Supplementation of Vitamin K1 in Dogs With Chronic Enteropathy

ABSTRACT Background Information regarding measurement and supplementation of vitamin K1 (vitK1) in dogs with chronic enteropathy (CE) is limited. Hypothesis/Objectives Compare vitK1 concentrations of healthy dogs to dogs with CE and determine if supplementation with vitK1 increases vitK1 concentrations compared to placebo. Animals Twenty client‐owned dogs with CE and 20 healthy university‐owned research colony dogs. Methods Prospective, randomized, placebo‐controlled study. Dogs with CE were randomly assigned to receive placebo or vitk1 2.5 mg/kg PO q12h for 3 weeks. Vitamin K concentrations were measured pre‐ and post supplementation using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and compared to vitK1 concentrations in the healthy cohort. Results All healthy dogs had initial vitK1 median concentrations of 0.10 ng/mL (interquartile range [IQR], 0.05), which was similar to dogs that received either placebo (n = 5; 0.10 ng/mL; IQR, 0.05) or vitK1 (n = 7; 0.10 ng/mL; IQR, 0.05) before supplementation. Dogs with CE receiving vitK1 had increased vitK1 concentrations (12.5 ng/mL; IQR, 4.1) after 3 weeks of supplementation compared with baseline (0.10 ng/mL; p < 0.001), placebo group after 3 weeks (0.10 ng/mL; p < 0.0001) and healthy dogs (0.10 ng/mL; p < 0.004). Conclusions and Clinical Importance Oral supplementation with vitK1 increased vitK1 concentration in the serum of dogs with CE, but a clinical benefit from increased vitK1 concentrations was not identified. The absence of difference in vitK1 concentrations between healthy and CE dogs before supplementation requires additional investigation.