FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 10000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001)2021; 31(6); 779-787; doi: 10.1111/vec.13099

Assessment of the impact of age and of blood-derived inflammatory markers in horses with colitis.

Abstract: To determine the impact of age on survival in horses with colitis and to elucidate whether a lower type-1/type-2 cytokine ratio or an exaggerated inflammatory state contribute to reduced survival in aged horses. Methods: Part 1: Retrospective cohort analysis. Part 2: Analytic observational study. Methods: Part 1: One hundred twenty-four adult horses with colitis. Part 2: Twenty-nine adult horses with new diarrhea onset while hospitalized. Results: Part 1: Patient signalment, select clinicopathological data, diagnoses, treatment, hospitalization length, and invoice were compared between survivors (n = 101) and nonsurvivors (n = 23). Only age and plasma transfusion retained statistical significance in the final multivariate outcome model, with 8.5 times lower odds of survival in transfused horses (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-27.2%). Additionally, the likelihood of nonsurvival increased by 11.8% (95% CI, 4-20.2%) for every year the horse aged (P = 0.002). Similarly, geriatric horses (≥20 years) were 15.2 times more likely to die than young-adults (2-12 years, P = 0.03), independent of financial investment, documented comorbidities, and duration of hospitalization. Part 2: Select cytokine analyses were performed on serum collected from hospitalized horses within 1 hour of diarrhea onset (T0) and 6 hours later. At T0, all recorded clinicopathological variables were comparable between geriatric and young-adult horses, suggesting a similar degree of systemic illness. The median concentration of type-2 cytokines interleukin-4 and interleukin-10, and type-1 cytokine interferon-γ did not differ between age groups. Inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α were significantly higher in geriatric compared to young-adult horses at both sampling time points. Conclusions: Outcome of colitis was less favorable in aging horses and patients receiving a plasma transfusion. Although an exaggerated inflammatory state, based on increased interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α concentrations, in geriatric horses may contribute to reduced survival, a lower type-1/type-2 cytokines ratio was not identified in our geriatric population.
© Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society 2021.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2021-08-25 PubMed ID: 34432936DOI: 10.1111/vec.13099Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article
  • Observational Study
  • Veterinary

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research study investigates the effects of age and blood inflammation markers on the survival rates of horses suffering from colitis. It found that older horses and those receiving plasma transfusions had a lower survival rate and that elevated levels of certain inflammatory markers might play a role in reducing survival, although the ratios of different types of cytokines did not show a clear correlation to age.

Research Methodology

  • Part 1 of the research involved a retrospective analysis of a cohort of 124 adult horses with colitis. Comparisons were drawn between survivors (101 of the horses) and nonsurvivors (23 horses) based on various factors like age, plasma transfusion history, clinicopathological data, diagnosis, treatment, hospitalization duration, and expenditure.
  • In Part 2, an observational study was conducted on 29 adult horses that developed diarrhea while hospitalized. This section focused on an analysis of select cytokines, a type of immune system protein, performed on the horses’ serum within an hour of diarrhea onset and again after 6 hours.

Research Findings

  • In Part 1, the research found that in the final outcome model, age and plasma transfusion were the only variables that maintained statistical significance. Older horses and those that had received a plasma transfusion were less likely to survive.
  • A year-on-year increase in age led to an 11.8% increase in a likelihood of nonsurvival. Particularly, geriatric horses (20 years or older) were more than 15 times more likely to die than young adults (2-12 years), even when controlling for factors like financial investment, documented comorbidities, and length of hospital stay.
  • In Part 2, while the median concentration of type-1 (interferon-γ) and type-2 (interleukin-4, interleukin-10) cytokines did not differ drastically between age groups, inflammatory cytokines – interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α, were noticeably higher in older horses at both sampling points.

Conclusions

  • The study concludes that the survival rate of colitis is less favorable in aging horses and in patients receiving a plasma transfusion. The inflammatory state, indicated by increased levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α, may negatively affect survival rates in older horses.
  • However, the research did not identify a lower type-1/type-2 cytokines ratio in the older population of horses, which was one of the initial hypotheses.

