The main objective of this study is to establish a feasible blood-borne test for screening examinations and objective assessment of the severity of BOAS.
To accomplish this goal, we shall select and adjust RBC analysis methodologies known from other species for canine cells, i.e. develop microarrays to assess the parameters associated with stress, intermittent hypoxia and red blood cell turnover 39.
Red blood cells (RBCs) are very dynamic cells immediately responding to the changes in microenvironment (oxygen availability, pH, osmolarity, redox state, increase in shear and other conditions). These changes may be acute and reversible (e.g. transient changes in shape and volume, alterations in redox state or NO production40-43) or irreversible and associated with permanent “ageing” or damage44,45 . Those accumulate with time and reflect the condition spanning over 100-110 days (in healthy dogs). This way we may assess the chronic as well as short-term stress responses of the organism by monitoring the changes in red cell structure and function.
As we shall also analyse the effect of storage on our parameters of choice to adopt the findings for use under field conditions (blood collection during dog exhibitions). We will mimic blood transportation and assess the stability of the parameters over 6 and 24 h. The blood samples will be stored at room temperature under permanent shaking (roller-coaster) to imitate movement during transportation. This study design has been used previously for human blood.46