gastric ulcers | Horse Racing Free Tips

Equine Supplement Shows Promise For Improving Gut Health

Collaborating on three recent research papers on a nutraceutical called “Gs Formula,” Dr. Wendy Pearson of the University of Guelph has been very busy. Approached by GS Organic solutions out in British Columbia, Pearson has been investigating the potential for Gs Formula to improve gastric health, particularly for horses with a history of lower severity colic episodes.

“In the first study, we found that there was actually a significant increase in contractility of gastric smooth muscle when the smooth muscle was exposed to the GS Formula,” said Pearson of the first in vitro study. “The smooth muscle strips became more sensitive to a contractile stimulus (acetylcholine), which may indicate an application of the product to increasing contractility of the GI tract.” A feed additive that can accelerate transit time of food through the horse's digestive tract could prove hugely beneficial to horses at risk for developing impaction colic.

The second in vitro study also pointed to a role in accelerating gastric transit time, noting that small pieces of gastric mucosa cultured in the presence of Gs Formula produced an increased amount of a hormone (gastrin), which promotes contractility of the stomach.

Watch this video interview to find out what happened in the third study involving Standardbred racehorses.

Dr. Pearson has been involved in Nutraceutical studies since 1997 and can attest to the progress in the field as far as regulations go, including there is now oversight from Health Canada. When asked the hallmarks of a supplement backed by research, Pearson says “a horse person's best protection is to buy products from companies that invest in objective third party research.” Pearson goes on to explain efficacy research is still a big problem. A lot of the research that's used to scientifically back products is not on the actual product; it's on research that other companies have done on similar products, or from research on individual ingredients. But there are a few equine supplement companies making substantial investments in their product line by conducting evidence-based product research.

“The future of nutraceuticals is very exciting, and the sky is the limit,” says Pearson, “the interest and the availability of research funding for this type of research is growing and that's really coming from the manufacturers, so they deserve a big shout out.”

Minimize Gastric Ulcers In Rapidly Growing Weanlings

The prevalence of gastric ulcers among Thoroughbreds in training and racing is well known, but gastric ulcers also occur frequently in Thoroughbred foals and yearlings. Reports suggest one-quarter to one-half of foals have gastric ulcers.

“Ulcers compromise the health of the horse, affecting appetite and feed conversion efficiency. In young foals, growth rates can be negatively affected. As many horse owners know, diagnosis with a gastroscope and treatment with omeprazole are expensive, so preventing ulcers is vital,” explained Clarissa Brown-Douglas, Ph.D., a Kentucky Equine Research nutritionist.

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In addition to the general stress associated with weaning, the type of feed a foal is offered, such as high-starch concentrate, can also contribute to the development of equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS).

Tradition dictates feeding weanlings high levels of grain-based concentrates (such as oat-, corn-, and barley-based feeds) to achieve the accelerated growth required by Thoroughbred yearlings for sales. However, these high-starch feeds are linked to rapid growth rates and implicated in the manifestation of developmental orthopedic disease, including osteochondritis, angular limb deformities, and physitis.

Considering the potential negative effects of high-starch diets in young, growing horses, there is evidence that the same level of growth can be achieved by feeding a diet in which the energy is provided by fiber as opposed to cereals.

A recent report showed similar growth rates in foals born in the United Kingdom and fed either an all-fiber or a traditional cereal-based creep feed.^* In this study, average daily gain, height at the withers and hip, heart girth, and body length were all similar between the groups of weanlings fed either the all-fiber or high-cereal creep feed for 18 weeks. Specifically, the average daily gain was in line with other reported growth rates of Thoroughbreds at the same age.

This study also examined the effect of the two different feeds on stomach pH of the weanlings. Horses fed the all-fiber feed maintained a more consistent and less acidic gastric pH compared with those fed the cereal-based feed. The researchers deduced that the high-fiber ration had the potential to help reduce the incidence of acid-precipitated gastric ulceration.

“This work supports several other studies that have reported a high incidence of gastric ulcers in weanlings, suggesting high-fiber diets protect against gastric ulcers in horses of all ages. Many feed companies are now producing feeds for young, growing horses containing high levels of digestible fiber, including beet pulp and soy hulls, with less reliance on cereal grains,” Brown-Douglas relayed.

In sum, this study adds to the increasing pool of data supporting the use of high-fiber diets to achieve growth rates comparable to traditional cereal-based diets in young horses.

Reducing the risk of the incidence of gastric ulcers in weanlings during their rapid growth can be achieved in one of two ways: by offering a high-fiber feed rather than a traditional cereal-based feed and by supplementing their diets with Triacton, a research-proven supplement developed by Kentucky Equine Research.

