ABSTRACT
Chronic mitral valve disease (CMVD) is common in dogs, it may not cause clinical symptoms of heart failure (HF) for years. The type B natriuretic peptide (BNP) is stored in the ventricular myocytes and secreted for circulation with its NT-proBNP fragment, when an increase occurs. This study evaluated the plasma levels of the NT-proBNP natriuretic peptide in Poodles at different stages of CMVD, following the guidelines of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM, 2009). Blood samples were collected for determination of NT-proBNP biomarker for comparison between groups. This median NT-proBNP in the studied groups were: 551pmol/L (Control), 302pmol/L (Group B1), 1,033pmol/L (Group B2), 954pmol/L (Group C) and 5,541pmol/L (Group D). Using an ideal cutoff of > 709pmol/L it was possible to identify dogs with true heart enlargement of those without a cardiac increase with sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 100%. NT-proBNP increased according to the progress of the stages of CMVD, being that stages B2, C and D, with the highest values of the biomarker. To stage B2, the NT-proBNP measurement proved to be an excellent tool for early diagnosis of cardiac enlargement in Poodles.
Keywords:
clinical pathology; heart failure; biomarker