Cite This Article

APA
Sage SE, Bedenice D, McKinney CA, Long AE, Pacheco A, Wagner B, Mazan MR, Paradis MR. (2021). Assessment of the impact of age and of blood-derived inflammatory markers in horses with colitis. J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio), 31(6), 779-787. https://doi.org/10.1111/vec.13099

Publication

Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001)
ISSN: 1476-4431
NlmUniqueID: 101152804
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 31
Issue: 6
Pages: 779-787

Researcher Affiliations

Sage, Sophie E
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA.
Bedenice, Daniela
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA.
McKinney, Caroline A
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA.
Long, Alicia E
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA.
Pacheco, Ana
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA.
Wagner, Bettina
  • Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Mazan, Melissa R
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA.
Paradis, Mary Rose
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Blood Component Transfusion / veterinary
  • Colitis / mortality
  • Colitis / therapy
  • Colitis / veterinary
  • Horse Diseases / mortality
  • Horse Diseases / therapy
  • Horses
  • Plasma
  • Retrospective Studies

References

This article includes 49 references
  1. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Age-related trends in demographics of equids in the United States. 2018;p. 1-3.
  2. Paradis MR. Demographics of health and disease in the geriatric horse. Vet Clin Equine 2002;18(March):391-401.
  3. Khanafer N, Barbut F, Eckert C. Factors predictive of severe Clostridium difficile infection depend on the definition used. Anaerobe 2016;37:43-48.
  4. Sprung CL, Artigas A, Kesecioglu J. The Eldicus prospective, observational study of triage decision making in European intensive care units. Part II: intensive care benefit for the elderly. Critical Care Medicine 2012;40(1):132-138.
  5. Cohen ND, Woods AM. Characteristics and risk factors for failure of horses with acute diarrhea to survive: 122 cases (1990-1996). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 1999;214(3):382-390. Feb 1.
  6. Naylor RJ, Dunkel B. The treatment of diarrhoea in the adult horse. Equine Vet Educ 2009;21(9):494-504.
  7. Saffrey MJ. Aging of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract: a complex organ system. Age (Omaha) 2014;36:1019-1032.
  8. Schmucker DL, Thoreux K, Owen RL. Aging impairs intestinal immunity. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 2001;122(13):1397-1411.
  9. Sandmand M, Bruunsgaard H, Kemp K. Is ageing associated with a shift in the balance between Type 1 and Type 2 cytokines in humans?. Clinical and Experimental Immunology 2002;127(1):107-114.
  10. Fulop T, Larbi A, Dupuis G. Immunosenescence and inflamm-aging as two sides of the same coin: friends or foes?. Frontiers in immunology 2018;8(Jan):1960.
  11. Spellberg B, Edwards JE. Type 1/type 2 immunity in infectious diseases. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2002;32(1):76-102.
  12. Xue M, Xie J, Liu L. Early and dynamic alterations of Th2/Th1 in previously immunocompetent patients with community-acquired severe sepsis: a prospective observational study. Journal of translational medicine 2019;17(1):57.
  13. Monneret G, Finck ME, Venet F. The anti-inflammatory response dominates after septic shock: association of low monocyte HLA-DR expression and high interleukin-10 concentration. Immunology Letters 2004;95(2):193-198.
  14. Giannoudis PV, Smith RM, Perry SL, Windsor AJ, Dickson RA, Bellamy MC. Immediate IL-10 expression following major orthopaedic trauma: relationship to anti-inflammatory response and subsequent development of sepsis. Intensive Care Medicine 2000;26(8):1076-1081.
  15. DiPiro JT, Howdieshell TR, Goddard JK, Callaway DB, Hamilton RG, Mansberger AR. Association of interleukin-4 plasma levels with traumatic injury and clinical course. Archives of Surgery 1995;130(11):1159-1163.
  16. Bossink AW, Paemen L, Jansen PM, Hack CE, Thijs LG, Van Damme J. Plasma levels of the chemokines monocyte chemotactic proteins-1 and -2 are elevated in human sepsis. Blood 1995;86(10):3841-3847.
  17. Lopes MAF, Salter CE, Vandenplas ML, Berghaus R, Hurley DJ, Moore JN. Expression of genes associated with inflammation induced by ex vivo exposure to lipopolysaccharide in peripheral blood leukocytes from horses with gastrointestinal disease. American Journal of Veterinary Research 2010;71:1162-1169.
  18. Franceschi C, Bonafe M, Valensin S. Inflamm-aging: an evolutionary perspective on immunosenescence. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2000;908(1):244-254.
  19. Fischer N, Relman DA. Clostridium difficile, aging, and the gut: can microbiome rejuvenation keep us young and healthy?. Journal of Infectious Diseases 2018;217(2):174-176.
  20. McFarlane D. Immune dysfunction in aged horses. Veterinary Clinics of North America. Equine Practice 2016;32(2):333-341.
  21. Adams AA, Breathnach CC, Katepalli MP, Kohler K, Horohov DW. Advanced age in horses affects divisional history of T cells and inflammatory cytokine production. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 2008;129(11):656-664.
  22. Suagee JK, Corl BA, Crisman MV, Pleasant RS, Thatcher CD, Geor RJ. Relationships between body condition score and plasma inflammatory cytokines, insulin, and lipids in a mixed population of light-breed horses. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 2013;27(1):157-163.
  23. Brüünsgaard H, Pedersen BK. Age-related inflammatory cytokines and disease. Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America 2003;23(1):15-39.
  24. Equine Endocrinology Group [Internet]. Available from: https://sites.tufts.edu/equineendogroup/). Accessed March 3, 2019.
  25. Southwood LL, Dolente BA, Lindborg S, Russell G, Boston R. Short-term outcome of equine emergency admissions at a university referral hospital. Equine Veterinary Journal 2009;41(5):459-464.
  26. Arroyo LG, Sears W, Gomez DE. Plasma transfusions in horses with typhlocolitis/colitis. Canadian Veterinary Journal 2019;60(2):193-196.
  27. Staempfli HR, Townsend HG, Prescott JF. Prognostic features and clinical presentation of acute idiopathic enterocolitis in horses. Canadian Veterinary Journal 1991;32(4):232-237.
  28. Mueller MK, Sween C, Frank N, Paradis MR. Survey of human-horse relationships and veterinary care for geriatric horses. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2018;253(3):337-345.
  29. Katepalli MP, Adams AA, Lear TL, Horohov DW. The effect of age and telomere length on immune function in the horse. Developmental and Comparative Immunology 2008;32(12):1409-1415.
  30. Brosnahan MM, Paradis MR. Assessment of clinical characteristics, management practices, and activities of geriatric horses. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2003;223(1):99-103.
  31. Dunkel B, Buonpane A, Chang YM. Differences in gastrointestinal lesions in different horse types. Veterinary Record 2017;181(11):291.
  32. Welsh CE, Duz M, Parkin TDH, Marshall JF. Prevalence, survival analysis and multimorbidity of chronic diseases in the general veterinarian-attended horse population of the UK. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 2016;131:137-145.
  33. McFarlane D, Hill K, Anton J. Neutrophil function in healthy aged horses and horses with pituitary dysfunction. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 2015;165(3-4):99-106.
  34. Southwood LL, Gassert T, Lindborg S. Colic in geriatric compared to mature nongeriatric horses. Part 1 : retrospective review of clinical and laboratory data. Equine Veterinary Journal 2010;42(7):621-627.
