Serum alkaline phosphatase activity in Scottish Terriers versus dogs of other breeds.

Objective: To determine whether Scottish Terriers have higher serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities and a higher prevalence of diseases commonly associated with high serum ALP activity than do dogs of other breeds.

Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Animals: 85 Scottish Terriers and 340 age-matched control dogs that were not Scottish Terriers.

Procedure: Medical records were reviewed, and data for year of evaluation, age, sex, breed, serum ALP activity, and final diagnosis were recorded.

Results: Scottish Terriers had a significantly higher mean serum ALP activity than did control dogs (1,520 U/L vs 306 U/L). Regardless of breed, dogs that had a disease commonly associated with high serum ALP activity had a significantly higher mean serum ALP activity than did dogs without such diseases (1,304 U/L vs 427 U/L). Scottish Terriers were 2.4 times as likely to have a disease commonly associated with high serum ALP activity than were control dogs, but Scottish Terriers with diseases commonly associated with high serum ALP activity had a significantly higher mean ALP activity than did control dogs with such diseases (2,073 U/L vs 909 U/L), and Scottish Terriers without such diseases had a significantly higher mean serum ALP activity than did control dogs without such diseases (1,349 U/L vs 228 U/L).

Conclusions And Clinical Relevance: Results suggest that Scottish Terriers have higher serum ALP activities than do dogs of other breeds. Although Scottish Terriers also have a higher prevalence of diseases associated with high serum ALP activity, this alone did not explain the higher mean serum ALP activity in the breed.