Background: In several species, paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) decreases during inflammation, because of the presence of oxidative stress; its measurement recently has been validated in horses, but its role as a clinical biomarker is unknown.
Objectives: To evaluate sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratio of PON-1 activity to identify systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)-positive horses or horses with a poor prognosis.
Animals: One hundred seventy-two blood samples from 58 sick horses from 3 different veterinary hospitals.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study, PON-1 activity was measured upon admission and at 24-hour intervals until discharge or death, and results were analyzed based on SIRS status and outcome.
Results: No statistically significant difference was found in median PON-1 activity between SIRS and non-SIRS cases or between survivors and non-survivors except for mares, in which PON-1 activity was significantly lower in SIRS-positive horses (P = .05). The sensitivity of PON-1 activity in identifying horses with SIRS or negative outcome was low (0.0%-46.2% depending on the examined group) but its specificity was high (87.0%-100.0%). However, when PON-1 is low, the likelihood of death is 2.40-3.89 times higher than the likelihood of survival. Repeated measurement of PON-1 after treatment does not predict outcome.
Conclusions and clinical importance: Evaluation of PON-1 activity in horses with inflammation might be advisable in the future, but only low activity at admission may be relevant in predicting SIRS or negative outcome.
Keywords: SIRS; acute phase protein; inflammation; oxidative stress; prognosis.
© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.