Serum concentrations of cardiac troponin I and cardiac troponin T in dogs with class IV congestive heart failure due to mitral valve disease

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of circulating detectable serum levels of cardiac troponin I (CTnI) and circulating detectable serum levels of cardiac troponin T (CTnT) in dogs with class IV congestive heart failure (CHF) due to mitral valve disease (MVD) at admission. An additional study aim was to determine if detectable troponin levels correlated with the magnitude of several clinical parameters. Design: Prospective clinical investigation. Setting: Small animal emergency and critical care referral hospital. Interventions: Blood was collected before emergency treatment from 15 dogs presenting in class IV CHF due to MVD. Measurements: Serum concentrations of CTnI, CTnT at presentation. Main results: Six dogs (40%) had a detectable CTnI (median 0.24, range 0.12–0.31 ng/mL), and the remainder were less than 0.1 ng/mL and deemed non‐detectable. The one dog (7%) that had a detectable CTnT (0.02 ng/mL) also had a detectable CTnI (0.23 ng/mL). There was no statistical difference in survival to discharge between dogs with non‐detectable troponin levels and those with detectable troponin levels; however, dogs with detectable troponin levels had shorter overall survival times. Dogs with a detectable level of CTnI had a median survival of 67.5 days (range 1–390 days), and dogs with a non‐detectable level of CTnI had a median survival time of 390 days (range 20–912 days) (P=0.02). Conclusion: This study suggests that CTnI can be detected at admission in the blood of 40% of dogs with class IV CHF due to MVD. Dogs with non‐detectable levels of cardiac troponins had a significantly longer overall survival time. The encouraging results of this small pilot study warrant further investigation.

Cardiac Troponins in Dogs and Cats

“…Longitudinal studies have revealed that humans as well as animals with cardiac disease have chronically increased troponin concentrations signifying ongoing myocardial injury . Generally, although influenced by the chosen assay, the concentrations of cardiac troponins in primary cardiac disease are only mildly increased (<1 ng/mL) in dogs and cats, and even in those with severe congestive heart failure concentrations rarely increase above 1–2 ng/mL . Nevertheless, this limited, persistent, and often subclinical cardiac injury seems to play a significant role.…”

The diagnostic significance of cardiac biomarkers in veterinary medicine

“…In veterinary medicine research on the potential significance and utility of NP determination has increased in the past few years. Circulating NP levels, especially NT-proBNP and BNP, have been shown to correlate with the severity of cardiac disease (class of heart failure), the degree of cardiac remodelling Chetboul et al, 2009;Wess et al, 2011), response to therapy, proglimit and one indicating clinically relevant myocardial damage) it appears that the dynamic monitoring of cTnI concentration could be more useful in assessing of myocardial dysfunction (Linklater et al, 2007). In contrast, cTnT assays are relatively uniform regarding cut-off concentrations and precision (Serra et al, 2010).…”

“…Cardiac troponin I is exclusive to the cardiac myocyte, it is immunologically different from its skeletal muscle counterpart and has been shown to increase more frequently and in the earlier stages of many small animal cardiac diseases, when compared to cTnT (Spratt et al, 2005;Wells and Sleeper, 2008). The serum cTnI concentration has been shown to correlate with the evolution of pathophysiologic alterations affecting the myocardium, clinical presentation, histopathologic lesions and outcome of cases (Linklater et al, 2007;Wells and Sleeper, 2008;Serra et al, 2010). In dogs suffering from cardiac disease of various etiologies and severity there has been a correlation of serum cTnI concentration with the severity of clinical signs.…”

“…In dogs suffering from cardiac disease of various etiologies and severity there has been a correlation of serum cTnI concentration with the severity of clinical signs. In some of these studies it has been suggested that serial troponin assessment would offer an additional benefit in the management of cardiac patients (Linklater et al, 2007). cTnI was found to be useful in assessing the severity and prognosis in dogs suffering from a variety of congenital and acquired cardiac diseases (Ljungvall et al, 2008;Fonfara et al, 2010).…”

Seric Concentration of Troponin I and Electrocardiographic Tracing in Dogs Submitted to Long-Term Sedation during 24 Hours

“…A troponina I é a isoforma cardíaca, com destaque pela especificidade na detecção de injúria no miocárdio, pois permite detectar com elevada especificidade uma lesão no miocárdio [9,24], auxiliando na monitoração da resposta às terapias e informações sobre o prognóstico de pacientes com injúrias cardíacas [16], visto que qualquer dano causado aos miócitos resulta em perda da integridade da membrana e liberação da troponina I para circulação [9].…”