A clinical tool is a test that your veterinarian can use to interpret your dog's unique clinical picture; however, it may not affect the way your dog looks or require monitoring and treatment. These are different from other variants, like health conditions, which are associated with disease risk.
For example, Embark assesses a variant in the GPT gene that is associated with low, but still within normal range, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity. ALT is an enzyme highly expressed in liver cells; it is used by most veterinarians as a measure of liver health. When the liver is inflamed or damaged, ALT activity increases dramatically. Healthy dogs with one or two copies of this variant tend to have ALT activity that resides on the low end of normal. While not a concern itself, in the event of liver damage, these dogs' ALT activity may not increase outside the normal range of ALT activity.
For a veterinarian, this is a valuable piece of information that can be used to accurately assess your dog's health. You can reach more here: Your Dog Has a High Chance of Low ALT, Should You Worry?
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