Age, neurodegenerative disorders, and dysfunction of insulin secretion may be correlated with increased systemic concentrations of acute phase markers. Thus, the study aimed to determine the effect of age, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), and insulin dysregulation (ID) associated with PPID, on markers of the acute phase reaction. Twenty-nine mix-breed horses of both sexes were classified into groups: (1) healthy adult controls, (2) healthy non-PPID geriatric horses, (3) PPID ID+ horses, and (4) PPID ID− horses. Whole blood proinflammatory cytokine gene expression and serum concentrations of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins were measured. The data were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U-test, and correlations between groups of data were assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. The tests were statistically significant if P < 0.05. No differences in the whole blood cytokine gene expression, serum cytokine concentrations, or acute phase proteins were noted between the groups. In the PPID ID group, there was a strong correlation between the ACTH concentration after the administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone and the expression of IL-8 (r = 0.941; P = 0.0321). In the PPID ID+ group, there was a strong correlation between basal insulin concentrations and serum amyloid A (SAA; r = 0.936; P = 0.0083) as well as between postprandial insulin concentrations and SAA (r = 0.965; P = 0.001). These data suggest that neurodegeneration in horses moderately affects circulating markers of inflammation and that ID in horses with PPID influences acute phase inflammatory markers.

年龄，神经退行性疾病和胰岛素分泌功能障碍可能与急性期标志物全身浓度升高有关。因此，该研究旨在确定年龄，垂体中间部功能障碍（PPID）和与PPID相关的胰岛素失调（ID）对急性期反应标志物的影响。两种性别的二十九匹混种马分为几组：（1）健康的成年对照，（2）健康的非PPID老年马，（3）PPID ID +马和（4）PPID ID-马。测量全血促炎细胞因子基因表达以及促炎和抗炎细胞因子以及急性期蛋白的血清浓度。使用Mann-Whitney U分析数据检验和数据组之间的相关性使用Spearman相关系数进行评估。如果P <0.05，则检验具有统计学意义。两组之间全血细胞因子基因表达，血清细胞因子浓度或急性期蛋白无差异。在PPID ID组中，施用促甲状腺激素释放激素后的ACTH浓度与IL-8的表达之间具有很强的相关性（r = 0.941；P = 0.0321）。在PPID ID +组中，基础胰岛素浓度与血清淀粉样蛋白A（SAA； r = 0.936；P = 0.0083）以及餐后胰岛素浓度与SAA（r = 0.965; P= 0.001）。这些数据表明，马的神经变性适度影响炎症的循环指标，而具有PPID的马的ID影响急性期炎症标志。