Cytotoxic Effects of Serum from Equine Grass Sickness Cases on Neuro-2a and PC12 Tet-Off Cell Lines: Implication for Using In Vitro Methods as Antemortem Diagnostic Tools

A wide variety of clinical and paraclinical methods have been used for diagnosis of equine grass sickness (EGS), but none of them could absolutely confirm the diagnosis, and postmortem pathologic examination is still considered the final step in precise diagnosis of EGS. Use of in vitro cell toxicity caused by EGS serum on neuronal cell lines was investigated. Three well-known cytotoxic methods were used to investigate the cytotoxicity of EGS serum on neuro-2a and genetically engineered PC12 Tet-Off P53 cells. The results of alamar blue reduction as an index for mitochondrial activities and intracellular adenosine triphosphate content assays, but not neutral red uptake, indicate that the EGS serum may affect the mitochondrial function and cellular metabolism at up to 60% of the cases. The results of present study might be used for diagnosis of EGS cases. Further studies with high sample size may lead us to uncover the pathogenesis of EGS and to increase the sensitivity and applicability of in vitro techniques as diagnostic tools.