The objective was to evaluate independently the reliability of a commercially available canine serum
interleukin-10 (IL-10)
enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and to investigate canine serum
IL-10 concentrations in healthy dogs, in dogs with a naturally-occurring
acute phase reaction and in dogs following surgical stimulus by assessing intra- and interassay imprecision, inaccuracy and detection limits. Median (and range) serum
IL-10 concentrations (ng/L) in the various groups were as follows: healthy dogs (n=15), 18.9 (11.2-71.5); dogs with
pyometra (n=9), 37.9 (12.4-201.8); dogs with angiostrongylosis (n=8), 20.29 (14.3-108.7) and values in dogs following surgical stimulus (n=15), 14.8 (10.7-65.8). The assay measured canine serum
IL-10 reliably (intra- and interassay imprecision 4.9-8.3% and 9.9-10.9%, respectively; detection limit 10.7 ng/L with no significant inaccuracy). No significant increases in
IL-10 were observed following surgical stimulus and no difference in
IL-10 was observed between the diagnostic groups.
IL-10 values showed a higher degree of variation in dogs with an inflammatory response, i.e. those with elevated serum
C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations, compared to healthy dogs. As anticipated, healthy dogs had low levels of both analytes, whereas dogs with an
acute phase response had
IL-10 levels with no clear relationship to CRP concentrations, with observed low
IL-10 values even when there was a marked inflammatory response.