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Equine veterinary journal2025; doi: 10.1111/evj.14533

Blood amino acid changes associated with Lawsonia intracellularis infection in horses.

Abstract: Hypoproteinaemia/hypoalbuminaemia is a typical clinical feature of Lawsonia intracellularis infection in horses, but amino acid perturbations in these horses have not been investigated. Objective: Clarifying blood amino acid levels in horses suffering from Lawsonia intracellularis infection to identify novel aspects of the disease. Methods: Retrospective observational study. Methods: A total of 135 serum samples collected from horses from 59 farms were used in this study. Horses diagnosed with the clinical form of equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) were enrolled as a clinical group (n = 46). Clinically normal herd mates of EPE patients were assigned to a subclinical EPE group (n = 22) or Lawsonia intracellularis exposure group (n = 41). Horses from EPE-naïve farms were used for control horses (n = 26). Amino acid profiles of each group were reviewed through principal component analysis, and subsequently, the Steel-Dwass multiple comparison test or Tukey's honestly significant difference test was used to clarify substantial amino acid changes characteristic of the horse populations. Results: Significant perturbations in amino acid concentrations were observed in horses with clinical and subclinical forms of the disease and in the exposure group compared to control horses. Asparagine, glutamine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and glycine were significantly perturbed in the clinical, subclinical, and exposure groups compared to the control group, while alanine, citrulline, and tryptophan were characteristically perturbed in the clinical group relative to the other horse groups. Conclusions: Variability of the original farms from which study populations were derived due to the retrospective nature of the study might have influenced the aminogram. Conclusions: Amino acid concentrations show substantial perturbations in relation to the clinical status of EPE. Evaluation of the aminograms of horses with Lawsonia intracellularis infection provides novel information on this disease, which would be of clinical and, potentially, therapeutic relevance.
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Publication Date: 2025-05-22 PubMed ID: 40404586DOI: 10.1111/evj.14533Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Journal Article

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 deals with studying the changes in blood amino acid levels in horses suffering from Lawsonia intracellularis infection. The study helps identify new aspects of the disease and might be of potential clinical and therapeutic importance.

Objective of the Study

  • The primary focus of the research was to ascertain the alterations in blood amino acid concentrations in horses plagued with Lawsonia intracellularis infection. This purposed to uncover unique facets of the disease which hadn’t been explored before.

Methodology

  • The study was observational and retrospective in nature. It used a total of 135 serum samples from horses collected from 59 farms.
  • Horses diagnosed with equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE), a clinical form of the disease, formed the clinical group (46 in number).
  • Healthy horses from the same herd as the EPE patients were assigned to two groups: a subclinical EPE group (22 horses) and a Lawsonia intracellularis exposure group (41 horses).
  • Horses from farms where EPE hadn’t surfaced were used as control horses (26 in number).
  • After breaking down the amino acid profiles of each group through principal component analysis, various statistical tests were applied to identify any significant changes in amino acid levels characteristic of different horse populations.

Results

  • The study found significant disturbances in amino acid concentrations among horses with both clinical and subclinical forms of the disease and those in the exposure group, when compared to the control horses.
  • Specifically, the levels of asparagine, glutamine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and glycine were significantly affected in the clinical, subclinical, and exposure groups compared to the control group.
  • Furthermore, the concentrations of alanine, citrulline, and tryptophan were particularly disturbed in the clinical group relative to the other groups.

Conclusions

  • The study’s retrospective nature and derived data from different original farms might have influenced the aminogram results.
  • Significant perturbations in amino acid concentrations were connected with the clinical status of EPE.
  • The data provides valuable information on Lawsonia intracellularis infection in horses which could be of clinical relevance and potentially guide therapeutic strategies.

Cite This Article

APA
Mizuguchi Y, Niwa H, Inoue H, Iwano H. (2025). Blood amino acid changes associated with Lawsonia intracellularis infection in horses. Equine Vet J. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14533

Publication

Equine veterinary journal
ISSN: 2042-3306
NlmUniqueID: 0173320
Country: United States
Language: English

Researcher Affiliations

Mizuguchi, Yuya
  • Mitsuishi Animal Medical Centre, Hokkaido Agricultural Mutual Aid Association, Shinhidaka, Japan.
Niwa, Hidekazu
  • Microbiology Division, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Japan.
Inoue, Hiroki
  • NDTS Co., Ltd., Sapporo, Japan.
  • Laboratory of Veterinary Biochemistry, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Japan.
Iwano, Hidetomo
  • Laboratory of Veterinary Biochemistry, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Japan.

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