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Veterinary Sciences
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Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver and Pancreas in Dogs...
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Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver and Pancreas in Dogs and Cats

A special issue of Veterinary Sciences (ISSN 2306-7381). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Internal Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 12358

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Katerina K. Adamama-Moraitou

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Guest Editor
Companion Animal Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54627 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: small-animal gastrointestinal and pancreatic diseases; small-animal flexible endoscopy; small-animal respiratory, kidney and urinary diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Albert E. Jergens

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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Interests: gastroenterology; GI endoscopy; performance of clinical trials; inflammatory bowel disease in dogs and cats; the investigation of host-microbiota interactions mediating GI health and disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alexandros O. Konstantinidis

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Guest Editor
Companion Animal Clinic (Medicine Unit), School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54627 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: liver diseases; gastrointestinal diseases; biliary tract diseases; pancreatic diseases; inflammatory bowel disease; canine; digestive system endoscopy; gastroenterology; veterinary internal medicine; gastrointestinal endoscopy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gastroenterology and hepatology are dynamic fields of research and clinical practice in small-animal internal medicine. Significant progress has been made in our understanding of liver, biliary, pancreatic and gastrointestinal diseases over the last two decades. The standard of care has evolved; some new diagnostic tools have been developed, and treatment recommendations have been updated.

The goal of this Special Issue is to provide readers with updates on the etiology, diagnosis, management and treatment of some of the most common gastrointestinal, hepatic and pancreatic diseases and disorders clinicians come across on a daily basis. A further aim of this Special Issue is to highlight developing research areas related to alimentary tract diseases of dogs and cats.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following: chronic and acute enteropathies, infectious disease, chronic hepatitis, pancreatitis, GI disease biomarkers and advances in laboratory diagnostic tests, imaging, histopathology and nutrition in digestive diseases. Papers in the form of case reports are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Katerina K. Adamama-Moraitou
Prof. Dr. Albert E. Jergens
Dr. Alexandros O. Konstantinidis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Veterinary Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • gastrointestinal diseases
  • hepatobiliary diseases
  • pancreatic diseases
  • inflammatory enteropathies biomarkers
  • microbiome
  • probiotics
  • histopathology
  • diagnostic tests
  • imaging

