Levels of Serum Phosphorylated Neurofilament Heavy Subunit in Clinically Healthy Standardbred Horses

• Published in: Journal of equine veterinary science 2022-03, Vol.110, p.103861-103861, Article 103861
• Main Authors: Rojas-Núñez, Irene, Gomez, Adriana Morales, Selland, Emily K, Oduol, Theresa, Wolf, Stephanie, Palmer, Scott, Mohammed, Hussni O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biomarker; Biomarkers; Cross-Sectional Studies; Horse Diseases; Horses; Intermediate Filaments - metabolism; Nervous System Diseases - veterinary; Neurofilament Proteins; Phosphorylated neurofilament heavy; Racehorses; Serum; Standardbred
• ISSN: 0737-0806; 1542-7412
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jevs.2021.103861

•Baseline levels of Phosphorylated neurofilament heavy in healthy Standardbred racing horses.•Non–invasive diagnostic tools for neurodegenerative disorders in racing horses.•Association between Phosphorylated neurofilament heavy in serum and age in Standardbred racing horses. Neurofilaments heavy chain proteins (pNF-H) have been identified as useful serum biomarkers for humans and animals with neurologic conditions, some of which can lead to poor performance, and athletic injuries. However, there are no published reports that describe a reference range for serum pNF-H levels in healthy racehorses. This cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the serum concentration of pNF-H in 1,349 samples collected from 1,291 clinically healthy standardbred (SB) racehorses. Data on age, time of sampling (pre-race or post-race), and finishing position during a race were collected. The concentration of pNF-H in serum samples was determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The appropriate statistical techniques were used to determine the median serum concentration of pNF-H in these horses, if the serum concentration of pNF-H changed with age, if there were changes in the serum concentration of pNF-H during a race, and if there was an association between serum concentration of pNF-H, and the finishing position for the horse. The median serum concentration of pNF-H in this group of clinically healthy SB horses was 0.0 ng/mL. The concentration of pNF-H in serum was not associated with the age of the horses in this study as was determined by regression analysis. There was no significant change in the serum concentration of pNF-H before and after a race in paired samples. There was no association of serum concentration of pNF-H and the finishing position of the horses after the race. The data from this study supports use of