Cardiac biomarkers in cats : associations with feline characteristics and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Sammanfattning: Cardiac biomarkers may be used to support diagnosis of diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a common cardiac disease in cats. However, the impact of feline characteristics on these biomarkers is relatively unexplored. The biomarkers N-terminal-prohormone-B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP), cardiac troponin I (cTnI), microRNA (miRNA), blood pressure (BP) and pulse rate (PR) were studied in healthy Birman, Norwegian Forest (NF) and Domestic Shorthair (DSH) cats. Major aims of the thesis were to assess potential associations between these cardiac biomarkers and feline characteristics in healthy cats, and to compare measured values of the circulating biomarkers in healthy cats with cats with HCM. Blood pressure and PR increased with age, and NF and DSH cats had higher BP than Birman cats. For plasma NT‐proBNP, male cats had higher concentrations than female cats. Regarding cTnI, neutered male cats had higher serum concentrations than intact female cats, and Birman cats had higher cTnI concentrations than NF cats. In healthy cats, breed had an effect on miRNA-profiles in whole blood when NF cats were compared to DSH cats. In cats with HCM, NT-proBNP and cTnI concentrations were higher in cats with HCM and left atrial enlargement (LAE) than in cats with HCM without LAE and in healthy cats. In conclusion, in healthy cats, breed was associated with BP, cTnI and miRNA, sex was associated with NT-proBNP and cTnI, and age was associated with BP and PR. For NT-proBNP and cTnI, cats with HCM and LAE had higher concentrations than cats with HCM without LAE, and than in healthy cats.