Study of inotropismo and heart remodeling in dogs with Acute Monocytic Ehrliquiose during treatment with doxycycline

• Grant number: 17/13992-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2017
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Maria Lucia Gomes Lourenço
• Grantee: Maurício Gianfrancesco Filippi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Canine Monocytic Ehrlichiosis is a systemic disease characterized by the fact that the bacterium resists and remains in mononuclear cells, triggering excessive and inefficient autoimmune responses in all organs and tissues. Myocarditis caused by this disease is secondary to mononuclear infiltrate, myocyte necrosis and apoptosis. The response of the heart to this aggression is remodeling by restructuring of the structural proteins and replacement by fibrous tissue in the affected sites, which may lead to the development of dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. Recent studies have shown that the excessive activation of extracellular type 2 and 9 Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) is the main cause of this remodeling by degrading the collagen fibers, and that doxycycline has the function of non-selective inhibition of MMP activity. Therefore, the study in question aims to find out if there is an increase of MMPs with consequent remodeling in the myocarditis of the CME and the repercussion against the doxycycline therapy during 28 days. (AU)