Evaluation of local expressions of acute phase proteins in white muscle disease in lambs by the immunohistochemical method

White muscle disease (WMD) and/or nutritional muscular dystrophy is defined as a disease with a generally acute course that results in degeneration and necrosis of the heart muscle. In this study, it was aimed to reveal local tissue expressions of acute phase proteins such as C-reactive protein (CRP), Serum amyloid-A (SAA) and Haptoglobin (Hp) in lambs with WMD. The study material consisted of 27, one- six months old lamb heart tissues, 6 of which were healthy and 21 with WMD. The lambs were necropsied, and the relevant heart samples were taken into neutral formaldehyde. Afterwards, paraffin blocks were obtained by going through routine tissue follow-up processes. Sections were taken from paraffin blocks and stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (H-E) and Immunohistochemical methods. Histopathologically, control groups exhibited normal histology. Hyaline degeneration, Zenker necrosis, calcification, inflammatory cell infiltration and an increase in connective tissue were detected in the heart tissues of lambs with WMD. Lambs with WMD had significantly increased CRP and SAA proteins compared to control (P<0.01). However, there was no difference between the groups in Hp (P>0.05). In conclusion, local tissue expressions of CRP, SAA and Hp in lambs with WMD were identified immunohistochemically for the first time. It is possible to say that CRP and SAA may play important roles in the pathophysiology of WMD and that CRP and SAA may provide more sensitive results in the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease.