Symmetrical Dimethylarginine as a Diagnostic Parameter in Hermann's Tortoises (Testudo hermanni)

Verena Lehmann; Barblin Altherr; Nikola Pantchev; Sabine Öfner; Yury Zablotski; Rachel Murphy; Michael Coyne; Petra Kölle

doi:10.3389/fvets.2022.824748

Symmetrical Dimethylarginine as a Diagnostic Parameter in Hermann's Tortoises (Testudo hermanni)

Front Vet Sci. 2022 Feb 22:9:824748. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.824748. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Verena Lehmann¹, Barblin Altherr², Nikola Pantchev², Sabine Öfner³, Yury Zablotski¹, Rachel Murphy⁴, Michael Coyne⁴, Petra Kölle¹

Affiliations

¹ Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
² IDEXX Med Labor GmbH, Kornwestheim, Germany.
³ Reptile Rescue Center Munich, Munich, Germany.
⁴ IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Westbrook, ME, United States.

Abstract

Background: Despite improvements in habitational conditions, kidney disease is relatively common in tortoises.

Objectives: Purpose of this study was the establishment of Symmetrical dimethylarginine (SDMA) reference values for clinically healthy Hermann's Tortoises.

Animals: Clinically healthy Hermann's Tortoises (n = 131) were included in the period from October 2017 to September 2019.

Methods: Creatinine and other biomarkers were tested at IDEXX Laboratories, Germany using residual blood samples from Hermann's tortoises. SDMA was measured with the IDEXX test and verified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry at IDEXX Laboratories, USA.

Results: SDMA values ranged from 1 to 21 μg/dl (n = 131) for the IDEXX SDMA Test and SDMA values ranged from 1 to 17 μg/dl (n = 82) for LC-MS. For the comparison of the two measuring systems, the following results were obtained R ² = 0.75 (p < 0.001).

Conclusion and clinical importance: SDMA can be measured in Hermann's Tortoises and the reference values range in clinically healthy animals is comparable to that of dogs and cats.

Keywords: chelonian; kidney disease; renal disease; reptile; uric acid.