RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS OF THE 28th ECVIM-CA CONGRESS

The study population comprised 15 cats diagnosed with CHF and CM, 5 cats with asymptomatic CM and 15 healthy cats. Serum proteomic profiles of these different cat groups were obtained by using liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry techniques. The Wilcoxon test and Bonferroni correction were used for statistical analysis on differential protein expressions. In total 28 serum proteins were found differentially expressed between CHF and healthy control cats. Seventeen proteins were upregulated in CHF, mainly involved in lipoprotein metabolism, inflammation and coagulation pathways. Apolipoproteins, acute phase protein ceruloplasmin, prothrombin, platelet factor 4 and serine protease inhibitors were significantly higher in CHF cats compared with healthy controls (P<0.05). Ten proteins were downregulated in CHF. Tetranectin, a protein regulating fibrinolysis and proteolysis was significantly lower in CHF cats compared with healthy controls (P<0.05). In human medicine this biomarker has recently been associated with coronary artery disease. Subsequent bioinformatics analysis (Gene Ontology) predicted 21 best candidate biomarkers, which were primarily associated with extracellular matrix organization and metabolism.