2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Hair cortisol concentrations were not normally distributed. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare hair cortisol concentrations between aged control horses and PPID-affected horses. No difference in hair cortisol was identified between horses with PPID and aged control horses (P = 0.21). However, when hair from the PPID horses was divided into axial and proximal segments, the proximal segments of hair from horses with PPID (median, 11.2; IQR 6.7-16 pg/mL) was higher than the entire fragment of hair from the aged control horses (median, 5.6; IQR, 5.3-7.5; P = 0.04). The findings of increased cortisol in the proximal fragment of horses with PPID may be a reflection of enhanced seasonal accumulation of hair cortisol. Sepsis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal foals. Relative adrenal insufficiency (RAI), defined as an inadequately low cortisol concentration for the severity of disease, has been associated with sepsis in newborn foals. In addition to cortisol, adrenal gland synthesizes a number of biologically important steroids, steroid precursors and neurosteroids. However, the dynamics of multiple adrenocortical hormones during hospitalization and their association with severity of disease and mortality in critically ill foals have not been evaluated.