Effect of heparin administration on urine protein excretion during the developmental stage of experimentally induced laminitis in horses.

This research studied the effects of heparin administration on protein excretion in urine during experimentally induced laminitis development in horses. It found that protein excretion in urine increased during this process, but giving heparin prevented this. However, heparin did not affect the timing or severity of lameness onset.

Study Design and Methodology

• The study involved 13 horses. Seven received unfractionated heparin while the other six horses didn’t receive any treatment and served as the control group.
• The treatment started three days before inducing laminitis. The heparin was administered subcutaneously at a dosage based on the weight of the horses.
• All 13 horses were given three loading doses of oligofructose, an artificial sugar, at 24-hour intervals. Following the last loading dose, they each received a larger laminitis-inducing dose.
• Serum glucose and insulin levels were measured prior to the first loading dose administration. This was to acquire baseline concentrations. Subsequent measurements were taken at zero and 24 hours.
• The urine protein-to-creatinine (UP:C) ratio was determined immediately following the laminitis induction and then every four hours after.
• Lameness was evaluated every six hours. The end point of the evaluation was when the horses displayed Obel grade 2 lameness, a clinical scoring system used to assess the severity of lameness in horses due to laminitis. Upon reaching this stage, the horses were humanely euthanized.

Study Results and Findings

• There was no significant difference in the mean time until euthanasia between the control and heparin-treated groups, indicating that heparin did not delay the onset of the laminitis symptoms.
• The UP:C ratio had a significant increase from baseline at 20 to 28 hours following laminitis induction in control horses. This was a period just a few hours before lameness symptoms were evident. However, the ratio showed no significant change in horses that were administered heparin.
• There was no significant change in serum glucose and insulin concentrations from baseline in either group. This suggests that heparin administration and laminitis induction did not have an impact on these insulin and glucose metabolic parameters.

Conclusions

• The experiment concluded that the urine protein excretion increased during the developmental stages of carbohydrate-induced laminitis in horses.
• Administering heparin was seen to prevent this increase.
• However, the administration of heparin didn’t affect the timing of the onset or the severity of lameness in the horses.