Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery in a Staffordshire Bull Terrier

An asymptomatic 17-month-old, 18.5-kg, male Staffordshire Bull Terrier was referred due to a heart murmur. Examination revealed a grade 3/6 left apical systolic and right apical 3/6 heart murmur. Echocardiography showed volume overload of the left ventricle and mild systolic dysfunction with a left-right flow over the interventricular septal region. Cardiac gated computed tomography revealed anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery, an extensive network of collateral blood vessels connected the right and left coronary arteries, with bronchial and left intercostal arteries also connected to the network of collateral blood vessels, markedly enlarged right and left coronary arteries and left coronary sinus. With varied presentation, coronary anomalies are difficult to recognise and classify and to the best of our knowledge this is the first case of anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery diagnosis in the dog.

Serum paraoxonase 1 activity and lipid metabolism parameter changes in Dachshunds with chronic mitral valve disease. Assessment of its diagnostic usefulness

Chronic mitral valve disease, which is frequently diagnosed in Dachshunds, leads to structural, hemodynamic and redox state changes in dogs. The aim of this study was to investigate serum paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity and lipid metabolism in different disease stages. Standardized PON1 activity (PON1/HDL ratio) was lower in asymptomatic dogs, B1 and B2 Stages when compared to healthy ones and symptomatic Dachshunds in Stage C (ACVIM classfication). PON1 paraoxonase activity was elevated in Stage C dogs, with no changes found in PON1 activity towards phenyl acetate. Dachshunds in Stage B2 and C showed increased triglyceride levels, with no changes in cholesterol and lipoprotein concentration in comparison to healthy ones. Our data suggest that standardized PON1 activity changes could be used in laboratory diagnostics to differentiate the CMVD of affected asymptomatic (Stage B1 and B2) dogs from healthy (Stage A) and clinically affected (Stage C) dogs. Also, a standardized PON1 activity increase might be a prognostic progression signal of the disease to Stage C.

The influence of age, gender and weight on transthoracic echocardiographic evaluation of transmitral and left ventricular outflow tract diastolic parametersin healthy dogs

The aim of this study was to obtain reference values for diastolic cardiac function parameters in healthy dogs and to ascertain if significant differences exist between dogs of various age, weight and sex. The study was performed on 82 healthy dogs of different age and breed. Eleven param- eters were analyzed: peak velocity during early diastolic filling, acceleration time of early diastol- ic filling, deceleration time of early diastolic filling, total time of early diastolic filling, peak veloc- ity during late diastolic filling, acceleration time of late diastolic filling, deceleration time of late diastolic filling, total time of late diastolic filling, total time of early and late diastolic filling, ratio of peak velocities during early and late diastolic filling, isovolumetric relaxation time. The Dop- pler measurements used for general assessment of diastolic function in healthy dogs were signifi- cantly influenced by body weight, heart rate and age. No significant differences were found be- tween males and females. This study described the value of non-invasive echocardiographic assessment of diastolic function in healthy dogs.

Reference intervals for transthoracic echocardiographic measurements in adult Dachshunds

The aim of this study was to establish reference values for 2D and M-mode measurements in Dachshunds. Basic echocardiographic data, including M-mode, 2D and spectral Doppler mea- surements, was collected, analyzed and compared between 41 healthy Dachshunds and 50 other healthy dogs of similar weight. Echocardiographic reference intervals were prepared for Dachs- hunds. Dachshunds had a smaller left ventricular diameter in diastole and systole and a thicker septum than other dog breeds. Male Dachshunds had larger diastolic and systolic left ventricular diameter than females. Reference intervals for 2D and M-mode measurements in healthy Dachs- hunds differ from other dogs of similar weight and should be used for this breed to assess cham- ber enlargement.

ProANP as a screening biomarker for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in Maine coon cats

The aim of this study was to determine if atrial natriuretic peptide can be used as an early screening tool for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in Maine coon cats.

ANIMALS

The study was performed in 43 Maine coon cats of both sexes, aged 11 to 92 months. Clinical and echocardiographic examinations were done and proANP serum concentrations were measured every three months over a period of one year (each cat had a total of five examinations). Cats were divided into 3 groups based on echocardiographic results: group 1 - healthy cats, group 2 - cats with unequivocal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy results, group 3 - cats with HCM. The study showed that the concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide correlates with the severity of HCM. A significant increase in serum concentration of this peptide was observed in cats from group 3, but it did not differ significantly between cats from group 2 and the healthy animals (p>0.05). A correlation was also found between proANP and age of the cats (p<0.01, r=0.5578) as well as between the ejection fraction (p=0.0285, r=0.5305) and end-systolic left ventricular diameter (p=0.05, r=0.48) in the affected animals. Atrial natriuretic peptide may be used to help in the diagnosis of advanced stages of HCM in Maine coon cats. Cats with high levels of proANP should be assigned to echocardiographic studies to confirm the disease.

Correlation between peripheral blood cell transcriptomic profile and clinical parameters of chronic mitral valve disease in Dachshunds

Studies identifying specific pathologically expressed genes have been performed on diseased myocardial tissue samples, however less invasive studies on gene expression of peripheral blood mononucleated cells give promising results. This study assessed transcriptomic data that may be used to evaluate Dachshunds with chronic mitral valve disease. Dachshunds with different stages of heart disease were compared to a control, healthy group. Microarray data analysis revealed clusters of patients with similar expression profiles. The clusters were compared to the clinical classification scheme. Unsupervised classification of the studied groups showed three clusters. Clinical and laboratory parameters of patients from the cluster 1 were in accordance with those found in patients without heart disease. Data obtained from patients from the cluster 3 were typical of advanced heart failure patients. Comparison of the cluster 1 and 3 groups revealed 1133 differentially expressed probes, 7 significantly regulated process pathways and 2 significantly regulated Ariadne Metabolic Pathways. This study may serve as a guideline for directing future research on gene expression in chronic mitral valve disease.

Immunosuppression in Dogs During Mammary Cancer Development

Cancer immunosuppression that facilitates tumor progression and metastasis evolves by development of an immunosuppressive network. The aim of this study was to assess this network in dogs with benign or malignant tumors with or without confirmed metastasis. The authors showed that the number of various T cell subpopulations was constant during tumor development; however the number of regulatory T cells (Tregs) was significantly higher in tumor-bearing dogs than in healthy individuals. The number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and their p-STAT3 expression (which is a negative regulator of hematopoiesis and regulates VEGF expression) were higher in cancer patients than in control dogs, however their number increased significantly in late-stage cancer patients. Canine mammary carcinomas with confirmed metastases to either lymph nodes or internal organs had greater MDSCs and Treg infiltration than benign mammary tumors or malignant mammary tumors for which metastases had not been detected. Similarly, expression of p-STAT3 and VEGF-C was the highest in tumors with confirmed metastases. This research shows changes occurring in the blood (n = 30 patients) and tumor tissue of patients (n = 100) during canine mammary tumor development. The findings should be considered preliminary because of the small number of samples. Nonetheless, the findings suggest that a high level of Tregs and MDSCs as well as high expression of p-STAT3 and VEGF-C may significantly contribute to mammary tumor progression and metastasis in dogs.