Therapeutic Effectiveness of a Dietary Supplement for Management of Halitosis in Dogs

The overall goal of this procedure is to demonstrate the modulating activity of a specific diet for halitosis management in dogs by means of a portable chromatograph for human use. This is accomplished by first randomly dividing dogs of different breeds, suffering from chronic halitosis into two groups. A baseline measurement of the volatile sulfur compounds or VSC, which are the major causative factors of halitosis, is then acquired from the dogs using the oral chroma gas chromatograph.

Then a specific diet is provided to the dog's belonging to the treatment group for a 30 day period while the other group receives a placebo measurement of the halitosis related compounds is repeated throughout the treatment period and at the end of treatment. The final step is to allow both groups to have a washout period where all animals are fed with placebo. At the end of the washout period, the two groups are inverted, such that the control group receives the dietary supplement and the treatment group receives the placebo.

The main advantage of this technique over existing methods like high performance liquid chromatography and solid phase macro extraction gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, is that is portable rapid and does not require a long training to perform an independent analysis. Demonstrating the procedure will be Francesca, a graduate student from my laboratory. To begin randomly divide 32 dogs of different breeds, suffering from chronic halitosis into two groups, subject the dogs to a veterinary inspection.

The oral chroma gas chromatograph is a portable device which measures the volatile sulfur compounds or VSC, which are the major causative factors of halitosis. Before treatment with a dietary supplement measure the dog's level of VSC to do so. First turn on the main switch at the back of the unit.

The initial screen displays the words measurement mode. Then press the enter key to select measurement mode. Wait is displayed on the screen and the standby time required to stabilize the measuring device is displayed next to the word counter.

When the standby time has come to an end, the device is automatically ready to measure and the ready indicator lamp turns on. Next, run the data manager software. Click measure.

Enter the ID and click okay. A message is displayed that says, this ID was not found in the data folder. Would you like to register this ID newly at this point, click yes.

Then type, name any comment, sex and date of birth of the subject, and afterwards, click Okay. A message is displayed that says, click okay to start receiving now click okay on the displayed message. Next, use a one milliliter disposable syringe to collect the breath from the dog's mouth by placing the syringe in the dog's labial commissure, slowly pulling the plunger and removing the syringe from the dog's mouth.

Adjust the volume of the syringe to one cubic centimeter. Attach the supplied needle to the end of the syringe, and after opening the lid, eject the sample into the inlet on the device main unit by pushing the plunger measurements start automatically and the ready indicator lamp goes off. Measurement is completed in eight minutes and the result is automatically displayed.

The judgment window appears upon completing the measurement, measurement history and measure data can be displayed. Push enter to store the results into the unit. Then wait one minute to stabilize the device and perform a new measurement.

At the end of this time, the lamp turns on to indicate that the device is ready. After the baseline measurements have been taken for each dog, provide one group with a dietary supplement and one with a placebo over a period of 30 days. See the text protocol for the correct dose of the dietary supplement or placebo.

Repeat the VSC measurement at 10 days post-treatment, 20 days post-treatment, and at the end of treatment after a 30 day treatment, ensure that both groups have a 10 day washout where all animals are fed with placebo. At the end of the washout period. Invert the two groups such that the control group receives the dietary supplement for another 30 days and the treatment group receives the placebo.

After repeating the VSC measurement a final time, subject the dogs to another veterinary inspection, a significant decrease in hydrogen sulfide concentration is observed in treated animals from a baseline value of 0.43 nanograms per milliliter to 0.06 nanograms per milliliter after 30 days of treatment. As shown here, there is a significant decrease of methylome captan concentration in treated animals from a baseline value of 0.30 nanograms per milliliter to 0.06 nanograms per milliliter. After 30 days of treatment, a significant decrease in dimethyl sulfide concentration was also observed in treated animals from a baseline value of 0.28 nanograms per milliliter to 0.13 nanograms per milliliter After 30 days of treatment, the results are comparable.

After the 10 day washout period, there was a significant decrease in hydrogen sulfide concentration after 20 days of treatment from a baseline value of 0.37 nanograms per milliliter to 0.10 nanograms per milliliter. A similar trend is observed for methylome captan, which shows a significant decrease of the compound concentration from a baseline value of 0.24 nanograms per milliliter to 0.05 nanograms per milliliter after 30 days of treatment. As to dimethyl sulfide a significant decrease of the compound concentration from a baseline value of 0.32 nanograms per milliliter to 0.11 nanograms per milliliter was observed after 30 days of treatment.

After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to easily monitor halitosis compounds variation following a specific diet While attempting this procedure, it is important to remember to leave the device to stabilize for eight minutes before each measurement.