Determination of muscular and cardiac biomarkers for evaluation of the physical fitness of elderly dogs

• Grant number: 20/07716-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2020
• End date: October 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Guilherme de Camargo Ferraz
• Grantee: Letícia Valerini Peliciari
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the health and welfare of elderly dogs, a universe that represents 30 to 40% of the dog population. Aging is an inherent factor that favors the reduction of physiological functions of at least one organic system, such as the muscular. The loss of muscle strength reduces mobility and individual autonomy, but it is also related to numerous factors unfavorable to health. The sports training of elderly dogs can be magnetic therapy to mitigate the effects of the age advance. In this sense, it is pertinent to the elaboration of protocols of physical conditioning. These should be prescribed from a functional evaluation of geriatric patients, notably through physiological variables obtained from stress tests. Eighteen dogs, male or female, of the Beagle breed, from the "Prof. Dr. Flávio Prada" (DCCV/FCAV/UNESP) Research Laboratory on Nutrition and Nutritional Diseases of Dogs and Cats will be used. Of these 18 dogs, nine will be adult (control), with an age of 4 ± 2 years and nine elderly dogs, with 14 ± 3 years. The experiment will be conducted in the Exercise Physiology Laboratory (LAFEQ/DMFA/FCAV/UNESP). Blood samples will be obtained to determine CK, AST activities, and lactate and heart rate (HR). Incremental load tests (ILT) will be performed, with 4 continuous load increment stages: weightless, 5, 10, and 15% of body mass. Between each effort step, 2 minutes of rest will be prescribed, at which time blood samples will be collected. Also, all the dogs submitted to the ILT will be registered by the chamber for determination of the effort score. This one refers to a scale of effort perception with the dog in the exercise that varies from 0 to 4. Score 0 indicates no noticed effort (no effort sign, breathing breathlessness, agitation, or abnormal gait), and 4 indicates significant effort (obvious effort signs, breathing breathlessness, agitation, and motor incoordination). The moments of biological sampling will be before the beginning of the tests - when the animals are in the kennel during the phases of incremental loading, 3, 12, 24, and 48 hours after ICU. For the evaluation of the results, a scheme of variance analysis of repeated measurements will be applied. The model followed will be: Yijl = ¼ + Äi + ´j + ³l + (Ä*³) il + eijl. The Shapiro-Wilk test will consider the assumptions of normality of errors. Tukey's test will be used for evaluation. When the tests of normality of errors and/or homogeneity of variances are significant, the non-parametric Wilcoxon test will be performed. All statistical analyses will be performed in the SAS 9.3 software. Values of P< 0.05 will be considered significant.