Clustering and Correlations amongst NEFA, Selected Adipokines and Morphological Traits—New Insights into Equine Metabolic Syndrome
Zsofia Daradics,
Mihaela Niculae,
Cristian Mihăiță Crecan,
Alexandru Florin Lupșan,
Mirela Alexandra Rus,
Sanda Andrei,
Dana Mihaela Ciobanu,
Florinela Adriana Cătoi,
Ioana Delia Pop,
Mircea Valerian Mircean,
Cornel Cătoi
Affiliations
Zsofia Daradics
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Mihaela Niculae
Department of Infectious diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Cristian Mihăiță Crecan
Department of Anaesthesiology and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Alexandru Florin Lupșan
Department of Anaesthesiology and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Mirela Alexandra Rus
Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Veterinary Gynaecology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Sanda Andrei
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dana Mihaela Ciobanu
Department of Diabetes and Nutrition Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Florinela Adriana Cătoi
Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ioana Delia Pop
Department of Exact Sciences, Faculty of Forestry and Cadastre, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Mircea Valerian Mircean
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Cornel Cătoi
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Obesity is a common feature in horses suffering from metabolic syndrome. While adipokines involvement as biomarkers is better established in human pathology, little data are available on horses. This study aimed to investigate the possible association and relationship between selected metabolic parameters and morphological traits in equine metabolic syndrome. Adiposity was evaluated using body condition score (BCS) and cresty neck score (CNS). Plasma levels of total cholesterol, insulin, NEFA, and adipokines (omentin and chemerin) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Spearman correlation, univariate linear regression analysis and hierarchical clustering were performed. Significant positive correlations were observed between NEFA and bodyweight (r = 0.322; p = 0.006), BCS (r = 0.295; p = 0.013), and CNS (r = 0.267; p = 0.024), total cholesterol and bodyweight (r = 0.262; p = 0.027), and omentin and CNS (r = 0.234; p = 0.049). Cluster analysis supported these results and provided more details on the relationships between studied variables within and between the four resulting groups. These findings highlight NEFA, chemerin, and omentin as valuable biomarkers that could be further analyzed in other horse breeds for a better understanding of equine metabolic pathology.
