2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

These results support our hypothesis that septic foals exhibit CBG deficiency compared to healthy foals and adult horses. CBG-deficiency results in decreased circulating CBG-bound cortisol in foals, and if CBG-bound cortisol is critical for mediating some of cortisol's anti-inflammatory effects in foals as in other species, this CBG-deficiency could contribute to the exaggerated and potentially detrimental pro-inflammatory responses seen in some septic foals with CIRCI. Further prospective clinical and experimental studies are needed to confirm these findings in larger numbers of septic foals and to investigate the effects of CBGbound cortisol on equine leukocyte function. Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) has been considered the most common endocrinologic disorder of aged horses. Few studies exist that describe the epidemiological characteristics of horses with PPID. Additional epidemiologic studies are needed to determine the prevalence of PPID in a larger population, not just aged horses. The purpose of this study was to obtain epidemiological information at initial PPID diagnosis (new cases) from a large population of horses that included age, breed, sex, clinical signs, and insulin/glucose status.