Pre and post fibrate supplementation lipoprotein electrophoresis in hyperlipemic dogs with biliary tree disease

Hyperlipemia is commonly observed in dogs with biliary tree disease, where cholestasis can both cause and result of hyperlipidemia. Fibrate therapy effectively reduce lipemia in dogs with both primary and secondary hyperlipidemia. This study aimed to investigate whether fenofibrate therapy could alter lipoprotein patterns in hyperlipemic cholestatic dogs. Retrospective cohort study on left-over frozen-stored (−80 °C) serum samples of 25 client-owned dogs with chronic biliary disease with hyperlipidemia (hypercholesterolemia and/or hypertriglyceridemia) that underwent fenofibrate therapy at 4–10 mg/kg once daily (T0) and had a re-check after 4–6 weeks (T1). To be included, dogs with hypercholesterolemia (>280 mg/dL) and/or hypertriglyceridemia (>90 mg/dL) had to present a concurrent increase of two or more between alkaline phosphatase (ALP) >250 U/L, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) >11 U/L and total bilirubin >0.3 mg/dL and abdominal ultrasound alterations suggestive for a chronic biliary tree disease. Pre- and post-treatment serum samples were analysed using lipoprotein electrophoresis. Results showed significant reductions in serum cholesterol (median 293 mg/dL vs. 368 mg/dL) and triglycerides (median 70 mg/dL vs. 181 mg/dL). Lipoprotein analysis revealed a significant increase in HDL percentage (from 51 % to 62.9 %) and reductions in VLDL (from 33.2 % to 18 %) and chylomicrons (from 3.2 % to 1.7 %). These results suggest that fenofibrate is effective in reducing lipemia and improving lipid profiles in cholestatic dogs, helping to limit hepatic injury potentially associated with lipid accumulation.