Triacton contains a specific source of calcium proven to buffer the gastric and hindgut environments, restoring gastrointestinal normalcy. Triacton features the added benefit of boosting bone mineral density, which is advantageous for growing foals.

*Moore-Colyer, M., P. Tuthill, I. Bannister, and S. Daniels. 2020. Growth rates of Thoroughbred foals and in vitro gut health parameters when fed a cereal or an all-fiber creep feed. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 93:103191.

Gastric Ulcers In Horses: Search For Biomarkers, Treatments Continues

Are you considering having your horse's stomach scoped again? Is there any other way to verify the presence of gastric ulcers? Right now, there isn't, but researchers are working on noninvasive ways to diagnose and monitor horses with equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS).

Many performance horses have gastric ulcers, which are defects in the surface of the stomach lining that occur in either the glandular or nonglandular (squamous) regions. Thought to be largely due to management factors—stress due to training or competition, social isolation, diets high in concentrates or low in forages—gastric ulcers often cause poor performance, decreased appetite, and weight loss.

After diagnosing and grading ulcers via gastroscopy, veterinarians typically recommend treatments geared to decreasing the acidity of the stomach. Treatment plans for EGUS typically include diet modifications, management changes, and medications such as omeprazole, sucralfate, and ranitidine. Nutritional supplements designed to control the pH within the stomach could also be included.

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“Triacton supports gastric health by moderating acidity using ingredients shown to have greater buffering capacity. Those include a seaweed-derived source of calcium and several other highly bioavailable minerals,” said Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research. “The form of calcium in Triacton offsets the negative effects of omeprazole on calcium digestibility compared to other commonly used sources of calcium in feeds and supplements.”

Because gastroscopies play a key role in ulcer management, repeated procedures are a necessary evil as horses may be resistant to treatment or the ulcers may return rapidly following cessation of pharmaceutical treatments like omeprazole.

Veterinary researchers recently suggested that identifying blood or salivary markers, or perhaps a combination of both, could help create a diagnostic panel for EGUS. This tool would screen patients for EGUS and monitor response to treatment, which would limit the frequency of gastroscopy.^*

Blood collected from eight mature geldings with gastric ulcers was evaluated for total antioxidant capacity. A moderate but significant correlation between blood and salivary antioxidant capacity was identified, potentially indicating that oxidative stress decreases as ulcers heal.

“The role of oxidative stress and antioxidants in EGUS requires further exploration, but these very preliminary findings suggest that antioxidants may play a role in the future management of this condition,” said Whitehouse.

While horse owners wait for this research to advance, Whitehouse suggested using diagnostics and treatments, including gastrointestinal buffers, currently recommended by veterinarians.

^*Svagerko, P., W. Bridges, E. Jesch, S. Pratt-Phillips, and K. Vernon. 2021. Equine gastric ulcers; a pilot study: Associated biomarkers and polysaccharide supplementation as a solution. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 100:103518.

Reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research. Visit ker.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to Equinews to receive these articles directly

The post Gastric Ulcers In Horses: Search For Biomarkers, Treatments Continues appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Concrete Results Found Between Transportation And Equine Ulcers

It has long been known that there is a relationship between transportation and gastric stress in horses. Researchers in Italy and Australia now have some definitive answers—and some surprising results–between transportation, gastric pH and gastric ulcers in horses, reports The Horse.

Drs. Babara Padalino, Sharanne Raidal and Georgina Davis carried out a two-part study to find out if transportation would lead to an ulceration of the squamous cell mucosa in a horse's stomach and if it would be more severe in horses that were fasted beforehand.

In the first part of the study, the team fasted 12 confined horses overnight and placed nasogastric tubes to aspirate gastric fluid every two hours. They also collected blood before and after the horses were confined and completed a gastroscopy directly after confinement and again 60 hours after confinement.

The second part of the study evaluated the effects of transportation on 26 horses that were shipped 546 miles. The scientists collected blood and performed the same gastroscopy routine as with the horses that were confined.

The scientists found:

Average gastric fluid pH was much higher during transport than during confinement
Squamous ulcers were more prevalent in horses that were transported (and some of those horses had severe ulceration)
Severity of squamous cell ulceration was inversely related to the amount of feed retained in the stomach during transport; the less feed in the stomach, the more severe ulcers the horses had
The researchers were surprised that the pH of the stomach became higher during transport and that after 12 hours of fasting that some horses still had feed in their stomach