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The aim of our research was to establish reference values for acute-phase proteins during obesity in horses. The study was conducted on 20 horses aged 5–10 years. The control group included 10 animals with a body condition score (BCS) of 4–6 according to the Henneke scale, while the experimental group consisted of 10 horses showing signs of obesity (≥7 BCS).

The serum concentrations of circulating immune complexes (CICs), seromucoids, C-reactive protein (CRP), haptoglobin, total protein, and its fractions were measured. It was found that the biochemical analysis of serum revealed statistically significant changes in protein metabolism in obese animals. The total protein level in the experimental group was 75.0 (71.5–76.5) g/L compared to 65.5 (61.8–72.0) g/L in the control group (p<0.05), indicating increased protein synthesis. This increase was due to a rise in globulin levels to 39.5 (37.8–42.0) g/L compared to 32.0 (30.5–36.0) g/L in the control group (p<0.001), while albumin levels remained unchanged (30.5±1.2 g/L in the experimental group and 30.1±1.1 g/L in the control group, p>0.05).

Among acute-phase proteins, the CRP level in obese horses was 5.62 (4.98–5.92) mg/L, exceeding the values in the control group (3.19 (3.08–3.63) mg/L, p<0.01). Seromucoids increased by 37.8% (3.21 (3.11–3.61) g/L compared to 2.19 (2.06–2.26) g/L, p<0.001), and haptoglobin concentration reached 0.617 (0.581–0.678) g/L compared to 0.462 (0.429–0.477) g/L in the control group (p<0.001). The level of CICs in the experimental group was 160.0 (138.8–170.0) mmol/L, significantly exceeding the values in the control group (116.0 (99.5–129.0) mmol/L, p<0.001). The albumin-to-globulin ratio decreased from 0.74 in the control group to 0.61 in the experimental group (p<0.01), indicating a predominance of the globulin fraction associated with chronic inflammation.

We believe that the mechanism of these pathological changes is related to obesity in animals and, possibly, to laminitis, the development of which is one of the pathogenic links in metabolic syndrome.

 

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