ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Neurology and Neurosurgery
Glucose measurement in cerebrospinal fluid compared to peripheral blood in dogs with central nervous system disease
Provisionally accepted
- 1Colorado State University Libraries, Fort Collins, United States
- 2Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States
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Introduction: Glucose in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is an easily measurable parameter that may correlate with inflammatory central nervous system (CNS) disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate CSF glucose concentration and CSF:peripheral blood glucose ratio (CBGR) in healthy dogs of various ages and dogs with inflammatory versus non-inflammatory CNS disease. Methods: This was a single institution retrospective study. Dogs who had peripheral blood collection within 24 hours of CSF tap were included. The CSF glucose measurement and CBGR were calculated for healthy dogs and for dogs with various categories of CNS disease. Results: Forty-one healthy dogs and 359 dogs with CNS disease were included. Mean (95% CI) CSF glucose in healthy dogs was 78.4 mg/dl (72.0–84.7) and mean CBGR was 0.80 (0.74–0.86). Among healthy dogs, there was a significant positive correlation between age and CBGR (ρ=0.41) (P=.007). Non-Inflammatory Structural CNS disease had a significantly higher CSF glucose concentration than healthy dogs (87.8 mg/dl [84.2–91.4], P=.03). There was no significant difference in mean CBGR compared to healthy dogs for Non-Inflammatory Structural CNS disease (0.81 [0.78–0.84], P=0.98) or Idiopathic Epilepsy (0.75 [0.71–0.79], P=0.28). Mean CBGR for dogs with Inflammatory CNS disease (0.70 [0.65–0.74]) was significantly lower than that of healthy dogs (P=.02). When dogs were divided into more specific disease categories, there was no significant difference in CBGR compared to healthy dogs for Autoimmune (0.70 [0.66– 0.75], P=.06), Infectious (0.67 [0.56–0.77], P=0.15), or any other category. Discussion: Healthy dogs have a CBGR of approximately 0.80, but older age may affect this value. Altered CBGR may help distinguish inflammatory from non-inflammatory structural CNS disease.
Keywords: Cerebrospinal Fluid, Spinal Tap, meningoencephalitis of unknown origin, bloodbrain barrier, CSF glucose, Inflammatory brain disease
Received: 16 Sep 2025; Accepted: 30 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wolfe, Schlein, Henry and McGrath. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Stephanie McGrath
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