Contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging to evaluate the relationship between obesity and kidney disease, and to assess therapeutic effects of weight loss and nutritional management (with omega-3 fatty acids), in a dog model.

In humans, obesity-related kidney disease tends to be an under-recognized problem. In this dog model, quantitative contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, correlated with other renal function tests, will be used to determine the (early) effects of obesity on renal perfusion. Subsequently, the therapeutic effects of weight loss and omega-3 nutritional management on renal perfusion in obese dogs will be evaluated.