Right dorsal colitis is a frustrating condition, both in prevention and treatment; affected horses often experience low-grade colic, weight loss, low blood protein levels, and chronic diarrhea. The inflamed portion of the right dorsal colon has been commonly documented in performance horses, reports The Horse.
Dr. Anje Bauck, an assistant professor of large animal surgery at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, noted that it is commonly believed that non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) like phenylbutazone contribute to the condition.
Feed is fermented in the equine colon, producing large quantities of volatile fatty acids which must be neutralized to protect the colon's mucosal lining. The administration of NSAIDs suppresses prostaglandin secretion, which affects tissue mucosa and leaves them less protected from the fatty acids, Bauck explained.
To test how NSAIDs might affect bicarbonate secretion, Bauck collected tissue samples from the right dorsal and right ventral colon of 10 horses that were having surgery. She measured bicarbonate secretion and pH level changes, then evaluated how phenylbutazone affected four of the samples.
She discovered that the dorsal colon typically has more bicarbonate secretion than the ventral colon. She also learned that phenylbutazone administration significantly reduced bicarbonate secretion, leaving the tissues susceptible to damage.
Bauck compared these results with human medicine and found that cystic fibrosis in humans is also associated with a bicarbonate deficiency. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition that causes breathing and digestive issues in humans; there is not enough prostaglandin secretion in the lungs, pancreas, and intestines. People affected by this disorder have intestinal lesions similar to right dorsal colitis in horses.
This similarity may encourage vets to look at human treatment options to see how they might apply to horses suffering from the condition.
Read more at The Horse.
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