Cardiac troponin I in healthy Norwegian Forest Cat, Birman and domestic shorthair cats, and in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to assess the potential associations between the serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentration in healthy cats and feline characteristics, systolic blood pressure, heart rate (HR), echocardiographic measurements and storage time; and to compare cTnI concentrations in healthy cats with concentrations in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), with or without left atrial enlargement (LAE) and in cats with HCM, to assess potential associations between cTnI concentration and echocardiographic variables.

METHODS

Cardiac TnI was analysed using an Abbott ARCHITECT ci16200 analyser in serum from prospectively included healthy Norwegian Forest Cat (NF; n = 33), Birman (n = 33) and domestic shorthair (DSH; n = 30) cats, and from 39 cats with HCM, with or without LAE.

RESULTS

In healthy cats, higher cTnI concentrations were found in Birman cats than in NF cats ( = 0.014) and in neutered male cats than in intact females ( = 0.032). Cardiac TnI was positively associated with HR ( <0.0001). In cats with HCM, cTnI concentration was positively associated with left ventricular wall thickness and with left atrial-to-aortic root ratio (all ⩽0.010). Cats with HCM had higher cTnI concentrations than healthy cats, and cTnI concentrations were higher in cats with HCM and LAE than in those with HCM without LAE (all  = 0.0003).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Breed and sex may affect serum cTnI concentrations in healthy cats. The cTnI concentration increased with increasing severity of HCM.