Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ivabradine helps protect heart health in dogs with early mitral valve
By Pirintr, Prapawadee et al.·Published in Veterinary medicine and science·2026·Department of Physiology·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Ivabradine Preserves Cardiac Structure and Reduces Cell Death in Four Dogs With Preclinical Mitral Valve Disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Four dogs with early-stage mitral valve disease, a common heart issue in dogs, were given a medication called ivabradine for three months to see if it could help their heart health. The treatment successfully lowered their heart rates by about 30% and showed improvements in heart structure, reducing harmful changes in heart cells. Importantly, the dogs did not experience any negative effects on their overall heart function. This suggests that ivabradine could be a helpful option for treating dogs with this type of heart disease before symptoms appear.
People also search for: dog heart disease treatment · ivabradine for dogs · mitral valve disease in dogs · dog heart rate medication
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Ivabradine, a specific funny channel blocker, has shown cardiovascular benefits in humans and animals. However, its effects on haemodynamics, cardiac function, ventricular remodelling and cardiac apoptosis in asymptomatic dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) stage B2 remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of long-term oral ivabradine on heart rate (HR), haemodynamics, cardiac function and apoptosis in dogs with MMVD stage B2. METHODS: Four dogs with MMVD stage B2 received ivabradine (1 mg/kg orally, q12h) for 3 months. Under general anaesthesia (propofol and isoflurane), electrocardiograms and invasive measurements of left ventricular, aortic, pulmonic, right atrial and pulmonary capillary wedge pressures were obtained at baseline and 3 months. Endomyocardial biopsies were collected at both timepoints for histopathology and immunohistochemical evaluation of Bcl-2 and Bax expression to assess apoptosis. RESULTS: Ivabradine decreased HR by 30.4% (p < 0.05) without significantly affecting systemic or pulmonary pressures, vascular resistance or systolic/diastolic function. Histopathological analysis showed significant reductions in myocyte vacuolization (68.5%), glycogen accumulation (47.6%), interstitial fibrosis (57.3%) and fibrofatty infiltration (77.8%) (p < 0.05). The apoptosis index was reduced by 17.0% (p < 0.05), and Bcl-2 expression tended to increase (p = 0.06). CONCLUSION: Chronic ivabradine treatment lowered HR and reduced cardiac structural remodelling and apoptosis without impairing cardiac function in dogs with MMVD stage B2. These findings support the potential of ivabradine as a therapeutic option for asymptomatic canine heart disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41603367/