The use of systemic immune inflammatory index as a predictor for nematodes infections in horses

Nematode infections are a significant health concern in horses, causing a range of clinical signs and economic losses. Early detection and diagnosis are crucial for effective treatment and management. Examining the application of the systemic immune Inflammatory index (SII) as a predictor for nematode infections in horses, using platelets count, leucocytes count, and neutrophils count. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 164 horses, consisting of 66 horses with nematode infections and 98 horses without infections. The SII was computed using the platelets count, leucocytes count, and neutrophils count. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the SII's diagnostic accuracy. Nematode infections were severe in horses with mixed infections, with an average of 1805.90 ± 292.68 eggs per gram (epg). Notably, among specific species, Cyathostomum spp., exhibited a significantly different average of 2264.29 ± 132.61epg compared to other nematodes. There is a significant negative correlations between the systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII) and the Eggs per gram count for nematodes infections at (r = -0.6023; P < .0001). The SII values were significantly lower (0.06) in horses with nematode infections compared to those without infections (0.19) at p < .001. With an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.990, the SII demonstrated exceptional diagnostic precision. For the SII, the ideal cut-off value is ≤0.108, with a sensitivity of 98.5 % and a specificity of 100 %. The ROC curve was validated using the Youden index (J) with a higher value of 0.9848 indicating better performance. The study demonstrated that the SII is a reliable predictor for nematode infections in horses, using platelets count, leucocytes count, and neutrophils count. The SII is a non-invasive, reasonably priced method for identifying and diagnosing nematode infections in horses.