Assessment of Platelet and Plasma Serotonin in Canine Pulmonary Hypertension Secondary to Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease

• Main Authors: Nattawan Tangmahakul, Pussadee Makoom, Sirilak Disatian Surachetpong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-06-01
• Series: Frontiers in Veterinary Science
• Subjects: canine; degenerative mitral valve disease; pulmonary hypertension; plasma; platelet; serotonin
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.695492/full

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a common complication of degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD), the most common cardiovascular disease in dogs. Serotonin has been suspected to play a role in the pathogenesis of PH, so this study aimed to investigate the differences in platelet and plasma serotonin between normal, DMVD and DMVD with PH (DMVD+PH) dogs.Materials and Methods: Sixty-two small-breed dogs were enrolled to the study and divided into the normal (n = 22), DMVD (n = 20), and DMVD+PH (n = 20) groups. The platelet and plasma serotonin concentrations were measured by the competitive ELISA.Results: The Kruskal–Wallis revealed the difference among the four groups of normal (179.73 [102.37–352.24] ng/109 platelets), DMVD (325.99 [96.84–407.66] ng/109 platelets), DMVD with intermediate probability of PH (291.11 [106.69–400.84] ng/109 platelets) and DMVD with high probability of PH (35.82 [2.69–126.35] ng/109 platelets) (p = 0.014). The Dunn's post-hoc test showed a decrease in the platelet serotonin concentration of the DMVD dogs with high probability of PH compared to the DMVD group (p = 0.008). The plasma serotonin concentration was not different between normal, DMVD, and DMVD+PH dogs.Conclusion: In conclusion, a decrease in platelet serotonin concentration, which is associated with a degree of PH probability was found in DMVD dogs with PH. Further studies investigating roles of platelet serotonin in PH secondary to DMVD should be performed.