<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Back pain is one of the most common triggers of performance failure in athletic and riding horses. Diagnosis of equine back pain has been very challenging for equine practitioners, particularly in chronic cases. Therefore, the identification of blood biomarkers would facilitate the clinical differentiation of chronic back pain. This study aimed to investigate serum biomarkers of glial cell activation, axonal damage, and inflammation for the diagnosis of equine chronic back pain. Serum samples from forty horses comprising chronic back pain (CBP), back pain concurrent with lameness (BPL), lameness (LN), and healthy control (HC) (n=10 per group) were screened for ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1), <italic>glial fibrillary acidic protein</italic> (GFAP), phosphorylated neurofilament-H (pNF-H) by ELISA, and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) by multiplex assay. Serum concentrations of GFAP (3.81±1.72 ng/mL) and pNF-H (0.76±0.18 ng/mL) were significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher in horses with CBP when compared with other groups. Iba-1 was not significantly higher in CBP horses. There was no significant difference between the pro-inflammatory cytokines among the groups. The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were also increased in the CBP than the HC control horses but lower in relation to BPL and LN horses. In addition, serum Iba-1, GFAP, and pNF-H showed a high discriminatory capacity for horses with CBP with high sensitivity (50-100%) and specificity (70-100%). This study provides evidence that serum levels of the GFAP and pNF-H may be useful in the clinical differentiation of horses with chronic back pain.</p>
</abstract>

Back pain is one of the most common triggers of performance failure in athletic and riding horses. Diagnosis of equine back pain has been very challenging for equine practitioners, particularly in chronic cases. Therefore, the identification of blood biomarkers would facilitate the clinical differentiation of chronic back pain. This study aimed to investigate serum biomarkers of glial cell activation, axonal damage, and inflammation for the diagnosis of equine chronic back pain. Serum samples from forty horses comprising chronic back pain (CBP), back pain concurrent with lameness (BPL), lameness (LN), and healthy control (HC) (n=10 per group) were screened for ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), phosphorylated neurofilament-H (pNF-H) by ELISA, and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) by multiplex assay. Serum concentrations of GFAP (3.81±1.72 ng/mL) and pNF-H (0.76±0.18 ng/mL) were significantly (p<0.05) higher in horses with CBP when compared with other groups. Iba-1 was not significantly higher in CBP horses. There was no significant difference between the pro-inflammatory cytokines among the groups. The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were also increased in the CBP than the HC control horses but lower in relation to BPL and LN horses. In addition, serum Iba-1, GFAP, and pNF-H showed a high discriminatory capacity for horses with CBP with high sensitivity (50-100%) and specificity (70-100%). This study provides evidence that serum levels of the GFAP and pNF-H may be useful in the clinical differentiation of horses with chronic back pain.

Investigation of Potential Serum Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Chronic Back Pain in Horses

Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Department of Farm and Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Department of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Macedonian Veterinary Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Back pain is one of the most common triggers of performance failure in athletic and riding horses. Diagnosis of equine back pain has been very challenging for...

Investigation of Potential Serum Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Chronic Back Pain in Horses

Publicado en línea: 08 mar 2023

Páginas: 79 - 87

Recibido: 16 feb 2022

Aceptado: 24 feb 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/macvetrev-2023-0016

Palabras clave
chronic back pain, biomarkers, serum, clinical diagnosis, horses

© 2023 Abubakar Musa Mayaki, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Investigation of Potential Serum Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Chronic Back Pain in Horses

Publicado en línea: 08 mar 2023

Páginas: 79 - 87

Recibido: 16 feb 2022

Aceptado: 24 feb 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/macvetrev-2023-0016

Palabras clavechronic back pain, biomarkers, serum, clinical diagnosis, horses

© 2023 Abubakar Musa Mayaki, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Palabras clave
chronic back pain, biomarkers, serum, clinical diagnosis, horses