Association of Cartilage, Synovial Fluid and Membrane Pathological Findings in Serbian Mountain Horses Without Signs of Lameness

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Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) in horses often affects the metacarpal/metatarsophalangeal (MCP/MTP) joints and its detection in the early stages is crucial for effective management. I t was hypothesized that the extent of cartilage damage positively correlates with synovial membrane (SM) and synovial fluid (SF) pathological findings in the MCP/MTP joints of Serbian mountain horses that transported heavy loads but did not show signs of lameness. The study was conducted on 32 MCP/MTP joints of eight horses between seven to 12 years of age. Horse limbs were transferred from the abattoir to the necropsy room and SF was sampled. Its appearance, total nucleated cell count (TNCC), mononuclear cell count (MNC), total proteins (TP), and haptoglobin (Hp) were determined. Samples of SM were collected from the dorsal palmar/plantar pouch for histology. A macroscopic examination of gross condylar pathology of the third metacarpal/metatarsal bone was performed with Indian Ink staining. Scoring was done based on Osteoarthritis Research Society International recommendations. SF was clear, pale yellow, and mostly fairly viscous. Half of the samples had TNCC above, and all had TP within the reference range. Hp values were below the reference range and were omitted from further analyses. TNCC correlated with MNC (ρs=0.81, P<0.001), microscopic (ρs=0.62, P=0.003) and macroscopic scores (ρs=0.47, P=0.008). In addition, MNC correlated with macroscopic scores (ρs=0.40, P=0.03). All pathological findings were mild and their correlation indicated that these processes are interrelated and that could be ascribed to early OA.

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