Plasma iron concentrations and systemic inflammatory response syndrome in neonatal foals.
Authors: Sanmartí Júlia, Armengou Lara, Viu Judit, Alguacil Eduardo, Civit Sandra, Ríos José, Jose-Cunilleras Eduard
Journal: Journal of veterinary internal medicine
Summary
Whilst iron metabolism has been implicated in inflammatory responses across species, little is known about its clinical utility as an inflammatory marker in neonatal foals. Researchers compared plasma iron concentrations in 47 ill foals (divided into SIRS and non-SIRS groups based on standard diagnostic criteria) against 178 healthy controls from hospital and stud farm settings, using one-way ANOVA and post-hoc analysis to assess differences between groups. Foals meeting SIRS criteria showed no statistically significant difference in plasma iron (172.8 μg/dL) compared with non-SIRS foals (193.1 μg/dL) or healthy stud farm controls (181.8 μg/dL), and plasma iron failed to predict outcome in sick neonates. A notable finding was the substantial individual variability in iron concentrations amongst healthy foals and a significant negative correlation with age in both hospitalised controls and ill foals, suggesting age-related physiological changes rather than inflammatory status drive iron concentrations. For equine practitioners, this study indicates that plasma iron measurement lacks diagnostic value for identifying SIRS or predicting prognosis in sick neonatal foals, and efforts to identify inflammatory status should rely on established markers and clinical parameters rather than iron assessment.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Plasma iron measurement cannot be recommended as a diagnostic tool to identify SIRS in sick neonatal foals in clinical practice
- •The marked age-related decline in plasma iron during the neonatal period should be considered when interpreting iron values in young foals
- •Clinicians should rely on established SIRS criteria and other inflammatory markers rather than plasma iron for prognostic assessment in sick foals
Key Findings
- •Plasma iron concentration did not differ significantly between neonatal foals with SIRS (172.8 μg/dL) and non-SIRS foals (193.1 μg/dL, P=0.56)
- •Plasma iron showed large variability in healthy neonatal foals and was negatively correlated with age in both hospital controls (rho=-0.387) and sick foals (rho=-0.598, P<0.001)
- •Plasma iron concentration was not associated with outcome in neonatal foals with systemic inflammatory conditions