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Does oral prednisolone treatment increase the incidence of acute laminitis?
Abstract: It is accepted among equine practitioners that glucocorticoid treatment is a risk factor for the development of laminitis. However, there is little published evidence of a link between glucocorticoids and laminitis. Objective: To determine whether horses receiving oral prednisolone are at increased risk of laminitis. Methods: Retrospective case-control study. Methods: Clinical records of horses registered with the ambulatory service at Liphook Equine Hospital between January 2001 and November 2014 were reviewed retrospectively to identify horses that had received treatment with oral prednisolone. For each treated horse, 2 time-matched controls that received veterinary attention but were not treated with prednisolone were selected. Incidence of laminitis was compared between the 2 groups and factors associated with laminitis were assessed using Cox regression analysis. Results: Of the 416 horses treated with prednisolone, 16 (3.8%) were diagnosed with laminitis subsequent to the initiation of prednisolone treatment with an overall incidence of 2.60 (95% CI 1.49-4.22) cases per 100 horse-years at risk. A total of 7 horses (1.7%) developed laminitis during the course of their treatment and 3 (0.7%) of the horses treated with prednisolone were ultimately subjected to euthanasia as a result of laminitis. A total of 46 (5.7%), of the 814 time-matched control horses were diagnosed with laminitis during the study period with an overall incidence of 3.46 (95% CI 2.54-4.62) cases per 100 horse-years at risk. Of these, 12 (1.5%) were subjected to euthanasia as a result of laminitis. There were no significant differences in the overall laminitis incidence rate (P = 0.8), incidence rate during prednisolone treatment (P = 0.09), or probability of laminitis (P = 0.3) between the 2 groups. Mean survival time was greater in the prednisolone than the control group. Equine metabolic syndrome and increasing age were associated with increased risk of laminitis. Conclusions: Administration of oral prednisolone did not increase the risk of laminitis.
© 2016 EVJ Ltd.
Publication Date: 2016-02-15 PubMed ID: 26713748DOI: 10.1111/evj.12565Google 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
Summary
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The study investigates whether oral prednisolone treatment increases the risk of acute laminitis in horses and concludes that it does not.
Objective and Methodology
The researchers wanted to determine whether horses treated with oral prednisolone had an increased risk of developing laminitis. They conducted a retrospective case-control study using clinical records of horses from the Liphook Equine Hospital treated between January 2001 and November 2014. The study group consisted of horses treated with oral prednisolone, while the control group included horses that received veterinary attention but were not treated with prednisolone. The incidence of laminitis was compared between these two groups of horses, and Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate factors associated with laminitis.
Results
- Out of the 416 horses treated with prednisolone, 16 (3.8%) were diagnosed with laminitis after the treatment started. The overall incidence was 2.60 cases per 100 horse-years at risk.
- Seven horses (1.7%) developed laminitis during the course of their prednisolone treatment. Three horses (0.7%) treated with prednisolone were euthanized due to laminitis.
- Among the 814 control horses, 46 (5.7%) were diagnosed with laminitis during the study period. The overall incidence was 3.46 cases per 100 horse-years at risk. Twelve horses (1.5%) from this group were euthanized due to laminitis.
- No significant differences were found in the overall laminitis incidence rate, the incidence rate during prednisolone treatment, or the probability of laminitis between the treated and the control group.
- The mean survival time was longer for the prednisolone group than for the control group.
- The risk of laminitis increased with equine metabolic syndrome and increasing age.
Conclusion
The study concluded that the administration of oral prednisolone did not increase the risk of laminitis in horses. Other factors, such as increasing age and equine metabolic syndrome, were associated with an increased risk of laminitis. The findings challenge the common belief among equine practitioners that glucocorticoid treatment presents a risk factor for laminitis.
Cite This Article
APA
Jordan VJ, Ireland JL, Rendle DI.
(2016).
Does oral prednisolone treatment increase the incidence of acute laminitis?
Equine Vet J, 49(1), 19-25.
https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.12565 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Liphook Equine Hospital, Liphook, Hampshire, UK.
- The Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, Suffolk, UK.
- Rainbow Equine Hospital, Rainbow Farm, Old Malton, North Yorkshire, UK.
MeSH Terms
- Administration, Oral
- Animals
- Case-Control Studies
- Foot Diseases / chemically induced
- Foot Diseases / veterinary
- Hoof and Claw / pathology
- Horse Diseases / chemically induced
- Horses
- Incidence
- Inflammation / chemically induced
- Inflammation / veterinary
- Prednisolone / adverse effects
- Retrospective Studies
Citations
This article has been cited 3 times.- Hermans H, van den Berg EMH, Slenter IJM, Vendrig DJC, de Nijs-Tjon LJL, Vernooij JCM, Brommer H, Boevé MH, Gehring R. Penetration of topically administered dexamethasone disodium phosphate and prednisolone acetate into the normal equine ocular fluids. Equine Vet J 2022 Sep;54(5):965-972.
- Mainguy-Seers S, Lavoie JP. Glucocorticoid treatment in horses with asthma: A narrative review. J Vet Intern Med 2021 Jul;35(4):2045-2057.
- Pollard D, Wylie CE, Verheyen KLP, Newton JR. Identification of modifiable factors associated with owner-reported equine laminitis in Britain using a web-based cohort study approach. BMC Vet Res 2019 Feb 12;15(1):59.
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