Vetsuisse Faculty, Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine (ISME), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Vetsuisse Faculty, Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
PLoS One. 2024 Sep 6;19(9):e0309835. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309835. eCollection 2024.
The presence of fungi in tracheal wash (TW) of horses was recently linked to mild-moderate equine asthma, indicating a possible causal role; however, increased numbers of fungi may also stem from asthma-related alteration of tracheal mucus clearance or from environmental exposure. Our objective was to elucidate the association between the presence of fungi in TW and asthma status while controlling for relevant confounders. We conducted a retrospective case-control study involving 73 horses, including 34 controls and 39 asthmatic cases. Each asthmatic horse was matched with a control from the same barn to account for the influence of environmental exposure. All horses underwent respiratory clinical scoring, endoscopy, TW, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). The association between asthma status and presence of TW fungi was tested with multivariable logistic regression modelling, accounting for selected management factors, tracheal mucus accumulation, and selected TW and BAL cytological characteristics, including multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) in the TW. Given the variability in MGC definitions in the literature, particularly concerning their morphology and number of nuclei, we constructed two distinct models for each outcome (asthma status or presence of fungi in TW): one considering MGCs as cells with ≥ 3 nuclei, and another using a criterion of ≥ 10 nuclei. Horses with a tracheal mucus score ≥ 2 exhibited 3.6 to 4.3 higher odds of being asthmatic, depending on the MGC definition. None of the other variables examined were associated with either asthma status or TW fungi detection. Notably, the presence of fungal elements in the TW was not associated with equine asthma.
最近有研究表明，真菌存在于马的气管冲洗液（TW）中与轻度至中度马气喘有关，表明其可能具有因果关系；然而，真菌数量的增加也可能源于与气喘相关的气管黏液清除改变，或源于环境暴露。我们的目的是在控制相关混杂因素的情况下，阐明 TW 中真菌的存在与气喘状态之间的关联。我们进行了一项回顾性病例对照研究，涉及 73 匹马，其中包括 34 匹对照马和 39 匹气喘马。每匹气喘马都与来自同一马厩的对照马相匹配，以考虑环境暴露的影响。所有马都接受了呼吸临床评分、内窥镜检查、TW 和支气管肺泡灌洗（BAL）。使用多变量逻辑回归模型测试 TW 真菌存在与气喘状态之间的关联，同时考虑了选定的管理因素、气管黏液积聚以及 TW 和 BAL 细胞学特征，包括 TW 中的多核巨细胞（MGC）。鉴于文献中 MGC 定义的变异性，特别是在其形态和核数方面，我们为每个结果（气喘状态或 TW 真菌存在）构建了两个不同的模型：一个考虑≥3 个核的细胞为 MGC，另一个使用≥10 个核的标准。气管黏液评分≥2 的马患气喘的几率分别增加了 3.6 倍至 4.3 倍，具体取决于 MGC 的定义。检查的其他变量均与气喘状态或 TW 真菌检测无关。值得注意的是，TW 中真菌成分的存在与马气喘无关。
