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Development and Evaluation of a Muscle Atrophy Scoring System (MASS) for Horses.
Abstract: Loss of skeletal muscle mass likely compromises performance and welfare in horses and thus routine monitoring would be valuable. Currently available methods to assess muscle mass require expert knowledge and are often expensive. To provide a simple method, a muscle atrophy scoring system (MASS) was created and tested by three evaluators (raters) in 38 horses of varying age, breed, and health status. Inter-rater agreement on atrophy scores was in the good-to-excellent range for ratings of the neck (ICC = 0.62), back (ICC = 0.62) and hind (ICC = 0.76) regions but was poor for the abdominal region (ICC = 0.29). Due to this low agreement, the abdominal region was excluded from further analysis. Associations between muscle atrophy scores and age, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) status, and body composition indicators, including weight and estimated fat-free mass (FFM), were examined. Weight was inversely associated with neck, back and hind muscle atrophy scores (β = -0.008, β = -0.008, β = -0.009, respectively; all P 0.05). Age was positively related to neck (β = 0.030, P <0.01), back (β = 0.037, P <0.001) and hind (β = 0.040, P <0.001) muscle atrophy scores. PPID-positive horses (n = 4) had higher muscle atrophy scores than PPID-negative horses (n = 23), even after adjusting for age (P <0.05). This data suggests that neck, back and hind region evaluations by individual raters likely have acceptable reliability. In addition, these findings support further evaluation of the potential benefits of the MASS to identify and monitor muscle atrophy in horses.
Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Publication Date: 2021-09-20 PubMed ID: 34973594DOI: 10.1016/j.jevs.2021.103771Google Scholar: Lookup The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
- Age Factors
- Animal Health
- Animal Science
- Body Condition Score
- Body Mass
- Body Weight
- Clinical Examination
- Clinical Findings
- Clinical Study
- Diagnosis
- Disease Diagnosis
- Equine Health
- Equine Science
- Horses
- Musculoskeletal System
- Observational Study
- Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction
- Veterinary Medicine
- Veterinary Research
- Weight Loss
Summary
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The research presents the development and testing of a Muscle Atrophy Scoring System (MASS) for horses, which provides a simple method to assess loss of skeletal muscle mass in horses, potentially helping to monitor horse’s performance and welfare. It was tested by three evaluators, and the results found that the system had a good-to-excellent agreement for ratings of neck, back and hind regions of horses, and was effective in examining associations between muscle atrophy scores and factors like age, weight, and pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) status.
Development of the MASS
- The researchers embarked on developing a simple Muscle Atrophy Scoring System (MASS) for horses for the purpose of routinely monitoring their muscle mass. Currently available methods require expert knowledge and are often too pricey.
- They focused on providing simple, reliable measurements for evaluating skeletal muscle mass, specifically those relating to the neck, back, hind, and abdominal regions of the horse.
- The scoring system was tested in 38 horses of varying age, breed, and health status.
Evaluation & Testing of the MASS
- The testing of MASS was carried out by three evaluators. These evaluators rated the horses using the developed scoring system, and their ratings on atrophy scores were analyzed.
- The results revealed good to excellent inter-rater agreement for ratings on neck, back, and hind region’s muscle atrophy. However, the agreement was poor for the abdominal region, leading to its exclusion from further analysis.
- The study found associations between muscle atrophy scores with age, weight, and pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) status, indicating the effectiveness of the MASS in revealing such relationships.
Potential Applications & Benefits of the MASS
- The research concluded with a positive outlook on the future application of MASS. It suggests that the MASS evaluations for the neck, back, and hind regions have an acceptable reliability.
- The researchers propose further evaluations to explore the potential benefits of the MASS in identifying and monitoring muscle atrophy in horses. This would provide a cost-effective, user-friendly option for horse owners, breeders and veterinarians to ensure the well-being and performance of horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Herbst AC, Johnson MG, Gammons H, Reedy SE, Urschel KL, Harris PA, Adams AA.
(2021).
Development and Evaluation of a Muscle Atrophy Scoring System (MASS) for Horses.
J Equine Vet Sci, 110, 103771.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2021.103771 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- M.H.Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. Electronic address: alisa.herbst@gmx.net.
- M.H.Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee.
- M.H.Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.
- Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.
- Equine Studies Group, Waltham Petcare Science Institute, Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Melton Mowbray.
- MARS EQUESTRIAN Research Fellow, M. H. Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.
MeSH Terms
- Aging
- Animals
- Horse Diseases / diagnosis
- Horses
- Muscular Atrophy / diagnosis
- Muscular Atrophy / veterinary
- Pituitary Gland, Intermediate / pathology
- Reproducibility of Results
Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Urbanek N, Zebeli Q. Morphometric Measurements and Muscle Atrophy Scoring as a Tool to Predict Body Weight and Condition of Horses. Vet Sci 2023 Aug 9;10(8).
- Kirkwood NC, Hughes KJ, Stewart AJ. Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID) in Horses. Vet Sci 2022 Oct 10;9(10).
- Tranquille C, Nankervis K, Tacey J, Hopkins E, Deckers I, Walker V, MacKechnie-Guire R, Newton R, Murray R. Does Muscle Development of Sport Horses Using Water Treadmill Exercise as Part of a Long-Term Training Programme Differ from That of Horses Not Using Water Treadmill Exercise?. Animals (Basel) 2025 Aug 19;15(16).
- Davis EL, Wood AD, Potier JFN. Prevalence and Progression of Resting ACTH, Insulin and Adiponectin Values as Indicators of Suspected Endocrine Diseases in Sport Horses and Ponies Compared to Non-Sport Horses, Ponies and Donkeys. Animals (Basel) 2025 May 1;15(9).
- Coluccia P, Gizzarelli M, Scicluna MT, Manna G, Foglia Manzillo V, Buono F, Auletta L, Palumbo V, Pasolini MP. A cross-sectional study on performance evaluation in Italian standardbred horses' real-time PCR-positive for Theileria equi. BMC Vet Res 2024 Mar 5;20(1):79.
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