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.”

Read more at Equine Guelph.

The post Equine Supplement Shows Promise For Improving Gut Health appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Study: Surgical Intervention For Specific Poll Injuries Is Often Successful

Horses suffering from poll injures involving the cranial nuchal bursa often behave in very specific ways, reports EQUUS magazine. They often stretch down their neck and carry their heads low, and they are often reluctant to flex through their poll and avoid being on the bit.

Bursa are fluid-filled sacs found between bones. The soft tissue is designed to ease friction between the two structures. The cranial nuchal bursa is located between the nuchal ligament and the atlas vertebra.
Inflammation in this bursa, called cranial nuchal bursitis, can cause pain, limited flexion and decreased athletic performance. A study has shown that surgical intervention is often successful in treating this injury.

Dr. José M. García-López, of Tufts University, led a research team in reviewing the records of 35 horses diagnosed with cranial nuchal bursitis over the past 25 years.

The horses were between 5 and 22 years old, with a median age of 13. The majority of the horses were sport horses, primarily competing in dressage, which García-López noted may support the idea that specific ways of going could encourage the development of cranial nuchal bursitis.

Records showed that 14 of the horses were treated with anti-inflammatories, while the rest underwent a minimally invasive surgery to correct the problem. The surgery, called a bursoscopy, allows a surgeon to flush and remove debris from the bursa.

[Story Continues Below]

The researchers found that 78.6 percent of the horses which underwent surgery returned to their previous level of work, while 66.7 percent of horses which received only medication were able to return to work. The horses that responded well to non-medical management generally presented with solely fluid accumulation, with minimal debris in the bursa or synovial thickening.

García-López and his team concluded that horses with bursa inflammation alone could be treated with anti-inflammatory medication; however, if debris is present in the bursa, surgery is recommended. The sooner the surgery is performed, the more likely the horse will return to an athletic career.

Read more at EQUUS magazine.

The post Study: Surgical Intervention For Specific Poll Injuries Is Often Successful appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Are Probiotics Worth The Hype?

Probiotics have their fair share of both devotees and naysayers. Why do the devotees keep probiotics in their medicine cabinet? For diarrhea, primarily. Approximately 80 percent of foals develop diarrhea sufficiently severe to threaten growth and, depending on its severity, survival. Adult horses develop diarrhea for several reasons, including physical and mental stress, disease, and certain medications.

Treating diarrhea medicinally may resolve the condition, but some medications have unwelcome side effects: inappetence, skin reactions (wheals, swelling), and kidney toxicity. The benefits of administering probiotics for treating or preventing diarrhea remain largely theoretical despite the widespread availability of the products.

To shed light on the actual, rather than perceived, benefits of probiotics in horses, Australian researchers conducted a thorough review of the available scientific literature. After combing through many relevant research papers, they selected 18 that examined the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of probiotics in horses and foals. Some of the key findings of this study were:

  • Probiotics appeared well tolerated in adult horses with few safety concerns;
  • Substantial concerns were noted in foals. High doses of multistrain probiotics appeared to aggravate diarrhea, particularly when products similar to those designed for humans were used. When the probiotic contained organisms more closely related to the microbes normally found in the equine microbiome, the incidence of foal diarrhea nearly halved; and
  • Single probiotic interventions appear less effective than multispecies probiotics.

In addition to managing diarrhea, owners sometimes give probiotics to horses whose diets contain large grain meals.

[Story Continues Below]

“High-grain diets can disturb intestinal function, leading to hindgut acidosis, a condition characterized by unusually low pH in the cecum and colon. This drop in pH can change the microbiome, reducing digestibility of feed. Hindgut acidosis may result in loose manure, decreased appetite, behavior changes, colic, and laminitis,” explained Peter Huntington, B.V.Sc., M.A.C.V.Sc., director of nutrition at Kentucky Equine Research.

To combat plummeting pH in the hindgut, researchers looked at offering a probiotic to improve the microbiome and increase digestive function. However, two separate studies failed to identify any benefit in feeding a probiotic to horses given high-grain diets.

“This finding leaves room for more research and alternate approaches to controlling pH in the hindgut. Using hindgut buffers such as the research-proven hindgut supplements created by Kentucky Equine Research are potentially better than using probiotics for this purpose,” Huntington recommended.

While the role of probiotics for intestinal conditions remains unclear, researchers found beneficial effects of probiotics in exercising Standardbred horses. Specifically, those researchers stated that “administration of multistrain bacterial formulations to increase stamina in exercising horses shows promise.”

Huntington added, “Supplemented horses had lower blood lactate levels, which may delay fatigue in exercising horses. At this time, though, researchers are unclear as to how probiotics lower blood lactate levels.”

Also noteworthy, the number of studies examining probiotics in horses was extremely small compared to those for humans. As such, much of the information used to support probiotics intended for horses is actually extrapolated from human studies.

“The anatomy and physiology of the equine digestive tract are very different from that of the human, which makes data extrapolation inappropriate. Using human data for horses may at least partly explain the lack of reported efficacy of probiotics in horses,” Huntington said.

Instead of extrapolating from human medicine, scientists should consider equine-specific research, as many questions remain unanswered. For example, what species of bacteria and yeast should be included in probiotic supplements, and what multistrain products will have the most benefit? How much should be given? How long should horses be given the supplements?

Quality concerns also persist. Do commercial over-the-counter probiotics contain the type or amount of ingredient they claim? The live bacteria that went into the package or syringe may not be viable when actually fed, which negates its usefulness.

“While probiotics may exert positive gastrointestinal and extraintestinal effects, using poor-quality products or administering probiotics incorrectly may delay more appropriate treatments or interventions and are economically draining for horse owners,” summarized Huntington.

*Cooke, C.G., Z. Gibb, and J.E. Harnett. The safety, tolerability and efficacy of probiotic bacteria for equine use. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 99:103407.

Article reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research (KER). Visit equinews.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to The Weekly Feed to receive these articles directly (equinews.com/newsletters).   

The post Are Probiotics Worth The Hype? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Is Your Horse Into Everything? He Could Be An Equine Study Star

Researchers from Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Science in Nürtingen, Germany, are seeking videos of horses doing unusual things – like opening stall latches or creatively stealing their friend's food – to feature on the Equine Science Talk YouTube channel. This channel is produced by equine behavioral scientists to highlight research advances and promote discussions of equine problem solving and innovation.

If you have a horse that's found a creative way to solve their “problem,” the research team would love to see it for possible study and video inclusion. The innovative strategies horses use are behaviors they don't typically show in a natural environment.

Click here to view the YouTube Channel.

For more information on how to submit videos, please contact konstanze.krueger at hfwu.de

Read more at EQUUS magazine.

The post Is Your Horse Into Everything? He Could Be An Equine Study Star appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights