Alkaline phosphatase activity in airway fluid obtained by tracheal wash from adult horses.

This study investigates the role of alkaline phosphatase activity in identifying lower respiratory tract inflammation in adult horses. According to the research, increased levels of alkaline phosphatase were found in the tracheal wash of horses suffering from this condition, indicating it could serve as an inexpensive and safe biomarker tool for early diagnosis.

Objectives and Methodology

• The primary objective of this research was to compare alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in healthy horses and those with lower respiratory tract inflammation (LRTI).
• The study used the tracheal wash (TW) method to obtain fluid samples from the lower respiratory tract.
• The horses were divided into two groups based on the levels of leukocytes in their TW – the control group of healthy horses with less than 20% neutrophils and less than 1% eosinophils, and the LRTI group with more than 20% neutrophils and more than 1% eosinophils.

Results

• Using a semi-automatic chemistry analyzer, the team identified that ALP activity in the TW was significantly higher in horses with LRTI.
• Specifically, TW ALP activity in the horses with LRTI was found to be 18.9 ± 11.2 × 10(3) U/L, while in healthy horses it was much lower at 10.3 ± 5.9 × 10(3) U/L.

Conclusion

• The study concluded that measuring tracheal wash ALP activity is a simple, cost-effective, and benign technique for facilitating the early diagnosis of equine respiratory disease.
• This is due to the stark difference in levels of ALP activity in seemingly symptom-free horses with a TW cytology profile indicating LRT inflammation compared to healthy horses with no signs of the disease.