Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract of horses are caused by many factors and have a complex pathogenesis. Developing effective methods of differential diagnostics is of high fundamental and applied importance. The pathogenesis of diseases of the digestive tract of horses accompanied by the development of inflammation and oxidative stress, can be associated with a lack of the nitrogen monoxide which controls many signaling pathways in the body. The level of the nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the regulation of the immune and nervous systems, the tone of all the blood vessels, and the courses of many pathological processes. The nitric oxide activates guanylate cyclase (sGC) and leads to vascular relaxation. The aim of this investigation was to study the metabolites of nitric oxide in horses suffered from intestinal diseases. The levels of nitric oxide in the blood serum of horses depending on their age and health state was studied. The concentration of nitrites in the blood serum of horses aged 6–25 years was 3.4 ± 4.2 μM, and in the young horses (1–5 years) the level of this indicator was 8.2 ± 5.4 μM. A sharp decrease in nitrite was observed in all the horses with intestinal diseases of 2 ± 0.9 μM, especially with tympanitic caecun of 0.6 ± 0.4 μM and with spasmodic colic of 1.8 ± 0.5 μM. The level of nitrosylhemoglobin HbNO in the blood of the diseased animals was higher than that in clinically healthy horses, regardless of age.
The pathogenesis of diseases of the digestive tract of horses, accompanied by the development of inflammation and oxidative stress, can be associated with a lack of nitrogen monoxide, which controls a variety of signaling pathways in the body. Nitrogen monoxide (NO) takes part in the work of the immune and nervous systems, its level directly determines the tone of all blood vessels and the course of many pathological processes. NO should be considered as one of the most important factors in the protection of the gastric and intestinal mucosa. The article describes in detail the method for determining the level of nitrite-nitric oxide metabolite - in diseases of horses with the symptom complex of “true” colic, and also presents the results of measurements of nitrite in the serum of healthy animals of two age groups: 1-5 years and 6-25 years and animals with pathology. The concentration of nitrite in blood serum in horses of the age group of 6-25 years was 3.42 ± 4.22 μM, while in young animals (1-5 years) the level of this indicator was 8.24 ± 5.42 μM, which is 2,4 times higher. A sharp decrease of nitrite was noted in all horses with intestinal diseases of 2.07 ± 0.9 μM, especially with meteorism 0.6 ± 0.4 μM and spastic colic 1.78 ± 0.5 μM. These facts determine the diagnostic and prognostic value of nitric oxide as a biomarker for the regulation of intestinal motility in normal and pathological conditions.
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