10.1093/jn/136.7.2090S.

The research explored clinical laminitis in ponies and the effectiveness of an intervention system called prelaminitic metabolic syndrome (PLMS) in identifying risk factors of the disease.

Objective of the Study

• The primary objective of this study was to improve the efficacy of intervention strategies against the development of clinical laminitis in horses and ponies, by identifying animals predisposed to the disease.

Pedigree Analysis

• The researchers carried out a pedigree analysis on a herd of 160 healthy ponies. This group included 54 ponies previously diagnosed with laminitis (PL) and 106 that had never shown symptoms of the disease (NL).
• The pedigree analysis indicated that the inheritance of the disease might be dominant but suppressed in male ponies.

Blood Analysis

• Blood tests were conducted on the ponies to evaluate the levels of insulin, triglycerides, cortisol, glucose and free fatty acids.
• The PL group was found to have higher concentrations of insulin and triglycerides, but not higher cortisol, glucose, or free fatty acid levels.
• The data suggested that the PL group had compensated insulin resistance, which was inferred from the determined insulin and glucose levels.

Prelaminitic Metabolic Syndrome (PLMS)

• The researchers established a novel concept called the prelaminitic metabolic syndrome (PLMS), based on the findings from the study.
• The PLMS involved cut-off points for insulin sensitivity, beta-cell responsiveness, body condition score, and levels of triglycerides in the blood.
• Using this model, they were able to identify 62 ponies with PLMS and considered these to be at high risk, while 98 were categorized as PLMS-free, suggesting they were low risk.

PLMS Test Accuracy

• When pasture starch concentration (a known factor for inducing laminitis) was doubled after two months, 13 cases of clinical laminitis were discovered. Eleven of these were from the PLMS-identified high-risk group, and only 2 were from the PLMS-free group.
• The odds ratio calculation indicated a ten-fold higher risk in the PLMS group, confirming the validity of the PLMS as an efficient tool for identifying predisposed ponies in need of special care.
• The researchers concluded that the use of the PLMS could almost triple the efficiency of interventions and could also provide a methodology for designing new targeted interventions.