6--400), 3, 0            0-150             0.065
            *Albumin (g/L)*              31 (27--36), 1, 0        29 (26--34), 0, 0            23-35            \<0.001
        *Cholesterol (mmol/L)*          5.6 (2.5-9.1), 6, 1      5.0 (1.9-7.7), 4, 2          3.5-7.0            0.040
         *Creatinine (μmol/L)*           84 (37--123), 1, 0      80 (30--122), 1, 0           20-110             0.033
           *Globulins (g/L)*             31 (21--48), 1, 0        27 (22--41), 0, 0            22-40             0.012
          *Glucose (mmol/L)*            5.3 (3.5-8.7), 8, 0      5.2 (3.0-7.4), 6, 0          3.5-5.5            0.210
            *Urea (mmol/L)*             4.6 (1.6-8.0), 2, 3      5.6 (3.5-8.9), 3, 0          3.5-7.0            0.047
       *Triglycerides (mmol/L)*         1.2 (0.6-5.3), 8, 0      0.9 (0.6-2.1), 3, 0          0.6-1.5            0.015

Data are expressed as median (range), number above reference range, and number below reference range. P values quoted for Wilcoxon signed ranks test.

Changes in plasma nutrient concentrations with weight loss
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Plasma nutrient concentrations are shown in Table [4](#T4){ref-type="table"}. For the 26 dogs with initial and post sample analysis of choline, betaine, and amino acids, the median time between the two samples (weight loss program duration) was 242 days, with a range of 91--674 days. Plasma amino acid concentrations had wide ranges and no systematic change was noted across all nutrients (i.e. some increased while other decreased with weight loss). Additionally, median concentrations of the amino acid were not outside the reference range of the laboratory (determined by two standard deviations from their median score in 131 healthy animals), with the exception of aspartic acid and glutamic acid, which were more than the reference range before and after weight loss.

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Median (and range) of selected nutrients in dogs pre and post weight loss

           ***Nutrient***     