Comparação do tempo de uso crônico do fenobarbital em cães com epilepsia com os valores séricos de ALT, bilirrubinas e suas frações, albumina e ureia

Abstract

In routine veterinary clinical practice, epilepsy stands out as one of the main diagnoses of neurological disease, with phenobarbital being the first-line drug for seizure control in dogs. Due to its predominantly hepatic metabolism, prolonged treatment requires frequent laboratory monitoring to assess possible impacts on liver function. Therefore, this study aimed to review canine epilepsy, pharmacotherapy with phenobarbital, and the importance of hepatic monitoring during prolonged treatment, as well as to investigate the association between the duration of chronic phenobarbital use and the serum biochemical parameters alanine aminotransferase (ALT), bilirubin (total, direct, and indirect), albumin, and urea in eight dogs undergoing treatment for epileptic seizure control. The animals were divided into group 1 (G1), whose treatment period was one to two years, and group 2 (G2), in which the period exceeded two years. When analyzing the correlations between time and variables using Spearman's correlation test, a moderate positive correlation was observed in G1 with ALT (r=0.63; p=0.50) and urea (r=0.63; p=0.50), in addition to a strong positive correlation with indirect bilirubin (r=0.83; p=0.33). In G2, a strong negative correlation was observed with ALT (r=-0.80; p=0.33), very strong negative correlations with bilirubin (r=-0.95 to -1.00; p≥0.083), and very strong positive correlations with urea and albumin (r=0.95 to 1.00; p≥0.083). However, none of the associations showed statistical significance (p>0.05). Considering the results obtained, it is concluded that the findings suggest possible adaptive and metabolic hepatic responses associated with prolonged use of phenobarbital, without evidence of severe hepatocellular injury or significant functional loss in the animals studied.