The Effects of oral n-acetyl-d-glucosamine administration on plasma and urine glycosaminoglycans levels in cats with idiopathic cystitis

Abstract

Double-blind placebo-controlled study was performed to determine the effects of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (NAG) on the clinical signs, glycosaminoglycan (GAGs) alteration in plasma and urine of cats with idiopathic cystitis (FIC). Nineteen cats with FIC were diagnosed by the veterinarian at the Small Animal Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University. The FIC cats were randomly divided into two groups; treatment (n=12) and placebo (n=7). The treatment group received 250 mg of oral NAG once daily for 28 days while placebo group received placebo daily for the same period. Both groups were follow-up for twenty-eight more days after stop receiving NAG or placebo. Pain when urination from each cat was recorded by its owner using visual analogue scale. Both groups were monitored for changes in clinical sign on day 0, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 56. Plasma and urine GAG levels of the FIC cats of both groups were measured on day 0, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 56. The results from this study demonstrated that the mean urinary GAG level for normal cats (44.26±6.16 µg/ml) was significantly higher than the FIC group (7.97±1.20 µg/ml) (P<0.05). Both groups had improved clinical signs when received the treatments or placebo along with the recommendation on the changes in the environment. Mean plasma GAG level of the placebo group (24.20±3.35 µg/ml) was significantly lowered than the NAG treatment group (39.96±5.34 µg/ml) on day 21 of the study (P<0.05). There were significantly differences of plasma GAG levels in NAG treatment group on day 0 (27.46±3.9 µg/ml) compared with day 21 (39.96±5.34 µg/ml) and day 28 (39.91±6.74 µg/ml) (P<0.05). FIC cats received placebo also had mean urinary GAG level (4.89±1.08 µg/ml) significantly lowered than the treatment group received NAG (9.15±1.39 µg/ml) on day 14 of the study (P<0.05). In conclusion, cats with FIC have lower urinary GAG levels than normal cats. FIC cats received NAG had significantly increased plasma GAG levels on day 21 of the treatment and its urinary GAG levels increased significantly on day 14 of the study when compared with placebo. The clinical signs improved significantly in FIC cats received NAG and changed its environment to lower the stress in the household.