Table 1.
Dietary supplementation with ursolic acid is well tolerated and safe in dogs. Healthy adult dogs were randomized to receive either no ursolic acid soft chew or 5 ursolic acid canine soft chews (for a total of 120 mg ursolic acid/day) once a day for 28 days. Each group contained 8 dogs (4 females and 4 males). Food consumption, body weight, rectal temperature, complete blood counts, blood chemistry, and urine chemistry were assessed in each animal at baseline and at the conclusion of the 28-day study. Data are means ± SD from 8 animals per condition. Shapiro–Wilk tests were used to assess the distribution of the data. p-values were determined with Student’s t-tests or Wilcoxon’s signed-rank tests. * p < 0.05 vs. initial value. MCV: mean corpuscular volume; MCH: mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC: mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; BUN: blood urea nitrogen; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; SDMA: symmetric dimethylarginine.
| Control (No Chew) | Ursolic Acid (5 Chews/Day) | Reference Range | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial | Final | Initial | Final | ||
| Food consumption (g) | 244 ± 55 | 243 ± 68 | 275 ± 49 | 248 ± 77 | N/A |
| Body weight (kg) | 8.8 ± 2.8 | 9.12 ± 2.9 * | 9.82 ± 2.8 | 10.14 ± 3.0 * | N/A |
| Body temperature (°C) | 38.3 ± 0.3 | 38.4 ± 0.3 | 38.4 ± 0.3 | 38.5 ± 0.4 | N/A |
| Complete Blood Counts | |||||
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 16.7 ± 1.6 | 16.4 ± 1.4 | 16.1 ± 0.9 | 16.2 ± 1.2 | 13.1–20.5 |
| Hematocrit (%) | 47.2 ± 4.5 | 46.2 ± 4.1 | 45.4 ± 3.3 | 45.7 ± 3.5 | 37.3–61.7 |
| Red blood cells (M/µL) | 7.45 ± 0.66 | 7.21 ± 0.64 | 7.07 ± 0.28 | 7.09 ± 0.49 | 5.65–8.87 |
| MCV (fl) | 63.3 ± 3.6 | 64.1 ± 3.5 * | 64.1 ± 2.6 | 64.4 ± 1.9 | 61.6–73.5 |
| MCH (pg) | 22.4 ± 1.1 | 22.8 ± 1.3 | 22.7 ± 0.7 | 22.9 ± 1.0 | 21.2–25.9 |
| MCHC (g/dL) | 35.5 ± 0.5 | 35.5 ± 0.6 | 35.5 ± 0.8 | 35.5 ± 0.8 | 32.0–37.9 |
| Reticulocytes (K/µL) | 21 ± 9 | 30 ± 8 | 25 ± 12 | 28 ± 17 | 10–110 |
| Platelets (K/µL) | 305 ± 69 | 326 ± 116 | 277 ± 81 | 288 ± 90 | 148–484 |
| White blood cells (K/µL) | 8.78 ± 2.10 | 9.10 ± 3.65 | 9.16 ± 1.19 | 8.73 ± 1.56 | 5.05–16.76 |
| Neutrophils (K/µL) | 5.35 ± 1.18 | 5.90 ± 2.68 | 5.73 ± 0.81 | 5.40 ± 1.07 | 2.95–11.64 |
| Lymphocytes (K/µL) | 2.23 ± 0.68 | 1.96 ± 0.49 | 2.39 ± 0.67 | 2.20 ± 0.43 | 1.05–5.10 |
| Monocytes (K/µL) | 0.68 ± 0.27 | 0.78 ± 0.45 | 0.69 ± 0.19 | 0.71 ± 0.31 | 0.16–1.12 |
| Eosinophils (K/µL) | 0.52 ± 0.59 | 0.46 ± 0.38 | 0.34 ± 0.35 | 0.40 ± 0.20 | 0.06–1.23 |
| Basophils (K/µL) | 0.01 ± 0.01 | 0.01 ± 0.01 | 0.02 ± 0.02 | 0.02 ± 0.03 | 0.00–0.10 |
| Blood Chemistry | |||||
| Glucose (g/L) | 0.85 ± 0.09 | 0.95 ± 0.08 * | 0.85 ± 0.12 | 0.86 ± 0.09 | 0.74–1.43 |
| Sodium (mmol/L) | 155 ± 2 | 155 ± 2 | 155 ± 2 | 155 ± 2 | 144–160 |
| Potassium (mmol/L) | 4 ± 0 | 4 ± 0 | 4 ± 0 | 4 ± 0 | 3.5–5.8 |
| Chloride (mmol/L) | 115 ± 2 | 114 ± 2 | 115 ± 3 | 114 ± 2 | 109–122 |
| Calcium (mg/L) | 99 ± 4 | 99 ± 3 | 100 ± 5 | 100 ± 3 | 79–120 |
| Magnesium (mg/L) | 18 ± 1 | 18 ± 1 | 18 ± 1 | 17 ± 1 | 14–24 |
| Phosphate (mg/L) | 38 ± 12 | 42 ± 4.5 | 42 ± 8.7 | 41 ± 8.3 | 25–68 |
| BUN (g/L) | 0.25 ± 0.04 | 0.26 ± 0.06 | 0.25 ± 0.07 | 0.24 ± 0.04 | 0.15–0.57 |
| Creatinine (mg/L) | 6.1 ± 1.3 | 5.8 ± 1.1 | 6.6 ± 1.7 | 6.0 ± 0.9 | 5.0–18.0 |
| Total protein (g/L) | 58 ± 3 | 59 ± 3 | 58 ± 2 | 58 ± 2 | 52–82 |
| Albumin (g/L) | 32 ± 4 | 33 ± 3 | 32 ± 1 | 32 ± 2 | 23–40 |
| Globulin (g/L) | 25 ± 1 | 26 ± 1 | 26 ± 1 | 26 ± 1 | 25–45 |
| AST (IU/L) | 30 ± 8 | 32 ± 6 | 31 ± 11 | 35 ± 9 * | 0–50 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 48 ± 27 | 41 ± 11 | 46 ± 19 | 46 ± 26 | 10–125 |
| Alkaline phosphatase (IU/L) | 73 ± 25 | 77 ± 28 | 104 ± 61 | 87 ± 68 | 23–212 |
| SDMA (μg/L) | 7 ± 2 | 7 ± 2 | 8 ± 2 | 7 ± 1 | 0–14 |
| Urine Chemistry | |||||
| pH | 6.1 ± 0.6 | 5.7 ± 0.4 | 6.0 ± 0.4 | 5.9 ± 0.4 | 5.3–7.0 |
| Specific gravity | 1.040 ± 0.014 | 1.037 ± 0.010 | 1.037 ± 0.008 | 1.032 ± 0.014 | 1.016–1.060 |