Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that plays a pivotal role in regulating glucose metabolism in horses. It facilitates the uptake of glucose by cells, thus maintaining blood sugar levels within a normal range. Insulin's function is integral to energy balance and metabolic processes in equines. Disruptions in insulin regulation can lead to metabolic disorders such as Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS), characterized by insulin resistance and associated with obesity and laminitis. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the physiological role, regulatory mechanisms, and clinical implications of insulin in equine health and disease management.
Anger-Håål C, Fjordbakk CT, Ekstrand C, Skedsmo FS, Rørtveit R.Insulin dysregulation is a hallmark of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), and in recent years, pharmacological treatment with sodium-dependent glucose transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have shown promise in reducing the risk of hyperinsulinemia-associated laminitis in horses diagnosed with EMS. In humans and laboratory animals, this transporter protein is responsible for the majority of renal tubular glucose reabsorption, however, the presence of this and the related sodium-dependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1) have not yet been studied in equine kidneys. Additionally, studies in humans and la...
Barnabé A, Loup B, Cawley A, Delcourt V, Garcia P, Popot MA, Keledjian J, Bailly-Chouriberry L.Despite the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) regulation associated with heavy sanctions, the abuse of prohibited substances must be identified and deterred throughout horses' athletic careers, such as the administration of recombinant growth hormone (rGH). GH is naturally produced in mammal organisms to stimulate growth. Thus, rGH administration can enhance the performance of horses by expanding some physical abilities. As measuring endogenous GH levels is complex, an indirect strategy is to monitor GH-associated biomarkers in plasma as insulin-like growth factor 1 (I...
Steel R, Timms M, Bamford N, Spence R, Sillence M.Previous liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) methods for the detection of insulin and other similar peptide hormones in equine plasma relied on the use of antibody affinity extraction. As a result, these methods were not suitable for routine high-throughput analysis. A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method incorporating size exclusion as well as reversed-phase interactions allows the selective extraction of peptide hormones such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), insulin and their synthetic analogues from equine plasma with approximately 80% extraction efficiencies. This extracti...
