Validation of a Novel High‐Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin‐T Assay in Horses

Abstract

This publication is a compilation of all Research Abstracts presented at the Ninth International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology. Unlike previous ICEEP conferences there will not be a conference proceedings of full length manuscripts. These abstracts succinctly summarise a wide array of investigations relevant to the equine athlete, and will be useful to veterinarians and others involved in management of horses used for sport, work and competition. The abstracts encompass the topics of Applied PhysiologyIntroduction: The ability to accurately assess equine oxygen consumption (VO2) under field conditions has been limited by the need for unrestricted gas exchange.Methods: Two variations of a mask and an associated electronics control module (ECM) were designed to enable breath-by-breath measurement of airflows with two 8.0 cm diameter pneumotachometers located 7.5 cm in front of each narus and connected to differential pressure transducers mounted on the outside of the mask. The ECM was comprised of electronics for signal filtering to the flow transducers, an oxygen sensing cell, and an analog-to-digital converter all powered by a lithium-ion battery. The battery also powered a pump connected to gas sampling ports between the nares and pneumotachometers. Airflow and oxygen content of inspired and expired gases were recorded through the ECM and electronically transferred to a notebook. VO2 was determined from these recordings by an operator using a customized software analysis program. One mask encased the lower head (E). The other left the jaw free so horse could wear a bit and be ridden (R). Multiple treadmill exercise tests were undertaken by 6 horses to measure VO2max and blood gases. Each mask was worn twice and results compared to those from an open flow-through system (O) by 2-way RMANOVA (P<0.05). Utility of the system was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient of 4 independent raters.Results: Blood gases and VO2max (152.0 ± 4.0 (mean ± SEM; O), 147.7 ± 4.3 (E), 150.7 ± 3.3 (R) ml/(kg.min) were not different between masks. VO2 measures were reproducible for each mask. Agreement between the 4 raters was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.99).Conclusions: Masks capable of measuring VO2 during field exercise were developed, tested and found accurate by multiple users.Ethical Animal Research: Studies performed were approved by the Institution's Animal Care and Use Committee (protocol #3807). Sources of funding: Institutional sources. Competing interests: Washington State University has filed notice of its intent to apply for a patent for facemask used in this study.Introduction: Exertional myopathies are a common cause of exercise intolerance in the equine athlete, and Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM) is a widely described muscular disease. It is characterized by an accumulation of abnormal glycogen in myofibers due to a genetic defect in the skeletal muscle glycogen synthase (GYS1) enzyme. We hypothesized that energy production through oxidative phosphorylation (OXP...

Science‐in‐brief: The 9th Meeting of the International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology 2014. Biochemistry, nutrition and cardiorespiratory function of athletic horses

“…Several studies presented at ICEEP 9 focused on the cardiovascular system, including 2 describing measurement of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in horses . Previous studies of athletic horses have largely focused on measurement of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), a myocardial polypeptide which can be measured in equine plasma as a sensitive biomarker of cardiac tissue injury .…”

“…Plasma cTnI concentrations in horses can increase after prolonged endurance exercise or after brief, intense exercise, without clinical indications of cardiac disease . At ICEEP 9 , a group of investigators presented work in which they validated a high sensitivity cTnT using plasma samples from 120 horses of 5 different breeds . Results suggested that the majority of healthy sedentary horses would have cTnT concentrations below the detection limit of the assay, which has some repercussions regarding its use.…”