Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk, Republic of Korea.
J Vet Intern Med. 2024 Jul-Aug;38(4):2196-2203. doi: 10.1111/jvim.17110. Epub 2024 May 22.
Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is released into the peripheral circulation by damaged axons.
To evaluate the diagnostic value of serum NfL concentration in dogs with intracranial diseases.
Study included 37 healthy dogs, 31 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE), 45 dogs with meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology (MUE), 20 dogs with hydrocephalus, and 19 dogs with brain tumors.
Cohort study. Serum NfL concentrations were measured in all dogs using single-molecule array technology.
Serum NfL concentration in dogs with each structural disease was significantly higher than in healthy dogs and dogs with IE (P = .01). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of NfL for differentiating between dogs with structural diseases and IE was 0.868. An optimal cutoff value of the NfL 27.10 pg/mL had a sensitivity of 86.67% and a specificity of 74.19% to differentiate the dogs with IE from those with structural brain diseases. There were significant correlations between NfL concentrations and lesion size: (1) MUE, P = .01, r = 0.429; (2) hydrocephalus, P = .01, r = 0.563.
Serum NfL could be a useful biomarker for distinguishing IE from structural diseases in dogs and predicting the lesion sizes of MUE and hydrocephalus.
神经丝轻链（NfL）由受损的轴突释放到外周循环中。
评估血清 NfL 浓度在患有颅内疾病的犬中的诊断价值。
本研究纳入了 37 只健康犬、31 只特发性癫痫（IE）犬、45 只病因不明的脑膜脑炎（MUE）犬、20 只脑积水犬和 19 只脑肿瘤犬。
采用队列研究。使用单分子阵列技术测量所有犬的血清 NfL 浓度。
患有每种结构性疾病的犬的血清 NfL 浓度均明显高于健康犬和 IE 犬（P = .01）。NfL 区分结构性疾病和 IE 犬的受试者工作特征曲线下面积为 0.868。NfL 27.10 pg/mL 的最佳截断值区分 IE 犬和结构性脑疾病犬的敏感性为 86.67%，特异性为 74.19%。NfL 浓度与病变大小之间存在显著相关性：（1）MUE，P = .01，r = 0.429；（2）脑积水，P = .01，r = 0.563。
血清 NfL 可能是一种有用的生物标志物，可用于区分 IE 与犬的结构性疾病，并预测 MUE 和脑积水的病变大小。
