Evaluation of serum levels of sialic acid, total protein and albumin in the horses with strangles

The study was conducted on 29 horses with strangles and 27 normal horses (negative culture) to evaluate serum levels of sialic acid, total protein and albumin in the Tabriz area. Patients were confirmed based on clinical and laboratory signs. Blood samples were tacked from jugular vein and were separated serum for measuring of total protein, albumin and sialic acid (total sialic acid, lipid bound sialic acid and protein bound sialic acid) levels in the serum. Mean levels of total protein in horses with strangles was higher than control group significantly (P= 0.000). But the mean serum albumin level in the patient group was higher than the control group of horses no significantly (p= 0.208). In the patient group increasing of total sialic acid, lipid bound sialic acid and protein bound sialic acid were significant (P= 0.000, P= 0.000 and P= 0.001 respectively). The correlation between serum parameters in the patient group was found that only the relationship between serum total protein with lipid bound sialic acid is significant (r = 0.521 and P= 0.004) and between the another serum parameters is not significant. In conclusion, strangles causes an increase in serum levels of sialic acid. Therefore, this issue must be considered in the treatment of these patients.