A Pilot Study Investigating the Clinically Significant Association Between Overweight, Hyperlipidemia, and Insulin Resistance in Dogs With Chronic Liver Disease

The liver plays a central role in glucose and lipid metabolism. In human medicine, glucose metabolism alterations and insulin resistance are commonly associated with chronic liver disease (CLD), particularly in metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). In veterinary medicine, however, the role of glucose metabolism in CLD remains poorly understood. We enrolled 67 client-owned dogs, including healthy controls, hepatopathic dogs with (metabolic hepatopathy [MH]) or without (non-metabolic hepatopathy [non-MH]) metabolic factors such as overweight and hyperlipidemia, chronic kidney disease (CKD) dogs, and hyperlipidemic CKD (CKD HL) dogs. We measured serum liver enzymes, triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose, fructosamine, and insulin. Insulin resistance was assessed using the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). Our findings revealed significantly elevated HOMA-IR values in MH dogs compared to all other groups (median: MH—6.89; non-MH—3.71; CKD—2.19; CKD HL—1.36; healthy—3.20). This increase occurred despite no significant differences in serum glucose and fructosamine concentrations. Results suggest the presence of insulin resistance in dogs with MH. HOMA-IR was not correlated with liver biochemical parameters (ALT, ALP, and bilirubin) but showed a positive correlation with hypertriglyceridemia. As this is a pilot study, further research is needed to clarify the role of insulin resistance in canine hepatopathies.