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1277 KiB  
Article
Effects of High-Dose Prednisone on the Gastrointestinal Microbiota of Healthy Dogs
by Sarah Garrity, Jacqueline C. Whittemore, Dipak Kumar Sahoo, Shannon Morgan, Emily Lindgreen, Sarah VanDeWalle, Jan S. Suchodolski and Albert E. Jergens
Vet. Sci. 2025, 12(3), 216; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12030216 - 2 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1267
Abstract
The effects of high-dose glucocorticoids on the gastrointestinal microbiota of healthy dogs are unknown. This study’s aim was to investigate the effects of immunosuppressive doses of prednisone on the fecal microbiota and the gastric and duodenal mucosal microbiota in healthy dogs. Twelve healthy [...] Read more.
The effects of high-dose glucocorticoids on the gastrointestinal microbiota of healthy dogs are unknown. This study’s aim was to investigate the effects of immunosuppressive doses of prednisone on the fecal microbiota and the gastric and duodenal mucosal microbiota in healthy dogs. Twelve healthy adult dogs were enrolled into a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Dogs were evaluated on days 0, 14, and 28 following treatments with either prednisone (2 mg/kg/d) or placebo. Outcome measures included (1) composition and abundance of the fecal microbiota (via high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and qPCR-based dysbiosis index [DI]) and (2) spatial distribution of the gastric and duodenal mucosal microbiota using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). No significant difference in alpha and beta diversity or amplicon sequence variants of the fecal microbiota was observed between treatment groups. Blautia spp. concentrations via qPCR were significantly decreased between prednisone group timepoints 2 and 3. Compared to placebo group dogs, prednisone group dogs showed significantly increased gastric mucosal helicobacters and increased mucosal-associated total bacteria and Bacteroides in duodenal biopsies over the treatment period. The results indicate that immunosuppressive dosages of prednisone alter the mucosal microbiota of healthy dogs in a time-dependent manner, which may disrupt mucosal homeostasis. This report is significant, since it addresses a knowledge gap in our understanding of the effects of glucocorticoids on the gastrointestinal mucosal microbiota of healthy dogs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver and Pancreas in Dogs and Cats)
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8 pages, 502 KiB  
Article
Incidence and Heritability of Gastric Carcinoma in the Belgian Shepherd Dog Population in The Netherlands
by Sanne Hugen, Citlalli Limpens, Joris H. Robben, Hille Fieten and Paul J. J. Mandigers
Vet. Sci. 2025, 12(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12010018 - 4 Jan 2025
Viewed by 3700
Abstract
Background: Gastric carcinoma in the Tervueren and Groenendael varieties of the Belgian Shepherd dog is commonly recognized and carries a grave prognosis. Information on incidence and heritability is necessary to design an effective selection strategy against this disease. Methods: A database of cases [...] Read more.
Background: Gastric carcinoma in the Tervueren and Groenendael varieties of the Belgian Shepherd dog is commonly recognized and carries a grave prognosis. Information on incidence and heritability is necessary to design an effective selection strategy against this disease. Methods: A database of cases and controls was built including cases with Tier 1 (confirmed via endoscopy or post-mortem) and Tier 2 evidence of gastric carcinoma. From the database, a birth cohort of dogs born in the Netherlands in the period 2000–2010 was used, together with pedigree information to calculate heritability using a mixed models approach. Univariate linear regression was used to test the influence of the gastric carcinoma status of the parents on gastric carcinoma occurrence in offspring. Results: For Tervueren the 10-year cumulative incidence was 4.7%, and for the Groenendael this was 2.1%. There was no sex predilection. The odds of gastric carcinoma were 5.0 (2.4–11.0) in offspring where at least one parent was known to be affected versus at least one parent was known to be unaffected. Heritability, based on analysis using pedigree information from 338 dogs with gastric carcinoma and 159 controls, was 0.53 (SE 0.15). Conclusions: Gastric carcinoma in the Belgian Shepherd Tervueren and Groenendael varieties has a high incidence in the Dutch population and a strong genetic component. Because it is a late onset disease, dogs have often already been used for breeding before they are diagnosed. An effective breeding strategy for reducing disease incidence therefore relies on the identification of genetic risk factors influencing its development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver and Pancreas in Dogs and Cats)
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18 pages, 2664 KiB  
Article
Serum Transcobalamin Concentration in Cats—Method Validation and Evaluation in Chronic Enteropathies and Other Conditions
by Tim Kunath, Stefanie Kather, Franziska Dengler, Ebba Nexo, Helga Pfannkuche and Romy M. Heilmann
Vet. Sci. 2024, 11(11), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11110552 - 9 Nov 2024
Viewed by 2713
Abstract
Hypocobalaminemia is common in cats with chronic enteropathy (FCE). However, the disruptions in cobalamin metabolism are not fully understood and may vary across species. Cobalamin is distributed to target tissues via binding to transcobalamin (TC) in blood, which has not been evaluated in [...] Read more.
