A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based investigation of the lamellar interstitial metabolome in healthy horses and during experimental laminitis induction.

The research is about investigating the changes in energy metabolism in horse’s lamellar tissue during the development of laminitis, a painful disease of the hoof. This was done by employing liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to determine the concentration of different compounds involved in energy metabolism.

Objective and Methodology

• The primary aim of the study was to develop a method for metabolomic analysis of lamellar and skin dialysates in healthy horses and to compare the metabolic profiles of these normal horses with those that have experimentally induced laminitis.
• The researchers utilized archived samples from healthy horses, and from horses which were given oligofructose to induce laminitis.
• The concentrations of 44 compounds involved in central carbon metabolism were measured using a technique called liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The resulting data were then analyzed using both multivariate and univariate analysis methods.

Findings

• The results revealed that the plasma metabolome was more variable than the lamellar metabolome.
• The changes in the metabolome were primarily driven by four compounds: malate, pyruvate, aconitate, and glycolate.
• In the lamellar dialysate of horses which were given oligofructose to induce laminitis, these four compounds decreased at later time points. Plasma malate, in particular, showed a marked increase after six hours in these horses.
• The study discovered a significant difference in plasma malate concentrations at this time point between the control horses and the ones with induced laminitis.

Conclusions and Implications

• The metabolomic analysis of lamellar central carbon metabolism was able to differentiate between horses developing experimental laminitis and control horses, indicating changes in energy metabolism in the lamellar tissue during laminitis development.
• The compounds malate, pyruvate, aconitate, and glycolate in lamellar tissue, and malate alone in plasma were identified as the primary source of differentiation between the two groups.
• These findings suggest that there are discernible changes in energy metabolism locally in the lamellar tissue during laminitis development. However, the biological importance of these alterations warrants further investigation.