  35. Uzal FA. Gastritis, enteritis and colitis in horses. Vet Clin NA Equine Pract 2015;31(2):337-358.
  36. Gazzerro DM, Southwood LL, Lindborg S. Short-term complications after colic surgery in geriatric versus mature non-geriatric horses. Veterinary Surgery 2015;44(2):256-264.
  37. Lu SH, Leasure AR, Dai YT. A systematic review of body temperature variations in older people. Journal of Clinical Nursing 2010;19(1-2):4-16.
  38. Evans SS, Repasky EA, Fisher DT. Fever and the thermal regulation of immunity: the immune system feels the heat. Nature Reviews Immunology 2015;15(6):335-349.
  39. Wu I-C, Lin C-C, Hsiung CA. Emerging roles of frailty and inflammaging in risk assessment of age-related chronic diseases in older adults: the intersection between aging biology and personalized medicine. Biomed 2015;5(1):1-10.
  40. Kyaw WO, Schusser GF, Uhlig A, Koller G, Sack U. Free hemoglobin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in blood of horses with colic or acute colitis. Berliner Und Munchener Tierarztliche Wochenschrift 2008;121(11-12):440-445.
  41. Nagpal R, Mainali R, Ahmadi S, Wang S, Singh R. Gut microbiome and aging: physiological and mechanistic insights. 2018;4:267-285.
  42. Tran L, Greenwood-Van Meerveld B. Age-associated remodeling of the intestinal epithelial barrier. Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2013;68(9):1045-1056.
  43. Do Carmo GM, Da Silva AS, Klauck V. Immunological response and markers of cell damage in seropositive horses for Toxoplasma gondii. Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 2015;38:9-13.
  44. Da Silva AS, Radavelli WM, Moura AB, Duarte T, Duarte M, Stefani LM. Horses seropositive for Neospora spp.: immunoglobulins, cytokines, and C-reactive protein levels. J Equine Vet Sci 2014;34(10):1240-1243.
  45. Abass M, Picek S, Garzón JFG, Kühnle C, Zaghlou A, Bettschart-Wolfensberger R. Local mepivacaine before castration of horses under medetomidine isoflurane balanced anaesthesia is effective to reduce perioperative nociception and cytokine release. Equine Veterinary Journal 2018;50(6):733-738.
  46. Basinska K, Marycz K, Śmieszek A, Nicpoń J. The production and distribution of IL-6 and TNF-α in subcutaneous adipose tissue and their correlation with serum concentrations in Welsh ponies with equine metabolic syndrome. J Vet Sci 2015;16(1):113-120.
  47. El-deeb WM, Elmoslemany AM, Salem MA. Cardiac troponin I and immune-inflammatory response in horses with strangles. J Equine Vet Sci 2017;51:18-23.
  48. Schnabel CL, Steinig P, Schuberth HJ. Influences of age and sex on leukocytes of healthy horses and their ex vivo cytokine release. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 2015;165(1-2):64-74.
  49. Horohov D, Kydd J, Hannant D. The effect of aging on T cell responses in the horse. Developmental and Comparative Immunology 2002;26(1):121-128.

Citations

This article has been cited 4 times.
  1. Haywood LMB, Sheahan BJ. A Review of Epithelial Ion Transporters and Their Roles in Equine Infectious Colitis. Vet Sci 2024 Oct 7;11(10).
    doi: 10.3390/vetsci11100480pubmed: 39453072google scholar: lookup
  2. DeNotta S, McFarlane D. Immunosenescence and inflammaging in the aged horse. Immun Ageing 2023 Jan 6;20(1):2.
    doi: 10.1186/s12979-022-00325-5pubmed: 36609345google scholar: lookup
  3. Gomez DE, Leclere M, Arroyo LG, Li L, John E, Afonso T, Payette F, Darby S. Acute diarrhea in horses: A multicenter Canadian retrospective study (2015 to 2019). Can Vet J 2022 Oct;63(10):1033-1042.
    pubmed: 36185796
  4. Simões J, Batista M, Tilley P. The Immune Mechanisms of Severe Equine Asthma-Current Understanding and What Is Missing. Animals (Basel) 2022 Mar 16;12(6).
    doi: 10.3390/ani12060744pubmed: 35327141google scholar: lookup
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,780 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.