ABSTRACT
The aim of the study was to describe the urinary electrophoretic pattern of dogs with heartworm disease. Urine samples from 15 heartworm-infected and 15 healthy dogs were taken. Urinary specific gravity, urinary protein concentration and the urine protein/creatinine [U P/C] ratio were determined. Urine proteins were fractionated using SDS-PAGE. Results showed statistically significant differences for the U P/C ratio [P<0.05] but not for USG and urinary protein concentrations [P>0.05] between groups. Urinary protein SDSPAGE analysis showed eight distinct bands in the urine of heartworm-infected dogs. The presence of proteins exclusively found in the urine of infected dogs suggests renal damage, even in cases of light proteinuria, indicating that SDS-PAGE is a sensitive method for the identification and characterisation of renal proteinuria in dogs with heartworm disease