[Temporal development of hypoxia markers in brachycephalic and -mesocephalic dogs after short physical exercise].

Abstract

Introduction: To objectify the oxygen debt in dogs with brachycephalic upper respiratory syndrome, eight mesocephalic dogs were subjected to a short running test on four test days and eight brachycephalic dogs on one test day. Blood samples were taken before and immediately after exercise and after 2 and 4 hours to assess cellular oxygenation. For this purpose, two available hypoxia markers, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and erythropoietin (EPO), were measured. The repeatability of the measurements was checked in the mesocephalic dogs. While VEGF measurement was repeatable over the 4 days of measurement, the EPO measurement was not. The VEGF basal values of the mesocephalic and brachycephalic dogs did not differ (7.6 ± 4.4 pg/ml and 6.9 ± 4.0 pg/ml, respectively). The measurement 4 hours after the running test showed significant differences. The VEGF value in the mesocephalic dogs increased by 42 % to 10.8 ± 4.7 pg/ml, while in the brachycephalic dogs it increased by 220 % to 22.1 ± 15.3 pg/ml. The EPO measurements showed a significant difference between the mesocephalic and brachycephalic dogs at all blood collection times; The basal value in mesocephalic dogs was approx. three times higher than in brachycephalic dogs (30.1 ± 22.6 mU/ml or 11.4 ± 3.5 mU/ml). However, the difference was not significant due to the large scatter in the mesocephalic dogs (p > 0.05). In contrast to the VEGF value, the EPO value did not change over the measurement period. The study shows that the presented method can be used together with the VEGF value for scientific and breeding purposes.