Measurement and clinical applications of C-reactive protein in gastrointestinal diseases of dogs

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a positive acute-phase protein, serum concentrations of which increase nonspecifically in response to inflammatory processes of the dog. As such, it can aid in the identification of inflammatory disease and, maybe more importantly, the objective monitoring of disease progression. In dogs, CRP is frequently used to evaluate dogs with gastrointestinal diseases, such as chronic inflammatory enteropathies (also termed idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease), acute pancreatitis, canine parvovirus infection, hepatic disease, acute abdomen, and protein-losing enteropathy. The diversity of the assays available to measure CRP in dogs is nearly as numerous as the diseases in which serum concentrations of this protein are increased. Assay methodologies include laser nephelometric immunoassays, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, immunoturbidimetric assays, and time-resolved immunofluorometric assays. While many of these assays are acceptable for clinical use in the dog, the same assay and analyzer should be used to measure a patient's CRP concentration longitudinally. By looking at the uses of CRP in human gastroenterology, including reducing the duration of antibiotic therapy, the veterinary profession can gain insight into novel ways in which serum CRP concentration measurements might be applied in veterinary medicine in the future.