Abstract
Although creatine kinase (CK), aspartate transaminase (AST), cytokines, and oxidative stress parameters were shown to be useful biomarkers for diagnosis of equine rhabdo-myolysis, additional biomarkers of the disease may be of interest to indicate prognosis of the disease. Therefore, the present study investigated acute phase proteins and trace elements as additional biomarkers of ER. Sixty male horses (4-6 years old) of 2 equal groups were used. Horses of the first group were clinically healthy and served as a control group, whereas horses of the second group were ER-diseased animals. Harvested sera were used for estimation of the activities of Cl(, AST, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), serum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp), ceruloplasmin (Cp), copper, iron, and zinc, whereas plasma samples were used for determination of fibrinogen. The present findings revealed a significant (P <=.05) increase in values of CK, AST, and LDH in diseased horses compared to those in control values. In addition, a significant (P <=.05) increase in SAA (162.6 +/- 5.32 mg/L), Hp (3.6 +/- 0.54 g/L), Cp (39.32 +/- 2.31 mg/L), and copper (28.36 +/- 1.23 mu mol/L) along with a significant (P <=.05) reduction in levels of iron (9.32 +/- 0.23 mu mol/L) and zinc (8.65 +/- 1.02 mu mol/L) was recorded in diseased horses compare to that in controls (11.3 +/- 2.2 mg/L, 0.8 +/- 0.2 g/L, 24.23 +/- 1.32 mg/L, 18.41 +/- 1..03 mu mol/L, and 14.2 +/- 0.42 mu mol/L, respectively). In conclusion, SAA, Hp, Cp, copper, and zinc were useful prognostic biomarkers for the diagnosis of ER in Arabian horses. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.