The consistency and influence of environmental and animal factors on exhaled breath condensate hydrogen peroxide, pH and leukotriene B4 in horses.

This research investigates the consistency of certain measurements in the exhaled breath of healthy horses and examines how environmental and horse-related factors can affect these measurements. The findings suggest these measurements could serve as useful diagnostic tools, but the environment and individual horse characteristics must be taken into account.

Research Overview

• The study focuses on determining the consistency of three variables taken from the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of horses: hydrogen peroxide (HO), pH level, and leukotriene B (LTB).
• The purpose of this research is to understand if these measurements can be used consistently as diagnostic biomarkers in horses, while also investigating the influence of environmental and individual horse factors on these measurements.
• The research participants were asymptomatic horses, meaning horses that were not showing symptoms of any disease.

Key Findings

• The intra-day and inter-day consistency for HO and pH measurements in the EBC of horses were found to be adequate. Intra-day consistency refers to the measurements remaining consistent within the same day, while inter-day consistency refers to consisitency over different days. The statistical value used to quantify this consistency was the intraclass correlation coefficient, which was equal to or higher than 0.8 for both HO and pH measurements.
• In contrast, LTB measurements showed poor consistency over time — meaning, the readings varied and were not reliable enough to be used as a diagnostic tool.
• HO measures were found to be influenced by several environmental factors, including ambient temperature, humidity, time of the day, and the location where the sample collection took place. All of these factors showed a statistically significant influence (P<0.01).
• Similarly, pH measurements were influenced by the respiratory rate of the horse during EBC collection and by temperature — both of these influences were also statistically significant (P<0.001).

Research Conclusion

• The consistency of EBC HO and pH measurements in horses may potentially allow for their use as diagnostic biomarkers. In other words, these two measurements could potentially be used in diagnosing diseases or health conditions in horses.
• Nevertheless, given that certain environmental and horse-specific factors were found to significantly influence these measurements, these factors should be taken into account when using such a diagnostic tool.