Hypocobalaminemia is common in cats with chronic enteropathy (FCE). However, the disruptions in cobalamin metabolism are not fully understood and may vary across species. Cobalamin is distributed to target tissues via binding to transcobalamin (TC) in blood, which has not been evaluated in cats. Thus, an in-house sandwich-ELISA was established to evaluate serum total TC concentrations in cats with FCE. Surplus sera served to analytically validate the assay, and serum TC concentrations were compared among cats with FCE and other diseases (gastrointestinal neoplasia, cholangiohepatopathy, and other neoplastic or non-neoplastic conditions) and healthy controls. Observed-to-expected ratios for serial dilutions ranged from 72.4 to 145.6% and were 75.1–126.7% for spiking-and-recovery. Intra- and inter-assay variability was <17.7% and <17.2% and the preliminary reference interval for feline serum TC was <160–2795 aU/L (lower detection limit: 160 aU/L). Serum TC levels were significantly decreased (p = 0.0067) but not correlated with paired cobalamin concentrations in FCE. Hypertranscobalaminemia predominated with hypercobalaminemia, reaching the highest levels in advanced-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) cases. TC variations in cobalamin deficiency states with FCE may be linked to inflammation or autoantibodies. This and possible links between serum TC variation in FCE, intracellular cobalamin availability, response to supplementation, and concurrent CKD require further exploration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver and Pancreas in Dogs and Cats)
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10 pages, 2873 KiB  
Article
Computed Tomographic Hepatic Volumetry in Dogs with Congenital Portosystemic Shunts
by Hitomi Kurihara, George Moore and Masahiro Murakami
Vet. Sci. 2024, 11(9), 390; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11090390 - 24 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1418
Abstract
CTHV is a non-invasive and accurate method for assessing liver volume in dogs. CTHV has not been studied in each type of extrahepatic PSS in dogs. This study aimed to use CTHV to compare liver volumes in dogs with different types of PSSs [...] Read more.
CTHV is a non-invasive and accurate method for assessing liver volume in dogs. CTHV has not been studied in each type of extrahepatic PSS in dogs. This study aimed to use CTHV to compare liver volumes in dogs with different types of PSSs that had been confirmed by computed tomography angiography. Dogs with PSSs were retrospectively included and categorized into IH, EHPC, EHPA, or EHPP shunt groups. Manual CTHV was performed, and the normalized liver volume (nLV) and the difference in nLV from the estimated liver volume calculated based on body weight (LV%diff) was calculated. The study included 57 dogs: 20 IH, 21 EHPC, 9 EHPA, and 7 EHPP. The median nLV (cm3/kg) and LV%diff (%) for each group were as follows: IH 17.3 (−40.4%); EHPC 16.9 (−60.3%); EHPA 15.1 (−56.7%); and EHPP 17.2 (−59.2%), respectively. There were no significant differences in nLV among the PSS types. However, LV%diff was significantly more pronounced in the EHPC and EHPA groups compared with the IH group. Additionally, smaller dogs exhibited more severe microhepatia, with a significant positive correlation between LV%diff and body weight (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that microhepatia severity varies by shunt type and is more severe in smaller dogs, highlighting the need for further research to understand the underlying mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver and Pancreas in Dogs and Cats)
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18 pages, 2191 KiB  
Article
Microbiota in Mild Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Can Be Modulated by Beta-Glucans and Mannanoligosaccharides: A Randomized, Double-Blinded Study in Dogs
by Andressa Rodrigues Amaral, Mariana Fragoso Rentas, Thais Caroline Taveira Rosa, Thais Araújo Esteves Pereira, Pedro Henrique Marchi, Fabio Alves Teixeira, Fernando de Oliveira Roberti Filho, Thaila Cristina Putarov, Bruno Cogliati, Thiago Henrique Annibale Vendramini, Júlio Cesar de Carvalho Balieiro and Marcio Antonio Brunetto
Vet. Sci. 2024, 11(8), 349; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11080349 - 1 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2373
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in dogs is the most common chronic gastrointestinal disease in dogs. Its etiology evolves an aberrant immunological response towards food antigens and indigenous bacteria in the gut bacteria and, consequently, dysbiosis. Prebiotics provide substrates for the growth of beneficial [...] Read more.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in dogs is the most common chronic gastrointestinal disease in dogs. Its etiology evolves an aberrant immunological response towards food antigens and indigenous bacteria in the gut bacteria and, consequently, dysbiosis. Prebiotics provide substrates for the growth of beneficial bacteria and promote the production of beneficial fermentation products. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of oral supplementations of beta-glucans and mannanoligosaccharides (MOSs) over 60 days in fecal microbiota and fecal concentrations of fermentation products in dogs with mild IBD. Eighteen dogs with mild IBD were divided into three experimental groups in a blinded and randomized manner: A—dogs received 0.1% of a beta-glucan-based prebiotic, B—dogs received 0.1% of a MOS + beta-glucan-based prebiotic, and C—dogs received 0.1% of a placebo. Fecal microbiota was analyzed using the latest generation 16S rRNA sequencing (Illumina®). Relative abundances of each taxon were analyzed using a generalized linear model, and fermentation products using a mixed model. A significance level of p was used. The prebiotics positively modulated the bacterial population of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Treatment A improved alpha diversity and populations of beneficial bacteria. Beta-glucan supplementation for 60 days had beneficial effects on modulating intestinal microbiota in dogs with mild IBD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver and Pancreas in Dogs and Cats)
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