Researchers find first genomic biomarkers in extracellular vesicles in veterinary patients

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GRAFTON, Mass. (July 14, 2017)—Researchers at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University have discovered important biomarkers in extracellular vesicles in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease and congestive heart failure. This is the first biomarker discovery based on extracellular vesicles in a veterinary disease. The genomic material (microRNA, or miRNA) were isolated in small extracellular vesicles called exosome, which circulate in blood. These findings could provide important insight into the molecular basis, diagnosis and therapies for myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs, as well as mitral valve prolapse, a similar disease in humans. The results appear online this week in the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles.In their analysis of circulating exosome miRNA (Ex-miRNA), researchers found that the expressions not only change with disease progression and development of heart failure in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease but also exhibit changes solely on the basis of aging in dogs. Additionally, they found that Ex-miRNA expression level changes appear to be more specific to disease states than the measure of miRNA from plasma without attention to the isolation of Ex-miRNA. This suggests that Ex-miRNA may offer a novel approach that improves upon current established methods of monitoring patients with heart disease and other diseases, yet relies on readily available samples such as blood and urine.
Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) in dogs closely resembles mitral valve prolapse (MVP) in humans, which causes disruption and fragmentation of the collagen and elastic fibers within the valves. In dogs, MMVD is the most common acquired cardiac disease and cause of congestive heart failure, making up two-thirds of all cardiac cases. The disease is age-related, and its prevalence in older small breed dogs reaches 100 percent. Previous studies have shown that once in congestive heart failure, dogs have a median survival time between one and nine months.
MVP is a common valvular heart disease occurring in 3 ...

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