Zoological Society of London Reports Findings in Science [Determination of Symmetric Dimethylarginine, Creatinine, and Blood Urea Nitrogen Reference Intervals In African Wild Dogs (lycaon Pictus) In Managed Care From Two Zoological Institutions …]: Science

2025 JUL 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Science is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from London, United Kingdom, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The African wild dog (AWD; ) is an endangered canid from sub-Saharan Africa. Ex situ global conservation efforts include captive breeding and maintenance of healthy individuals in zoos to create insurance populations and maintain genetic diversity.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the Zoological Society of London, “Chronic renal disease (CRD) has been identified as a comorbidity at necropsy in zoo-housed adult and geriatric AWDs. Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) is a renal biomarker that has been widely used for the early diagnosis of CRD. There are no published reference intervals (RIs) for SDMA and conventional nonspecific renal biomarkers, such as creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in AWDs. Banked frozen sera collected from 35 healthy AWDs between 2000 and 2020 from two United Kingdom zoos were used to establish RIs using the parametric method. The RIs were: SDMA (2.48-15.7 g/dl), creatinine (0.67-1.69 mg/dl), and BUN (13.87-39.34 mg/dl). SDMA showed a significant positive correlation with serum creatinine (Pearson’s test, = 0.41; = 0.02). An independent test and a one-way ANOVA showed no significant differences between age and sex on the analytes, but mean SDMA levels were higher in younger animals.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The RIs determined in this study will help refine the diagnosis and monitoring of CRD in zoo-housed AWDs.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Determination of Symmetric Dimethylarginine, Creatinine, and Blood Urea Nitrogen Reference Intervals In African Wild Dogs (lycaon Pictus) In Managed Care From Two Zoological Institutions In the United Kingdom. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 2025;56(2):420-426. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine can be contacted at: Amer Assoc Zoo Veterinarians, 581705 White Oak Road, Yulee, FL 32097, USA.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Shivananden Sawmy, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RY, UK. Additional authors for this research include Harriet R. Cock, Jane Hopper, Taina Strike, Joanna Hedley and Amanda Guthrie.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine is: Amer Assoc Zoo Veterinarians, 581705 White Oak Road, Yulee, FL 32097, USA.

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