Changes of inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in dogs with different stages of heart failure.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is associated with changes in inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers. This study aimed to evaluate the changes of a panel of inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in dogs with different stages of HF and its relation with the severity of the disease and echocardiographic changes. A total of 29&#xa0;dogs with HF as a result of myxomatous mitral valve degeneration or dilated cardiomyopathy were included and&#xa0;classified as stage-A (healthy), B (asymptomatic dogs), C (symptomatic dogs) and D (dogs with end-stage HF) according to the ACVIM staging system. In these dogs an ecnhocardiographic examination was performed and cytokines, and inflammatory and oxidative stress markers were evaluated&#xa0;in serum. RESULTS: KC-like was significantly increased in dogs of stage-C (P&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.01) and -D (P&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.05) compared with stage-A and -B. Stage-D dogs showed significantly higher serum CRP and Hp (P&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.05) but lower serum antioxidant capacity (PON1, TEAC, CUPRAC, and thiol) compared to stage-A and -B (P&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.05). After the treatment, serum levels of CRP, Hp and KC-like decreased and serum antioxidant levels increased compared to their pre-treatment values. Left ventricular dimension and LA/Ao ratio correlated positively with CRP, MCP-1, and KC-like but negatively with PON1, GM-CSF, IL-7 and antioxidant biomarkers (P&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.01). CONCLUSION: Our results showed that dogs with advanced HF show increases in positive acute-phase proteins and selected inflammatory cytokines such as&#xa0;KC-like, and decreases in antioxidant biomarkers, indicating that inflammation and oxidative stress act as collaborative partners in the pathogenesis of HF. Some of these biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress could&#xa0;have the potential to be biomarkers to monitor the severity of the disease and the effect of treatment.