendirilmiştir. Kedilerde ise araştırmalar çoğunlukla kalp hastalığına odaklanmış olup genel olarak RDW, nispeten az araştırılmış bir belirteç olarak kalmıştır. Bu nedenle bu çalışma, Feline Panleukopenia Virus (FPV) ile enfekte kedilerde anemi profili ile ilişkili olarak RDW'yi araştırmayı amaçlamıştır. Bu amaçla çalışma populasyonu doğal kedi panlökopeni virüsü (FPV) ile enfekte 60 kedi ve 10 sağlıklı kontrolden oluşmuştur. Enfekte kediler, türe özgü belirlenmiş referans aralıklarına uygun olarak kapsamlı eritroid parametrelerine (RBC, HCT, HGB) dayalı olarak anemik (n=30) ve anemik olmayan (n=30) gruplarına ayrılmıştır. Kırmızı kan hücresi dağılım genişliği(RDW) gruplar arasında anlamlı bir farklılık göstermemiştir (P=0.802). RDW, anemik bireyleri anemik olmayanlardan ayırt edememiştir. Bu ayırt etme gücü eksikliği, ilgili gruplar için sırasıyla 0.505 ve 0.433 AUC değerleri gösteren ROC eğrisi analizi ile doğrulanmıştır. Sonuç olarak, FPV'li kedilerde anemik ve anemik olmayan hastaları ayırmada RDW'nin istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir değere sahip olmadığı görülmüştür. Bu bulgular, RDW'nin bu bağlamda klinik olarak anlamlı herhangi bir tanısal veya prognostik değer taşıyıp taşımadığını belirlemek için daha geniş ölçekli çalışmalara ihtiyaç olduğunu vurgulamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Hemogram
• kedi
• panleukopeni
• RDW
• tanı

Kaynakça

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