2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Hypovitaminosis D, hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia and elevated PTH concentrations were frequent in critically ill foals. The association between vitamin D metabolites with severity of disease and mortality in septic foals supports a role for vitamin D in the pathogenesis of equine neonatal disorders. In human medicine, the rapidly developing area of metabolomics has emerged as a promising approach to identify biomarkers of diabetes and insulin resistance before the development of overt pathology. To date, however, there has been minimal application of metabolomics in equine medicine. The objective of the study reported here was to examine the serum metabolome of Welsh ponies with and without evidence of insulin dysregulation before and during an oral sugar test (OST). Twenty Welsh ponies (12.6 AE 8 years; mean AE SD) were selected from a cohort of 300 ponies in a study examining genetic and metabolic risk factors for metabolic syndrome and laminitis. Ponies were classified as healthy [CON] (n = 10, insulin <30 mU/L) or having insulin dysregulation [ID] (n = 10, insulin >60 mU/L) at 75 minute post administration of Karo syrup (0.15 mL/kg per os). Metabolomic analysis, completed by a commercial laboratory (Metabolon Ò ) using a combination of gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS), was performed on serum samples obtained before (baseline) and at 75 minute during the OST. Plasma glucose (glucose oxidase) and serum insulin (radioimmunoassay) concentrations also were measured at baseline and 75 minute. Data were analyzed by two-way repeated measures ANOVA following log transformation, with significance set at P ≤ 0.05 to identify differences between groups and time points.