Fig. 5

Temporal changes in systolic blood pressure (A) and NT-proBNP (B) after ten weeks of feeding with a high-fat, high-monosaccharide, low-fiber western diet. (A) Dogs fed a WD for ten weeks had significantly higher blood pressure measurements compared with baseline (BAS1). Measures were taken by a certified cardiologist using a Doppler device. To avoid bias in the recordings, these measurements were consistently taken before any blood was collected during each study period. To follow the ACVIM consensus panel guidelines for assessing hypertension⁴⁸ and ensure accuracy, five consecutive and consistent SBP measurements were obtained from each subject. These values were then averaged to calculate an individual estimate of SBP. (B) NT-proBNP concentrations significantly increased at BAS2, with two dogs presenting values exceeding 900 pmol/L, a level commonly associated with structural heart disease in canines^94,95. Box plots represent the 25^th, 50^th and 75th percentile of the data ± 1.5 IQR (interquartile range). •: 0.01 < P ≤ 0.05; •••: P ≤ 0.001. Summary box plots produced using the ggplot2 package in R version 4.2.2.