Is the metabolic syndrome a useful clinical concept in dogs? A review of the evidence

The metabolic syndrome is a set of risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and stroke in human beings. The term has recently been applied to dogs that exhibit components of the human metabolic syndrome, specifically visceral obesity, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, hypertension and fasting hyperglycaemia. Obese dogs, like obese humans, are known to develop resistance to the glucose-lowering effects of insulin, and develop increased circulating concentrations of triglycerides, cholesterol and blood pressure. Unlike humans, however, obese dogs do not develop fasting hyperglycaemia or atherogenic hyperlipidaemia. Importantly, there is no evidence that dogs develop type 2 diabetes. Atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and stroke are rare and not known to be associated with obesity in dogs. On the basis of current knowledge, the use of the term ‘metabolic syndrome’ in dogs does not appear to have merit.