Phosphorylated neurofilament H (pNF-H) as a potential diagnostic marker for neurological disorders in horses.
Abstract: The current study aimed at the investigating the potential use of phosphorylated neurofilament H (pNF-H) as a diagnostic biomarker for neurologic disorders in the horse. Paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples (n=88) and serum only (n=30) were obtained from horses diagnosed with neurologic disorders and clinically healthy horses as control. The neurologic horses consisted of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) (38 cases) and cervical vertebral malformation (CVM) (23 cases). Levels of pNF-H were determined using an ELISA. The correlation between CSF and serum concentrations of pNF-H was evaluated using Spearman's Rank test and the significance of the difference among the groups was assessed using a nonparametric test. Horses had higher pNF-H levels in the CSF than serum. Horses afflicted with EPM had significantly higher serum pNF-H levels in comparison to controls or CVM cases. The correlation between CSF and serum pNF-H levels was poor in both the whole study population and among subgroups of horses included in the study. There was significant association between the likelihood of EPM and the concentrations of pNF-H in either the serum or CSF. These data suggest that pNF-H could be detected in serum and CSF samples from neurologic and control horses. This study demonstrated that pNF-H levels in serum and CSF have the potential to provide objective information to help in the early diagnosis of horses afflicted with neurologic disorders.
Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Publication Date: 2017-07-18 PubMed ID: 28750210DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2017.07.020Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Biomarkers
- Cerebrospinal Fluid
- Clinical Pathology
- Clinical Study
- Comparative Study
- Diagnosis
- Diagnostic Technique
- Disease
- Disease Diagnosis
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)
- Epidemiology
- Equine Health
- Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis
- Horses
- Infection
- Infectious Disease
- Neurological Diseases
- Neurology
- Serum
- Veterinary Medicine
- Veterinary Research
Summary
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This study investigates whether phosphorylated neurofilament H (pNF-H) can be used as a marker for diagnosing neurological disorders in horses, finding a potential link between higher pNF-H levels in horses that suffer from equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM).
Objective and Methodology
- The study was carried out to explore the potential use of phosphorylated neurofilament H (pNF-H) as a diagnostic biomarker for neurologic disorders in horses.
- Samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum were collected from 88 horses with proven neurological disorders and healthy control horses.
- The horses with neurologic disorders were suffering from equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) and cervical vertebral malformation (CVM).
- The pNF-H concentrations in the samples were determined using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method.
- Statistical methods like Spearman’s Rank test and nonparametric tests were carried out to analyze the correlation between the CSF and serum pNF-H concentrations and compare the pNF-H levels amongst the groups.
Findings
- Horses suffering from neurologic disorders had higher pNF-H levels in their CSF compared to their serum.
- EPM-affected horses showed notably higher serum pNF-H levels when compared to either healthy controls or CVM cases.
- The correlation between the pNF-H levels in CSF and serum samples from the same horse was found to be poor, both in the whole population studied and within specific subgroups.
Implications
- This study suggests that elevated pNF-H levels may be associated with neurologic disorders in horses, particularly EPM.
- pNF-H was detectable in both serum and CSF samples from both neurologic and control horses.
- In essence, serum and CSF pNF-H levels could potentially serve as an objective biomarker aiding early diagnosis of horses affected by neurologic disorders.
Conclusion
- This study indicates that pNF-H is a potential biomarker for detecting neurological disorders in horses, and can provide valuable additional information for diagnosing such conditions, especially EPM.
- However, the poor correlation between CSF and serum pNF-H levels suggests further investigation is required to understand more clearly the reasons for variation in pNF-H concentrations.
Cite This Article
APA
Intan-Shameha AR, Divers TJ, Morrow JK, Graves A, Olsen E, Johnson AL, Mohammed HO.
(2017).
Phosphorylated neurofilament H (pNF-H) as a potential diagnostic marker for neurological disorders in horses.
Res Vet Sci, 114, 401-405.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rvsc.2017.07.020 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Dept. Of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853, NY, USA.
- Equine Diagnostic Solutions LLC, Lexington, KY 40511, USA.
- Equine Diagnostic Solutions LLC, Lexington, KY 40511, USA.
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853, NY, USA.
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, New Bolton, Kennett Square, PA 19348, USA.
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853, NY, USA. Electronic address: hom1@cornell.edu.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Biomarkers / blood
- Biomarkers / cerebrospinal fluid
- Cervical Vertebrae / abnormalities
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Encephalomyelitis / blood
- Encephalomyelitis / cerebrospinal fluid
- Encephalomyelitis / diagnosis
- Encephalomyelitis / veterinary
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / blood
- Horse Diseases / cerebrospinal fluid
- Horse Diseases / diagnosis
- Horses
- Nervous System Diseases / blood
- Nervous System Diseases / cerebrospinal fluid
- Nervous System Diseases / diagnosis
- Nervous System Diseases / veterinary
- Neurofilament Proteins / blood
- Neurofilament Proteins / chemical synthesis
- Phosphorylation
- Sarcocystis / isolation & purification
- Sarcocystosis / blood
- Sarcocystosis / cerebrospinal fluid
- Sarcocystosis / diagnosis
- Sarcocystosis / veterinary
Citations
This article has been cited 3 times.- Donnelly CG, Johnson AL, Reed S, Finno CJ. Cerebrospinal fluid and serum proteomic profiles accurately distinguish neuroaxonal dystrophy from cervical vertebral compressive myelopathy in horses.. J Vet Intern Med 2023 Mar;37(2):689-696.
- Donnelly CG, Finno CJ. Vitamin E depletion is associated with subclinical axonal degeneration in juvenile horses.. Equine Vet J 2023 Sep;55(5):884-890.
- Ricken F, Can AD, Gräber S, Häusler M, Jahnen-Dechent W. Post-translational modifications glycosylation and phosphorylation of the major hepatic plasma protein fetuin-A are associated with CNS inflammation in children.. PLoS One 2022;17(10):e0268592.
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