Relationship between the severity of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome and laboratory and ultrasonographic findings for renal assessment. A retrospective study.

• Grant number: 25/12995-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: November 03, 2025
• End date: January 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Paola Castro Moraes
• Grantee: Mirella Miconi Neves
• Supervisor: Lisa Alexandra Pereira Mestrinho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/08662-7 - Relationship between Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS) and kidney injury in pug and french bulldog dogs, BP.MS

Abstract

Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS) is a common disorder in brachycephalic dog breeds, causing airway obstruction and clinical signs such as dyspnea, exercise intolerance, and stertor. Similar to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in humans, BOAS may lead to episodes of hypoxia, which can cause kidney injury and increase the risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD).The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between CKD and BOAS in brachycephalic dogs treated at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon (FMV-ULisboa), in order to correlate laboratory and imaging results with the clinical severity of BOAS.A retrospective data survey will be conducted covering the past ten years, selecting dogs from extreme and non-extreme brachycephalic breeds aged between one and nine years, for whom hematology, serum biochemistry (renal function through markers such as symmetric dimethylarginine [SDMA], urea, creatinine, and phosphorus), urinalysis, protein:creatinine ratio, and B-mode ultrasonographic evaluation of renal parenchyma were performed.The results obtained will be compared and correlated with brachycephalic breeds and analyzed in relation to findings from the current research project developed in Brazil with patients from the master's research project at the Veterinary Hospital of the Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences (FCAV) at UNESP - Jaboticabal.