The amount of hyaluronic acid and airway remodelling increase with the severity of inflammation in neutrophilic equine asthma.
Authors: Höglund Nina, Rossi Heini, Javela Hanna-Maaria, Oikari Sanna, Nieminen Petteri, Mustonen Anne-Mari, Airas Niina, Kärjä Vesa, Mykkänen Anna
Journal: BMC veterinary research
Summary
# Editorial Summary Equine asthma causes progressive inflammation and structural remodelling of the lower airways, but the biochemical mechanisms driving these changes remain incompletely understood. Höglund and colleagues measured hyaluronic acid (HA) concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and plasma from 27 horses with naturally occurring neutrophilic airway inflammation and 28 controls, whilst also quantifying airway remodelling and HA deposition in endobronchial biopsies across disease severity grades. Both HA concentration and airway remodelling significantly increased with inflammation severity, suggesting HA plays a key role in the pathophysiological cascade from acute inflammation to chronic structural changes. These findings align with human respiratory disease models and indicate that HA metabolism could represent a therapeutic target—potentially through modulation of HA synthesis or degradation—to interrupt the progression from reversible inflammation to irreversible airway remodelling in equine asthma. For practitioners, this research provides a biochemical rationale for early, aggressive management of neutrophilic airway inflammation, since HA accumulation appears to reflect and possibly amplify the transition toward fixed airway damage that compromises performance and welfare.
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Practical Takeaways
- •HA levels in lung fluid may serve as a measurable biomarker to assess severity of equine asthma and monitor disease progression in affected horses
- •Understanding HA's role in airway inflammation and remodelling could inform therapeutic strategies targeting extracellular matrix changes in chronic equine respiratory disease
- •Horses with moderate to severe neutrophilic airway inflammation show structural airway changes that accumulate with disease severity, suggesting progressive nature of untreated equine asthma
Key Findings
- •Hyaluronic acid concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid increases with severity of neutrophilic airway inflammation in horses with equine asthma
- •Airway remodelling increases in proportion to the severity of neutrophilic airway inflammation
- •Hyaluronic acid staining intensity in endobronchial biopsies correlates with inflammation severity and structural airway changes