Procalcitonin as a biomarker in equine chronic pneumopathies

BMC Veterinary Research

Research Article

Anna Pelli¹  Ann Kristin Barton¹  Heidrun Gehlen¹  Martin Rieger² 

[1] Equine Clinic, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Oertzenweg 19b, 10163, Berlin, Germany;Research unit microbe-plant interactions, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany;

关键词: Horse;    Recurrent airway obstruction;    Inflammatory airway disease;    Chronic interstitial pneumopathy;    Procalcitonin;    Biomarker;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12917-016-0912-4

 received in 2015-11-26, accepted in 2016-12-06,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundProcalcitonin (PCT), a precursor protein of the hormone calcitonin, is a sensitive inflammatory marker in human medicine, which is primarily used for diagnosis of bacterial sepsis, but is also useful in diagnosis of exacerbation of asthma and COPD. In this study, PCT was evaluated as a potential biomarker for different chronic pneumopathies in the horse using an equine specific ELISA in comparison to established clinical markers and different interleukins.Sixty-four horses were classified as free of respiratory disease, recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), inflammatory airway disease (IAD) or chronic interstitial pneumopathy (CIP) using a scoring system. PCT concentrations were measured in plasma (n = 17) and in the cell-free supernatant of bronchoalveolar lavage (n = 64). PCT concentrations were correlated to interleukins IL-1ß and IL-6 in BALF, clinical findings and BALF cytology.ResultsThe median PCT concentrations in plasma were increased in respiratory disease (174.46 ng/ml, n = 7) compared to controls (13.94 ng/ml, n = 10, P = 0.05) and correlated to PCT in BALF supernatant (rs = 0.48). Compared to controls (5.49 ng/ml, n = 15), median PCT concentrations in BALF supernatant correlated to the overall clinical score (rs = 0.32, P = 0.007) and were significantly increased in RAO (13.40 ng/ml, n = 21) and IAD (16.89 ng/ml, n = 16), while no differences were found for CIP (12.02 ng/ml, n = 12). No significant increases were found for IL-1 and IL-6 between controls and respiratory disease in general as well as different disease groups.ConclusionsAlthough some correlations were found between PCT in plasma, BALF supernatant and clinical scores, PCT in BALF does not seem to be a superior marker compared to established clinical markers. PCT in plasma seems to be more promising and a greater number of samples should be evaluated in further studies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016