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Variations of plasmatic concentrations of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I in post-pubescent horses affected with developmental osteochondral lesions

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Abstract

Developmental osteochondral lesions are often encountered in the equine population and are a major cause of lameness. Different growth factors that act systemically as well as locally regulate the growth of cartilage. Among them is Insulin-like Growth Factor I that has been demonstrated to promote chondrocyte growth and differentiation and that has been shown to influence cartilage repair. The aims of this study were to investigate differences in circulating plasma levels of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I in post-pubescent horses affected with developmental osteochondral lesions compared to unaffected ones. Significantly higher values of circulating Insulin-like Growth Factor-I levels were found in the affected group (n = 82) compared to controls (n = 86). This result may still reflect an earlier imbalance in IGF-I levels from horses with developmental osteochondral lesions considering the aetiopathological link which has been made between IGF-I and the occurrence of osteochondrosis. However, other studies have shown increased expression of IGF-I after cartilage damage. The higher levels found in this study could be due to a healing response of the cartilage to the damage caused by the osteochondral lesions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Mireille Weber and the interns and staff from Veterinair Centrum Someren for their help in collecting and processing the blood samples. Thanks to Sue Atkins this manuscript has been revised on English language.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Sciences, Equine Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Liege, Sart-Tilman B41, 4000, Liege, Belgium

    D. R. Verwilghen, L. Vanderheyden, T. Franck, J.-P. Lejeune, G. van Galen, S. Grulke & D. Serteyn

  2. European Horse Centre, Mont le Soie, Vielsalm, Belgium

    L. Vanderheyden, J.-P. Lejeune & D. Serteyn

  3. Department of Clinical Sciences, Medical Imaging, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Liege, Sart-Tilman B41, 4000, Liege, Belgium

    V. Busoni

  4. Equine Clinic, Veterinair Centrum Someren, Someren, The Netherlands

    E. Enzerink

  5. Equine Department, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Lyon, Marcy l’Etoile, 69280, France

    M. Gangl

  6. Centre for Oxygen Research and Development, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium

    T. Franck & D. Serteyn

  7. Equine Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Liege, Boulevard de Colonster 20 B41, 4000, Liege, Belgium

    D. R. Verwilghen

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  1. D. R. Verwilghen
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  2. L. Vanderheyden
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  3. T. Franck
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  5. E. Enzerink
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Correspondence to D. R. Verwilghen.

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Verwilghen, D.R., Vanderheyden, L., Franck, T. et al. Variations of plasmatic concentrations of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I in post-pubescent horses affected with developmental osteochondral lesions. Vet Res Commun 33, 701–709 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-009-9219-2

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