Effect of type of diet on blood and plasma taurine concentrations, cardiac biomarkers, and echocardiograms in 4 dog breeds

BACKGROUND: Associations of diet with dilated cardiomyopathy are under investigation. OBJECTIVES: That cardiac assessment would show abnormalities in healthy dogs eating grain-free (GF) diets or diets with Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-listed ingredients of concern (peas, lentils, or potatoes) as top 10 ingredients (FDA-PLP), but not in dogs eating grain-inclusive (GI) diets or diets without FDA-listed ingredients of concern (PLP) in the top 10 ingredients (NoFDA-PLP). ANIMALS: One hundred eighty-eight healthy Doberman Pinschers, Golden Retrievers, Miniature Schnauzers, and Whippets. METHODS: This study was an observational cross-sectional study. Echocardiograms, cardiac biomarkers, and blood and plasma taurine concentrations were compared between dogs eating GF (n = 26) and GI (n = 162) diets, and between FDA-PLP (n = 39) and NoFDA-PLP (n = 149) diets, controlling for age and breed. Demographic characteristics, murmurs, genetic status, and ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) during examination were compared between dogs eating different diet types. RESULTS: No differences in echocardiographic variables, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide or whole blood taurine were noted between dogs eating different diet types. Dogs eating GF diets had higher median high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) (GF 0.076 ng/mL [Interquartile range (IQR), 0.028-0.156] vs. GI 0.048 [IQR, 0.0026-0.080]; P \u3c .001) and higher median plasma taurine (GF 125 nmol/mL [IQR, 101-148] vs GI 104 [IQR, 86-123]; P = .02) than dogs eating GI diets. Dogs eating FDA-PLP diets had higher median hs-cTnI (0.059 ng/mL [IQR, 0.028-0.122]) than dogs eating NoFDA-PLP diets (0.048 [IQR, 0.025-0.085]; P = .006). A greater proportion of dogs eating FDA-PLP diets (10%) had VPCs than dogs eating NoFDA-PLP diets (2%; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Higher hs-cTnI in healthy dogs eating GF and FDA-PLP diets might indicate low-level cardiomyocyte injury

Efficacy of a mitral regurgitation severity index to predict long-term outcome in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease

Background Predicting progression of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) in dogs can be challenging. Hypothesis/Objectives The mitral regurgitation severity index (MRSI) will predict time to congestive heart failure (CHF) and all-cause death in dogs with MMVD. Animals Eight hundred sixty-nine client-owned dogs. Methods Retrospective study pooling data from 4 previous samples including dogs with MMVD stage B2 or C. MRSI was calculated as: (heart rate [HR]/120) × left atrium-to-aorta ratio (LA:Ao) × (age in years/10) × 100. Alternative MRSI formulas substituting radiographic measures of left atrial size were also calculated. Cox proportional hazard modeling and time-dependent receiver-operator characteristic curves quantified prognostic performance. Results For Stage B2 pooled samples, MRSI > 156 was predictive of time to CHF (median 407 vs 1404 days; area under the curve [AUC] 0.68; hazard ratio 3.02 [95% CI 1.9-4.9]; P  173 was predictive of all-cause death (median survival 868 vs 1843 days; AUC 0.64; hazard ratio 4.26 [95% CI 2.4-7.5]; P < .001). MRSI showed superior predictive value compared to the individual variables of HR, LA:Ao, and age. Variations of the MRSI equation substituting radiographic vertebral left atrial size for LA:Ao were also significantly predictive of outcome in stage B2. MRSI was not consistently predictive of outcome in Stage C. Conclusions and Clinical Importance MRSI was predictive of outcome (onset of CHF and all-cause death) in MMVD Stage B2, demonstrating utility as a useful prognostic tool. Echocardiographic LA:Ao can be effectively replaced by radiographically determined LA size in the MRSI formula.This article is published as Vereb, Michelle, Clarke E. Atkins, Darcy Adin, Thomas Blondel, Melissa Coffman, Seunggon Lee, Emilie Guillot, and Jessica L. Ward. "Efficacy of a mitral regurgitation severity index to predict long‐term outcome in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease." Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (2023). doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16923. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. Copyright 2023 The Authors