Test food designed to promote healthy aging vs owner's-choice foods on serum SDMA and creatinine in client-owned geriatric dogs

A prospective 6-month feeding study in client-owned geriatric dogs recruited through seventeen US veterinary clinics randomized dogs to a Hill's test food designed to promote healthy aging (fish oil, lipoic acid, vitamins C and E, L-carnitine, fruits and vegetables, controlled sodium, high quality protein) or to owner's-choice foods; 255 dogs were enrolled and 210 are reported in the abstract. Serum SDMA and creatinine were measured at baseline, 3 and 6 months. Only dogs fed the test food showed significant decreases in SDMA and creatinine across time, including among the 18 dogs with elevated SDMA consistent with IRIS Stage 1 CKD.

Record

Design	randomized controlled trial
Status	completed
Setting	client owned
Intervention	Test food (renal protective food) containing functional lipids (fish oil), antioxidants (lipoic acid, vitamins C and E), L-carnitine, botanicals (fruits and vegetables), controlled sodium concentration and high quality protein sources
Intervention class	diet or supplement
Comparator	Owner's-choice foods (non-nutritionally controlled cohort)
Duration	6 months (biomarkers evaluated at baseline, 3 and 6 months)
Dogs	210
Population note	210 dogs reported in the abstract; 255 dogs enrolled per the full text (small: 26 test food / 25 owner's-choice; medium: 25 / 24; large: 78 / 77)
Age	small (6.8 to 11.4 kg) and medium dogs (11.5 to 22.7 kg) were >= 9 years, dogs >22.7 kg were >= 7 years at baseline; enrolled dogs had mean age 9.7 years (range 7 to 15 years)
Other	client-owned geriatric dogs with serum creatinine within the reference interval and free of chronic disease at baseline; recruited through seventeen veterinary clinics around the United States
Primary outcome	Serum symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) and creatinine (Cr) concentrations, plus urinalysis, at baseline, 3 and 6 months
Result (as reported)	Only dogs consuming test food showed significant decreases in serum SDMA and Cr concentrations (both P <= 0.05) across time. Among 18 dogs with increased SDMA but normal Cr (consistent with IRIS Stage 1 CKD), the decreases in serum SDMA and Cr were significant (both P = 0.03) only for dogs fed test food.
Lead organisation	Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., Topeka, KS (protocol approval and test food); contract research organization with seventeen US veterinary clinics
Tags	diet, supplement, renal, sdma, creatinine, client-owned

Notes: The sponsor is not named in the text (veterinarians and owners were blinded as to the sponsor); the protocol was approved by Hill's IACUC and the test food was produced by Hill's. Separate from the Hill's colony functional-food study (PMID 27925141).

Sources and verbatim quotes

Positive Impact of Nutritional Interventions on Serum Symmetric Dimethylarginine and Creatinine Concentrations in Client-Owned Geriatric Dogs. (2016) PMID 27088214 (results)

A prospective study was conducted in client-owned geriatric dogs to evaluate the short-term effects of a test food on serum symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) and creatinine (Cr) concentrations.
Test food contained functional lipids (fish oil), antioxidants (lipoic acid, vitamins C and E), L-carnitine, botanicals (fruits and vegetables), controlled sodium concentration, and high quality protein sources (high bioavailability and an ideal amino acid composition).
Dogs (n = 210) were fed either test food or owner's-choice foods (non-nutritionally controlled cohort).
Dogs were included based on age and body weight: small (6.8 to 11.4 kg) and medium dogs (11.5 to 22.7 kg) were ≥ 9 years, whereas dogs >22.7 kg were ≥ 7 years at baseline.
At baseline, all dogs had to have serum Cr concentrations within the reference interval and be free of chronic disease.
Renal function biomarkers and urinalysis results at baseline, and after consuming test food or owner's-choice foods for 3 and 6 months, were evaluated.
Only dogs consuming test food showed significant decreases in serum SDMA and Cr concentrations (both P ≤ 0.05) across time.
At baseline or during the 6-month feeding trial, 18 dogs (8.6%) had increased serum SDMA, but normal serum Cr, consistent with IRIS Stage 1 chronic kidney disease.
The decreases in serum SDMA and Cr concentrations were significant (both P = 0.03) only for dogs fed test food.
These results suggest that nonazotemic dogs with elevated serum SDMA (early renal insufficiency) when fed a test food designed to promote healthy aging are more likely to demonstrate improved renal function compared with dogs fed owner's-choice foods.

Positive Impact of Nutritional Interventions on Serum Symmetric Dimethylarginine and Creatinine Concentrations in Client-Owned Geriatric Dogs. (2016) PMID 27088214 (design)

This study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc., Topeka, KS, USA (Permit Number: CP-522).
This was a prospective feeding study of 6-months duration. A contract research organization recruited seventeen veterinary clinics from around the United States.
Once dogs were accepted into the study, they were randomized to receive either test food or owner’s-choice foods.
The veterinarians and the owners were blinded as to the sponsor of the study.
There were a total of 255 dogs enrolled in the study; mean age of 9.7 years (range 7 to 15 years).
Of the dogs classified as small (6.8–11.4 kg), there were 26 fed test food and 25 fed owner’s-choice foods. Of the dogs classified as medium (11.5–22.7 kg), there were 25 fed test food and 24 fed owner’s-choice foods. Of the dogs classified as large (>22.7 kg), there were 78 fed test food and 77 fed owner’s-choice foods.
The test food was produced by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc., Topeka, KS, and met the nutritional requirements for adult dogs (≥ 1 year) as established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

Reproduce: canine_trial_search(trial_id="hills-test-food-sdma-client-owned-geriatric-dogs-2016") in dog-geroscience-mcp; dataset canine-trial-registry.