Research Communications of the 24th ECVIM-CA Congress

No conflicts of interest reported. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9 are zinc-dependent endopeptidases that contribute to the control of breakdown and reconstitution of extracellular matrix under both normal and pathological conditions. Intestinal mucosal levels of MMP-2 and -9 have been shown to be increased in animal models and human IBD. To our knowledge, the presense of MMP-2 and -9 has not been studied in the intestinal mucosal samples of healthy dogs as well as in canine spontaneous IBD. Thus, the main aim of this study was to identify the presence of MMP-2 and -9 in the mucosa of the small and large intestines of clinically healthy beagle dogs using gelatin zymography technique. For the study, historical intestinal tissue samples from four different parts of the intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon) were used. The samples were taken and snap frozen in liquid nitrogen during necropsy from 12 healthy laboratory beagle dogs after being euthanized when finishing unrelated long-term trials studying canine intestinal microbiota.