Nutritional therapy in the treatment of heart disease in dogs - Heart Disease in Dogs

Alternative Medicine Review, Sept, 2001 by Robert S. Dove

CoQ 10 can be successfully absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, with oral dosing increasing the concentration in the blood and organ tissue, (l0) There have been no findings to indicate COQ 10 supplementation causes adverse side effects or toxicity in animals (11) or humans. (12) Supplementing the diet of dogs which had experimentally-induced congestive heart failure with CoQ 10 was found to decrease hypertrophy and reduce myocardial injury. (13-14) Maintaining adequate myocyte nutrition and enhancing myocardial function by dietary addition of CoQ 10 in cases of canine heart disease can be important in decelerating disease progression and improving overall heart health.

Vitamin E

Alpha-tocopherol, a biologically active form of vitamin E, has been shown to have a beneficial antioxidant effect in animals when given orally, probably due to its ability to inhibit free-radical mediated damage to the myocardium. Vitamin E prevents oxidation of low-density lipoproteins and promotes normal coronary artery dilation. (15)

An inverse correlation exists between plasma vitamin E concentration and the severity and incidence of heart disease in dogs. (16) Pretreatment with alpha-tocopherol (1,000 IU/ kg body weight for ten days) prior to experimentally-induced ischemia and reperfusion was shown to significantly reduce the size of the infarct in dogs as compared with a control group that did not undergo pretreatment. (17) In a similar study, ingesting alpha-tocopherol was found to prevent lethal ventricular arrhythmias associated with ischemia and reperfusion. (18) The addition of vitamin E to the diet of dogs -- 40 IU/kg/day over a period of four months -- prevented volume overload-induced decrease in myocardial contractility, and increased cardiac antioxidant reserves and glutathione peroxidase activity. (19)

It is worth noting that pet food containing significant quantities of unsaturated fats which is stored for a long period of time should be considered depleted of vitamin E (due to alpha-tocopherol's instability to oxygen and UV light), and can contribute to deficiencies. (20) Current clinical evidence is adequate to recommend therapeutic administration of alpha-tocopherol to animals diagnosed with, or at high risk for, heart disease. Although its exact mechanism of cardioprotection is yet to be determined, vitamin E supplementation appears to provide benefits for animals with compromised cardiovascular function.

L-carnitine

L-carnitine, a trimethylated amino acid, transports long-chain fatty acids to beta-oxidation sites in the mitochondrial matrix and is essential to normal cellular energy metabolism. Deficiency results in development of cardiomyopathy in several breeds of dogs. (21) Of all antioxidant and cardioprotective compounds studied, L-carnitine, typically used in combination with taurine, has shown the greatest direct effect on improving life expectancy and mortality rates in some animals with congestive heart disease. These results may vary greatly from breed to breed.