Abstract
In order to evaluate myoglobin (Mb) determination for the diagnosis of the typing-up syndrome, Mb concentration was estimated in serum and urine and the relationship between the Mb concentration and the severity of clinical symptoms was examined in 8 racehorses with myoglobinemia. The severity of clinical symptoms was graded by the temporary disturbance of gait, since it was possible to grasp the severity of disease most objectively by this sign of all. The 8 racehorses were divided into three groups. One group was characterized by impossibility to walk, a second group by quasi-impossibility to walk, and a third group by stiffness of gait. Mb concentration ranged from 48 to 768 μg/ml in serum samples collected first from these horses. In the first group, Mb concentration in the serum sample collected first after attack was higher than in any other group. In the third group, it was lower than in any other group. In the second group, it was in an intermediate range. Thus, it was recognized that Mb concentration in the serum sample collected first after attack was related to the severity of clinical symptoms in every case. Consequently, detection and determination of Mb in serum proved to be useful for the early differential diagnosis and for the objective information on the severity of this disease. In 4 cases manifesting urinary retention on the day of attack, urine samples collected by catheterization were Mb-positive. Mb concentration in them ranged from 192 to 12288 μg/ml. It was also related considerably to the severity of clinical symptoms in these cases, except one from which the first urine sample was collected a few hours after attack.
