Reason for performing study: In man, exercise of any type has been shown to induce neutrophil degranulation and respiratory burst activity, as well as an increase in plasma myeloperoxidase (MPO), a specific enzyme of neutrophil azurophilic granules with a strong oxidative activity. Until now, it is not known whether this is the same in horses.
Objectives: To study whether degranulation of blood neutrophils may be induced by exercise by measuring the total concentration of MPO and assess the possible influence of type of competition on this exercise-induced adjustment.
Methods: Blood was sampled before, and 30 min after, the course, in 9 ponies performing the Phase D of a national 3-day event championship (CIC*), and in 7 endurance horses participating at the European endurance championship 2005. White blood cells and granulocytes, total plasma proteins, creatine phosphokinase (CK), and total MPO contents were determined from blood samples. In addition, blood was taken from all ponies and 4 of the endurance horses 5 min after completion of the course to give some idea of the intensity of exercise.
Results: The mean blood lactate was 15.8 +/- 5.8 mmol/l after the CIC* and 2.7 +/- 0.2 mmol/l after the 160 km course. Performing both competitions induced a significant increase in CK and MPO. After the endurance course, the number of granulocytes significantly increased. Whilst there was no significant correlation between the measurements in CIC* ponies, MPO was significantly correlated with granulocyte count (r2 = 0.776) and CK (r2 = 0.586) in endurance horses.
Conclusions: Intense exercise induces an activation of blood granulocytes, with degranulation of neutrophils and release of MPO. The plasmatic MPO concentration after endurance was higher than the values reported in some inflammatory pathological conditions.
Potential relevance: This phenomenon may partly contribute to the occurrence of an exercise-induced oxidative stress and to the alteration of muscular membrane permeability. Further studies should be conducted to assess the possible relationship between MPO concentration and markers of oxidative stress in performance horses.