Obesity is a highly prevalent condition in horses. Dysfunctional neutrophil activity has been reported in metabolically healthy obese humans, but minimal data exist regarding horses. The present study evaluated the effect of obesity on apoptosis, phagocytosis and oxidative burst activity of peripheral blood neutrophils from lean and obese non-insulin dysregulated horses. Seven lean (BCS, body condition score 4–6/9) and five obese (BCS 8–9) horses were enrolled in the study. All animals underwent two metabolic tests (OGT, oral glucose test; IRT, insulin response test) before their selection to ensure their metabolic status (non-insulin dysregulated). A single blood sample was obtained from each horse, and a discontinuous density gradient was carried out to isolate neutrophils. Phagocytosis, apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production assays were performed for each animal. All statistical analyses were performed with unpaired two-tailed t-tests. Results indicate that neutrophils from obese non-insulin dysregulated horses have a significantly increased ROS production (P < .0001), with no changes observed on phagocytosis (P > .05) or apoptosis (P > .05) when compared to the control group. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that obesity per se, in absence of other endocrine disorders, alters neutrophil reactive oxygen species production. More research is needed to understand the role of obesity on the equine immune system of horses, and its role in the development of endocrine disorders.

肥胖是马中高度流行的疾病。据报道，代谢健康的肥胖人群中性粒细胞功能异常，但有关马的数据很少。本研究评估了肥胖对瘦和肥胖非胰岛素失调马匹的外周血中性粒细胞凋亡，吞噬作用和氧化爆发活性的影响。该研究纳入了七匹瘦肉（BCS，身体状况评分为4–6 / 9）和五匹肥胖（BCS 8–9）马。所有动物在选择之前都要进行两次代谢测试（OGT，口服葡萄糖测试； IRT，胰岛素反应测试），以确保其代谢状态（非胰岛素失调）。从每匹马获得单个血样，并进行不连续的密度梯度分离中性粒细胞。吞噬作用 对每只动物进行凋亡和活性氧（ROS）产生测定。所有统计分析均采用不成对的两尾t检验。结果表明 ，与 对照组相比，肥胖非胰岛素失调马匹的中性粒细胞的ROS产生显着增加（P <.0001），吞噬作用（P > .05）或凋亡（P> .05）没有观察到变化。。总之，我们的结果表明，在没有其他内分泌疾病的情况下，肥胖本身会改变嗜中性白细胞的活性氧产生。需要更多的研究来了解肥胖对马的马免疫系统的作用及其在内分泌失调发展中的作用。