Species-Spanning Echocardiography: Cardiovascular Insights from Across the Animal Kingdom

Cardiomyopathy Across the Tree of Life: Insights for Clinicians and Investigators

“…For example, compared with other ungulates, pregnant okapi may have an increased incidence of peripartum cardiomyopathy, some avian species appear especially vulnerable to atherosclerosis and complications such as ischemic cardiomyopathy, and the thick left ventricles and predisposition to ventricular arrhythmias identified in some marsupials may be linked to the biology underlying human hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 2…”

“…For example, compared with other ungulates, pregnant okapi may have an increased incidence of peripartum cardiomyopathy, some avian species appear especially vulnerable to atherosclerosis and complications such as ischemic cardiomyopathy, and the thick left ventricles and predisposition to ventricular arrhythmias identified in some marsupials may be linked to the biology underlying human hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 2 Dog and cat breeds with increased cardiomyopathy risk may share genomic characteristics with affected humans. 3,4 Examples of animal genomics linked to similar disease in humans include the following: TTN (titin) gene mutations and dilated cardiomyopathy in Doberman, point mutations in dystrophin genes and cardiac myopathies in German Shorthaired Pointer, mutations in the striatin gene and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy in Weimaraner and Boxer, and mutations in myosin-binding protein C and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in predisposed cat breeds (eg, Maine Coon and Ragdoll).…”

Beyond Zoonoses in One Health: Non-communicable Diseases Across the Animal Kingdom

“…Environmental factors, especially exposure to fine particulate matter, have been implicated in over 25% of ischemic heart disease related deaths (12). Atherosclerosis has been identified in the vasculature of a wide range of animals in wild, captive, companion and agricultural settings great apes (13), parrots (14,15), domestic cats ( 16), swine, and horses (17). The vulnerability of other animals to atherosclerosis and the increasingly strong linkage between environmental factors and atherogenesis point to a major underleveraged source of insights.…”

Going beyond established model systems of Alzheimer’s disease: companion animals provide novel insights into the neurobiology of aging

“…Companion animals, which are domesticated dogs and cats maintained as household pets (Table 1 and Supplementary Data 1 ), suffer from many diseases also observed in humans. Like humans, companion animals suffer from cancer, aging, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease 5 . Veterinary and human medicine are focused on identifying and treating similar diseases, but these two fields rarely interact.…”