Acute kidney injury in horses as a consequence of treatment with suxibuzone

Abstract

Suxibuzone is a prodrug of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone. The aim of this study was to investigate the nephrotoxicity of suxibuzone using the recommended dosage in euhydrated horses. Serum creatinine levels were used to monitor for the presence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in 11 systemically healthy horses treated orally with suxibuzone at the recommended dosage for five days. Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), urine gamma glutamyl transferase/urine creatinine, fractional excretion of sodium, urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, and urine sediment were assessed as additional monitoring parameters. A significant increase in creatinine was found in treated horses (P = 0.002), 27% (3/11) of treated horses were classified as having AKI compared to 0% of controls (0/10), and a strong correlation was found between the change in creatinine and the change in SDMA in treated horses (τ = 0.645, P = 0.012). The results of this study suggest that treatment with suxibuzone at the recommended dosage can induce AKI even in systemically healthy euhydrated horses.