Protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease stages B2 and C

• Published in: PloS one 2021-07, Vol.16 (7), p.e0254887
• Main Authors: Nasciutti, Priscilla Regina, Moraes, Aline Tavares, Santos, Thaiz Krawczyk, Gonçalves Queiroz, Karine Kelly, Costa, Ana Paula Araújo, Amaral, Andressa Rodrigues, Fernando Gomes Olivindo, Rodrigo, Pontieri, Cristiana Ferreira Fonseca, Jeremias, Juliana Toloi, Vendramini, Thiago Henrique Annibale, Brunetto, Marcio Antonio, Carvalho, Rosângela de Oliveira Alves
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal sciences; Animals; Arrhythmias, Cardiac - drug therapy; Arrhythmias, Cardiac - prevention & control; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomarkers; Blood pressure; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiology; Cardiomyopathy; Cardiovascular disease; Diagnosis; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Dog Diseases - diet therapy; Dog Diseases - drug therapy; Dogs; Doppler effect; Echocardiography; Echocardiography, Doppler; EKG; Electrocardiography; Evaluation; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - pharmacology; Female; Health aspects; Heart rate; Heart Rate - drug effects; Heart valve diseases; Heart Valve Diseases - drug therapy; Heart Valve Diseases - veterinary; Heart valves; Hospitals; Inflammation; Ingestion; Laboratory animals; Laboratory tests; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mitral valve; Mitral Valve - diagnostic imaging; Mitral Valve - drug effects; Mitral Valve - pathology; Mitral Valve Insufficiency - blood; Mitral Valve Insufficiency - diet therapy; Mitral Valve Insufficiency - drug therapy; Mitral Valve Insufficiency - veterinary; Nutrition; Omega-3 fatty acids; Pets; Radiography; Research and Analysis Methods; Rheumatic heart disease; Thickening; Thorax; Valve leaflets; Vertebrae; Veterinary colleges; Veterinary medicine; Zoology
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254887

Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is characterized by thickening of the valve leaflets and omega-3 (ω-3) supplementation has been associated with modulation of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate, improvement of doppler echocardiographic indices, antiarrhythmic, anti-inflammatory and anti-dislipidemic effects in dogs and humans, although prospective studies of it single use are still absent in the veterinary literature. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of ω-3 supplementation in dogs with MMVD. Twenty-nine dogs were followed quarterly for 12 months by clinical evaluation, arterial blood pressure, electrocardiography, doppler echocardiography, thoracic radiography and laboratory tests including inflammatory mediators and cardiac biomarker blood concentrations. The dogs were classified in stages B2 and C, according to the classification proposed by ACVIM 2019. They were randomly assigned to either ω-3 group (ω-3G) or control group (CG). The ingestion of ω-3 reduced the chance of developing arrhythmias by 2.96 times (p = 0.003). The vertebral heart size (VHS) measurements were higher in the control group (p = 0.033). In conclusion, at the dosages used in this study, ω-3 dietary supplementation reduces the volumetric overload, has antiarrhythmic effect and keeps dogs with B2 and C stages of MMVD in milder stages of the disease.