Clinical evaluation of serum alcohol dehydrogenase activity in horses with acute intestinal obstruction.

This research explores the measurement of serum alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity in horses with acute intestinal obstruction and determines its diagnostic and prognostic value. The research found that serum ADH activity was higher in horses with intestinal obstructions and was associated with a poorer survival rate.

Methodology

• The study undertook a prospective observational methodology, conducted at a University Veterinary Hospital.
• The sample group included thirty healthy horses (control group) and seventy-seven horses with acute intestinal obstruction. The obstructed horses were further categorised based on the type of obstruction they had: 36 horses had nonstrangulating obstruction, 22 had small intestinal strangulation and 19 had colon torsion.
• Serum ADH activity was measured using a spectrophotometer for all horses, alongside serum lactate concentration and hepatic enzyme (aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, glutamate dehydrogenase) activities, which were measured using an automatic analyzer.

Results

• The median serum ADH activity in healthy horses was 10.5 units per liter (U/L), while it was notably higher in horses with obstruction. There was a significant increase in serum ADH activity for horses with nonstrangulating obstruction (16.5 U/L), small intestinal strangulation (40 U/L), and colon torsion (63.2 U/L).
• Aspartate aminotransferase and glutamate dehydrogenase activities also significantly increased in horses with colon torsion compared to the healthy control horses.
• ADH activity was found to correlate with serum lactate concentration in horses with non-strangulating obstructions and colon torsion. The other liver enzymes did not show any significant correlation with lactate levels.
• ADH activity was linked with the probability of strangulation, and it was determined that an ADH activity level higher than 20 U/L had an 80.6% specificity and 80.5% sensitivity for discriminating horses with strangulating obstructions.
• Twelve horses had to be euthanized before they could undergo surgery and were therefore excluded from the study’s outcome analysis.

Conclusion

• The study revealed the potential value of serum ADH activity as a clinical parameter in determining the likelihood of intestinal strangulation in horses. It also provided some indication of the prognosis for horses with acute intestinal obstruction, showing that an increased ADH activity level was associated with poorer survival odds. Importantly, it suggested that an ADH activity level lower than 80 U/L had a 94.44% specificity and 66.67% sensitivity for survival.