AUTHOR=Tangmahakul Nattawan , Makoom Pussadee , Surachetpong Sirilak Disatian TITLE=Assessment of Platelet and Plasma Serotonin in Canine Pulmonary Hypertension Secondary to Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science VOLUME=8 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.695492 DOI=10.3389/fvets.2021.695492 ISSN=2297-1769 ABSTRACT=

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.