Avaliação da atrofia muscular em cães portadores de hipercortisolismo espontâneo

Abstract

Canine hypercortisolism (HC) is an endocrine disorder secondary to chronic exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids. It is known that excess cortisol, whether endogenous or exogenous, promotes various metabolic effects in the body. This endocrinopathy is the most frequent in the endocrinological routine of dogs, and can induce an increase in protein catabolism and, consequently, muscle loss and/or atrophy. The assessment of the body condition score, muscle mass score and body mass index are useful, practical and accessible tools for the clinical routine, as they allow for the establishment of an indirect and adequate assessment of body composition in dogs. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of high basal cortisol concentration on muscle and body mass score in newly diagnosed dogs and under specific therapy. For this, thirty dogs with spontaneous hypercortisolism (HC) were evaluated and divided into two experimental groups, characterized by a newly diagnosed group and a group undergoing treatment between six months and one year. However, no statistical difference was observed between groups for ECC, EMM and IMCC values.