Canine CRP: Advancing inflammation testing in veterinary diagnostics at AAVLD

Interested in CRP for dogs? Meet Gentian at booth #311

Gentian Diagnostics is looking forward to attending the AAVLD / USAHA Annual Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, in October 2026. The annual meeting brings together veterinary diagnostic laboratory professionals, diagnosticians, researchers and other animal-health experts to exchange knowledge and discuss developments in veterinary diagnostics and disease control.

At AAVLD 2026, Gentian will highlight the Gentian Canine CRP Immunoassay, an automated assay for the quantitative determination of canine C-reactive protein (CRP) in dog serum and plasma. Designed for use on clinical chemistry analysers already available in your lab, the assay provides veterinary laboratories with a practical way to integrate canine CRP into routine testing workflows.

CRP: A valuable marker of inflammation in dogs

Inflammation is involved in a wide range of canine diseases, making reliable assessment of inflammatory activity important for diagnosis, disease monitoring and treatment follow-up.

CRP is a major acute-phase protein that responds rapidly to inflammation.^1-2 Significant changes can be detected within 4–6 hours, and because CRP has a short half-life, decreasing concentrations can provide useful information when monitoring disease development and response to treatment.^2-4

Clinical applications include^1-7:

• Detecting and assessing systemic inflammation
• Supporting the diagnosis of infection and inflammatory disorders
• Monitoring disease activity
• Monitoring response to treatment
• Supporting prognostic assessment, including in patients at increased risk of infection following surgery

Beyond WBC: Adding another perspective on inflammation

White blood cell count (WDC) has traditionally played an important role in evaluating inflammation, but WBC can be influenced by non-inflammatory factors such as stress, age, excitement and certain medications. Gentian's review of canine CRP also describes how CRP can detect mild and subclinical inflammation and responds more rapidly to inflammatory stimuli than WBC.^5-7

This makes canine CRP a useful complement to routine haematology, giving veterinary professionals additional information when assessing inflammatory activity and monitoring changes over time.

For veterinary laboratories, incorporating cCRP alongside established tests can therefore expand the diagnostic information available to clinicians without requiring a dedicated analytical platform.

Canine CRP on the clinical chemistry analyser already in your lab

The Gentian Canine CRP Immunoassay is an open-channel turbidimetric assay and can be applied to a wide range of automated clinical chemistry analysers.

Key assay benefits include:

• Canine-specific antibodies for specificity to canine CRP
• Wide measuring range up to 300 mg/L
• Validated applications across a range of clinical chemistry analysers
• Automated testing that can be incorporated into routine laboratory workflows
• Quantitative results to support assessment and monitoring of inflammatory activity

The assay has been continuously available since 2013, providing laboratories with an established solution for bringing canine CRP testing onto routine clinical chemistry platforms.

Growing role of canine CRP in veterinary diagnostics

Awareness and adoption of canine CRP testing have been increasing in North America. Gentian observes growing use of CRP not only in suspected infection and inflammatory disease, but also in broader canine health assessment and treatment monitoring.

This development reflects a broader opportunity for veterinary laboratories: to make a sensitive, quantitative inflammation marker more readily accessible through established laboratory infrastructure.

Let’s talk canine CRP at AAVLD 2026

Are you considering adding canine CRP to your clinical practise or lab's test menu, or looking for a more efficient way to run canine CRP testing?

Meet the Gentian team at AAVLD 2026 to discuss the clinical value of canine CRP, assay implementation and how Gentian can support your lab.

Contact us at marketing@gentian.com or fill out the form below to arrange a meeting or learn more about the Gentian Canine CRP Immunoassay.

References:

1. Eckersall PD, Bell R. Acute phase proteins: Biomarkers of infection and inflammation in veterinary medicine. Vet J. 2010.
2. Ceron JJ et al. Acute phase proteins in dogs and cats: current knowledge and future perspectives. Vet Clin Pathol. 2005.
3. Pepys MB, Hirschfield GM. C-reactive protein: a critical update. J Clin Invest. 2003.
4. Vigushin DM et al. Metabolic and scintigraphic studies of radioiodinated human C-reactive protein in health and disease. J Clin Invest. 1993.
5. Hoshiya T. et al. Acute Phase Response in Toxicity Studies II. The Journal of Toxicological Sciences, 2001
6. Coventry B. et al. CRP identifies homeostatic immune oscillations in cancer patients: a potential treatment targeting tool? Journal of Translational Medicine 2009
7. Oberholzer S. et al. C-Reactive Protein in Dogs: A Review for the General Practitioner. Today’s Veterinary Practice. 2023