The influence of diets on plasma homocysteine levels in felines

Abstract

Epidemiological and clinical studies in humans established the relationship between homocysteine (Hcy) level in plasma and cardiovascular, kidney and liver diseases. In veterinary medicine, the results regarding Hcy are questionable due to conflicting and rare data. The relationship between the metabolism of Hcy and the nutritional principles of different diets can lead in the future to a real prevention of cardiovascular diseases by simply managing the food of predisposed and elderly animals. The present study aims at comparing two types of diets over a period of 9 months (commercial CD and homemade HMD) on the feline plasma Hcy. Analyzing comparatively the results obtained from the determination of serum Hcy values on the initial diets (t0) and after 9 months of diet (t1), we can observe the decrease of these values both in group test I, which switched from a CD to a HMD, as well as in group test 2, which maintained a CD but switched from a lower quality food to a higher quality one. This fact demonstrates not only the benefits of a home-made diet, but also the need to diversify and combine the commercial one to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the feline organism.