Are pro-inflammatory cytokines and structural biomarkers effective to categorize osteoarthritis phenotype and progression in Standardbred racehorses over five years of racing career?
Temporal changes of selected biomarkers in STBRs with an acute episode of traumatic fetlock OA demonstrated that long-term increased concentrations of inflammatory cytokines, type II collagen fragments and COMP, in the SF and serum, are related to PTOA. Based on the observed decrease in inflammatory merkers at T1, we hypothesize that the progression of PTOA could be effectively modulated by proper treatment strategies. Annual variations of synovial concentration of TNF-α can reliably predict radiographic progression of PTOA.
The frequency of expression and non-uniform cell distribution of Sp17 suggest that it cannot be used as a unique immunotherapeutic target in NS cancer. However, our results do show the immunolocalisation of Sp17 in a proportion of NS tumour cells, but not in their non-pathological counterparts. The emerging complex function of Sp17 makes further studies necessary to clarify the link between it and immunopositive cells.