Neuron-specific enolase enzymatic activity as a biomarker to discriminate neurologic and orthopedic gait abnormalities in dogs.

Plasma NSE enzymatic activity reliably differentiates neurologic from musculoskeletal gait abnormalities in dogs, outperforming protein concentration assays.

This observational study evaluated neuron-specific enolase enzymatic activity (NSE-a) as a serum biomarker to differentiate neurologic from musculoskeletal causes of gait abnormalities in dogs. Client-owned dogs were enrolled across three groups: neurology service patients (n=10), orthopedic surgery and sports medicine/rehabilitation patients (n=21), and dermatology controls without gait abnormalities (n=3). Diagnoses were confirmed via advanced imaging including radiography, ultrasonography, CT, and MRI. NSE enzymatic activity was measured using a functional activity assay (NSE-FA, TETmedical), while NSE protein concentration (NSE-p) was measured via validated commercial ELISA. Neurologic dogs demonstrated significantly elevated plasma NSE-a (median 0.372; IQR 0.274–0.407) compared to orthopedic/SMR dogs (median 0.212; IQR 0.154–0.259; P=.001) and controls (median 0.218; IQR 0.15–0.226; P=.03). Critically, a secondary comparison revealed that NSE-p frequently fell below assay detection thresholds, while NSE-a remained consistently measurable, highlighting a key practical advantage of the enzymatic activity approach. The study concludes that NSE-a outperforms NSE-p in discriminating neurologic from musculoskeletal gait disorders. Limitations include small sample sizes, particularly in the control group, and the observational design. The authors suggest NSE-a warrants further investigation as a potential point-of-care biomarker for dogs with suspected neurologic conditions, which could improve triage and diagnostic efficiency in clinical practice.

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