Age, breed, sex and diet influence serum metabolite profiles of 2000 pet dogs

Abstract

As an individual's metabolism reflects health and disease states well, metabolomics holds a vast potential in biomedical applications. However, normal physiological factors, such as age, can also influence metabolism, challenging the establishment of disease-specific metabolic aberrations. Here, we examined how physiological and diet-related factors drive variance in the metabolism of healthy pet dogs. We analysed 2068 serum samples using a canine nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy-based metabolomics platform. With generalized linear models, we discovered that age, breed, sex, sterilization, diet type and fasting time significantly affected the canine metabolite profiles. Especially, breed and age caused considerable variation in the metabolite concentrations, and breeds with very different body conformations systematically differed in several lipid measurands. Our results enhance the understanding how normal physiological factors influence canine metabolism, aid accurate interpretation of the NMR results, and suggest the NMR platform might be applied in identifying aberrations in nutrient absorption and metabolism.

Metabolome Profiling in Aging Studies

“…A group from the University of Helsinki (Finland) analyzed 2068 blood serum samples from healthy domestic dogs of 22 different breeds using untargeted metabolomics based on NMR spectroscopy [ 110 ]. Using generalized linear models, age, breed, sex, neutering, diet type, and fasting time were found to significantly affect metabolite profiles in dogs.…”

Metabolic fingerprinting of dogs with idiopathic epilepsy receiving a ketogenic medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil

“…Although no clear evidence for that problem was found in dogs ( 127 ), it can be relevant for some metabolites. Another impact on our study results could come from the individual's metabolism (age, breed, sex, diet) ( 128 ) and in a subpopulation of epileptic dogs also the type of ASD medication ( 129 ). However, as the dietary supplement was the only changing factor in the study, and comparison was performed pairwise, significant impacts should not be present.…”

Metabolome profiling in the study of aging processes

“…Анализ 2068 образцов сыворотки крови здоровых домашних собак 22 различных пород был выполнен с использованием ненаправленной метаболомики, основанной на ЯМР-спектроскопии [100]. С помощью обобщенных линейных моделей было обнаружено, что возраст, порода, пол, стерилизация, тип диеты и время голодания существенно влияют на профили метаболитов у собак.…”