Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39676668›Full record

ArticleJournal of veterinary internal medicine

The effects of age and sex on reference intervals for cobalamin, homocysteine, and serum and urinary methylmalonic acid in healthy adult dogs.

Anna-Lena Proksch, Sophia Schaefer, Vanessa Dreller, Judith Langenstein, Ralph Fingerhut, Natali Bauer, Andreas Moritz

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of veterinary internal medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Reference Intervals for Trace Elements in Canine Plasma.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Anna-Lena ProkschClinic for Small Animals, Internal Medicine, JLU Giessen, Frankfurter Strasse 114, Giessen 35392, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8798-1079
Sophia SchaeferClinic for Small Animals, Internal Medicine, JLU Giessen, Frankfurter Strasse 114, Giessen 35392, Germany.
Vanessa DrellerClinic for Small Animals, Internal Medicine, JLU Giessen, Frankfurter Strasse 114, Giessen 35392, Germany.
Judith LangensteinAntech Lab Germany GmbH, Gubener Str. 39, Augsburg 86156, Germany.
Ralph FingerhutSYNLAB MVZ Weiden GmbH, Zur Kesselschmiede 4, Weiden 92637, Germany.
Natali BauerClinic for Small Animals, Internal Medicine, JLU Giessen, Frankfurter Strasse 114, Giessen 35392, Germany.
Andreas MoritzClinic for Small Animals, Internal Medicine, JLU Giessen, Frankfurter Strasse 114, Giessen 35392, Germany.

Funding

Antech Lab Germany GmbH
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn dogs, data on reference intervals (RIs) for cobalamin, markers of metabolism (markersB HYPOTHESIS/

objectivesEstablish RI for serum cobalamin, homocysteine, and methylmalonic acid (sMMA) concentrations, urinary methylmalonic acid-to-creatinine ratio (uMMA:crea), and determine effects of sex and age.

methodsProspective study using healthy dogs (1-10 years). Cobalamin and markersB

resultsTwelve of 120 healthy dogs had abnormal uMMA:crea ratios. No other cobalamin analyte outliers were found. Outlying data re-examination (odRE) was performed in 10/12 dogs. Chronic gastrointestinal signs occurred in 64% of odRE-dogs, whereas 36% remained healthy. In total, 112 dogs (67 females, 45 males; median ages, 3.5 and 3.75 years, respectively) were included in RI analyses. Reference intervals were 178.5-851 pmol/L (cobalamin), 5.8-29.0 μmol/L (homocysteine), 45.3-159.5 μg/L (sMMA), and ≤22.4 mg/g (uMMA:crea). Only age affected cobalamin concentrations (significant decrease). Compared by sex and neuter status, intact male dogs had significantly higher uMMA:crea ratios (median, 13.5; range, 1.9-83.6 mg/g) than the other groups (median, 2.5; range, 0.7-9.7 mg/g; P < .0001). Sex-specific RI were ≤58.9 mg/g (intact male) vs ≤5.2 mg/g (females and neutered males). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Intact male dogs had significantly higher uMMA:crea ratios than the other groups. Thus, sex-specific RI are recommended for uMMA:crea. Because of the wide distribution of uMMA:crea ratios, careful interpretation in intact male dogs is advised.

Indexed as

HomocysteineMethylmalonic AcidVitamin B 12Age FactorsAnimalsBiomarkersDogsFemaleMaleProspective StudiesReference ValuesSex FactorsBiomarkersHomocysteineMethylmalonic AcidVitamin B 12B12 metabolismcanineserumsexurinevitamin B12

Identifiers

PMID39676668
PMCPMC11647175

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.