Sled dogs as a model for studying dietary vitamin D

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has become a pandemic and has shown to be correlated with several poor health outcomes. Many factors that lead to VDD are environmental and lifestyle. Vitamin D has physiological implications involved in all areas of human health and is also important for animal health. Canines have shown adverse health outcomes similar to humans that correlate with vitamin D deficiency such as chronic kidney disease (CKD) and irritable bowel disease (IBD). Canine vitamin D requirements are largely unknown due to the lack of research and the wide ranges of supplementation throughout dog food manufacturers. Pre-active plasma vitamin D metabolites are used as the biomarker of vitamin D status in humans and dogs but may not be representative of overall vitamin D status. Therefore, other biomarkers representing vitamin D status are often used in conjunction to determine physiological relevance. To address this gap in knowledge, this study used parathyroid hormone concentrations as well as vitamin D binding protein concentrations to establish more of an overall status of vitamin D. In canines, clinical supplementation following VDD is usually administered orally with vitamin D olive oil tablets; however, supplementation is usually unsuccessful. Vitamin D and its metabolites are lipid soluble and stored in adipose tissue. Although few foods provide appreciable levels of vitamin D, wild salmon contain some of the highest dietary vitamin D levels. People living in Alaska are at an increased risk of VDD due to reduced zenith sun angles for much of the year. Consequentially sufficient vitamin D levels need to be acquired through diet or supplementation. Historically, Alaska Natives obtained sufficient amounts of vitamin D from traditional subsistence foods, but with the progressive shift away from these foods VDD has increased in Alaskan populations. The limited research available suggests that Alaskan sled dogs in particular are a group found to be generally VDD. Sled dogs are an important part of the traditional Alaska subsistence lifestyle and have evolved alongside humans in the circumpolar north. Sled dogs, therefore, provide a valuable model for studying health outcomes associated with VDD in both people and dogs in the far north. This study provides significant evidence showing wild Alaskan salmon as a dietary source of supplementation to raise 25(OH)Vitamin D serum in dogs after only 4 weeks. We also show significance in variation by confounding factors, age and sex.