Effects of advanced age and pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction on components of the acute phase reaction in horses.

Abstract Age, neurodegenerative disorders, and dysfunction of insulin secretion may be correlated with increased systemic concentrations of acute phase markers. Thus, the study aimed to determine the effect of age, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), and insulin dysregulation (ID) associated with PPID, on markers of the acute phase reaction. Twenty-nine mix-breed horses of both sexes were classified into groups; (1) healthy adult controls, (2) healthy non-PPID geriatric horses, (3) PPID ID+ horses, and (4) PPID ID- horses. Whole blood pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression and serum concentrations of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and acute phase proteins were measured. The data were analysed using the Mann-Whitney-U test, and correlations between groups of data were assessed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The tests were statistically significant if P