Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA), osteochondrosis (OC), and synovial sepsis in horses cause loss of function and pain. Reliable biomarkers are required to achieve accurate and rapid diagnosis, with synovial fluid (SF) holding a unique source of biochemical information. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy allows global metabolite analysis of a small volume of SF, with minimal sample preprocessing using a noninvasive and nondestructive method. Equine SF metabolic profiles from both nonseptic joints (OA and OC) and septic joints were analyzed using 1D 1H NMR spectroscopy. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to identify differential metabolite abundance between groups. Metabolites were annotated via 1H NMR using 1D NMR identification software Chenomx, with identities confirmed using 1D 1H and 2D 1H 13C NMR. Multivariate analysis identified separation between septic and nonseptic groups. Acetate, alanine, citrate, creatine phosphate, creatinine, glucose, glutamate, glutamine, glycine, phenylalanine, pyruvate, and valine were higher in the nonseptic group, while glycylproline was higher in sepsis. Multivariate separation was primarily driven by glucose; however, partial-least-squares discriminant analysis plots with glucose excluded demonstrated the remaining metabolites were still able to discriminate the groups. This study demonstrates that a panel of synovial metabolites can distinguish between septic and nonseptic equine SF, with glucose the principal discriminator.
Highlights
Conditions affecting the articular joints are common in horses resulting in loss of function, chronic pain, or subsequent inability to work, all of which represent economic and welfare concerns
This study demonstrates that a panel of synovial metabolites can distinguish between septic and nonseptic equine Synovial fluid (SF), with glucose the principal discriminator
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra for all groups showed a consistent set of metabolite signals present with multiple metabolites identified from 1D multiplet pattern overlap (Figure 1)
Summary
Conditions affecting the articular joints are common in horses resulting in loss of function, chronic pain, or subsequent inability to work, all of which represent economic and welfare concerns. These pathologies include osteoarthritis (OA), osteochondrosis (OC), and synovial sepsis, which can be life-threatening.[1] Despite these conditions having a high prevalence and clinical relevance, diagnosis, staging, monitoring, and determination of an accurate prognosis remain challenging for practising veterinarians. To differentiate equine articular joint pathologies, there is a need to identify reliable biomarkers of disease. As SF is in close proximity to articular tissues primarily altered during joint pathology, this biofluid is an important source of biomarker discovery.[3,4]
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