Effect of long-term oral administration of a low dosage of clenbuterol on body fat percentage in working and nonworking adult horses.

The research article investigates the impact that clenbuterol, administered orally at low dosages, has on body fat percentage in adult horses, both those in active work like polo ponies, and those not working. The comprehensive study indicated that long-term clenbuterol administration did decrease body fat percentages, without affecting body weight.

Research Methodology

• The research was conducted using a total of 55 horses, comprising 8 nonworking horses and 47 polo ponies in active training.
• The polo ponies followed their regular training schedule and were divided into two groups, one group received clenbuterol (0.8 μg/kg) and the other group received an equal volume of corn syrup, serving as a placebo. The treatment was administered orally twice daily for 21 days.
• Nonworking horses were involved in a crossover trial where they also received the clenbuterol or placebo at the same dosage for 21 days. The trial involved two treatments per horse.
• The body fat percentages (PBF) of the working and nonworking horses were estimated before treatment, and twice weekly and thrice weekly thereafter, respectively.
• Body weights were measured at regular intervals.
• The entire research had to exclude full data sets of 8 working horses.

Key Findings

• The impact of clenbuterol treatment on working horses was noticeable by day 3 and continued through the last day of treatment. On the 21st day, a mean change in body fat percentage following the clenbuterol or placebo treatment was -0.80% and -0.32%, respectively.
• In the days following the cessation of treatment (day 32-42), changes in body fat percentage did not differ across the two groups of working horses.
• For the group of nonworking horses, results were similar to those seen in the working horses, with a mean change in PBF from day 6 onwards, peaking at -0.75% on day 18.
• The study showed that time and treatment did not significantly impact body weight in either experiment.

Stated Conclusions

• The study concludes that amongst the studied equids, the long-term oral administration of clenbuterol at low doses had notable reductions in body fat percentage with no indication of loss in body weight.