Synovial fluid and serum small non-coding RNA signatures in equine osteoarthritis

Abstract

Purpose: Osteoarthritis is one of the most common causes of lameness in horses and a significant cause of poor performance in equine athletes, often leading to early retirement or euthanasia. Similar in pathogenesis to human osteoarthritis, clinicians face much of the same challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease; the lack of a diagnostic tool for an early diagnosis has long delayed the development of effective therapies. In the pursuit of biomarkers for disease diagnosis or staging, small non-coding RNAs, particularly microRNAs, have been the subject of considerable research in human osteoarthritis yet poorly investigated in their equine counterparts.