Lien et al. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2010, 52:61 http://www.actavetscand.com/content/52/1/61 R E S E A R C H Open Access Associations among systemic blood pressure, microalbuminuria and albuminuria in dogs affected with pituitary- and adrenal-dependent hyperadrenocorticism Yu-Hsin Lien1,2†, Tsai-Yuan Hsiang2†, Hui-Pi Huang2* Abstract Background: Hypertension and proteinuria are medical complications associated with the multisystemic effects of long-term hypercortisolism in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism (HAC). Methods: This study investigated the relationships among adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-stimulation test results, systemic blood pressure, and microalbuminuria in clinically-healthy dogs (n = 100), in dogs affected with naturally occurring pituitary-dependent (PDH; n = 40), or adrenal-dependent hyperadrenocorticism (ADH; n = 30). Results: Mean systemic blood pressure was similar between clinically healthy dogs and dogs with HAC (p = 0.803). However the incidence of hypertension was highest in dogs with ADH (p = 0.017), followed by dogs with PDH, with the lowest levels in clinically healthy dogs (p = 0.019). Presence of microalbuminuria and albuminuria in clinically healthy dogs and dogs affected with HAC was significantly different (p < 0.001); incidences of albuminuria followed the same pattern of hypertension; highest incidence in dogs with ADH, and lowest level in clinically healthy dogs; but microalbuminuria showed a different pattern: clinically healthy dogs had highest incidences and dogs with ADH had lowest incidence. The presence of albuminuria was not associated with blood pressure values, regardless of whether dogs were clinically healthy or affected with ADH or PDH (p = 0.306). Conclusions: Higher incidence of hypertension and albuminuria, not microalbuminuria was seen in dogs affected with HAC compared to clinically healthy dogs; incidence of hypertension and albuminuria was significantly higher in dogs affected with ADH compared to PDH. However, presence of albuminuria was not correlated with systemic blood pressure. Background Hyperadrenocorticism (HAC, Cushing’s syndrome) is a common endocrine disorder in dogs and is character- ized by chronically elevated circulating concentrations of the steroid hormones produced by the adrenal cortex (e.g. cortisol) [1]. The multi-systemic effects of long- term hypercortisolism in dogs results in a variety of medical complications such as hypertension and protei- nuria [1-4]. Hypertension develops by several mechan- isms, including excessive renin concentrations which * Correspondence: hphuang@ntu.edu.tw † Contributed equally 2Institute of Clinical Veterinary Science, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan Full list of author information is available at the end of the article lead to activation of the renin-angiotensin system, increased vascular sensitivity to catecholamine, and increased concentrations of aldosterone [5-11]. These conditions warrant both prompt, in-depth evaluation of organ damage and treatment. For example, glomerular damage secondary to hypertension may further result in albuminuria which is associated with deteriorated renal function [12-17]. Apart from hypertension, many complications asso- ciated with Cushing’s syndrome in humans are also linked with increased urinary albumin excretion rate. These include dyslepidaemia, reduced insulin sensitivity, and hyper-coagulative status. These complications are also associated with canine HAC [1,16,18,19]. © 2010 Lien et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.