Effect of repeated oral administration of hypertonic electrolyte solution on equine gastric mucosa.

The given research investigates how administering hypertonic electrolyte solution repeatedly can aggravate gastric ulcers in horses. Researchers performed a randomized, blinded, crossover trial on 14 horses to study the potential adverse effects of electrolyte supplementation often used in endurance horses, concluding that it could potentially harm their gastric mucosa.

Research Design and Methodology

• The research design was a randomized, blinded, crossover trial, meaning participants received both the control (water) and treatment (hypertonic electrolyte solution) in alternating periods, with neither the horses nor the researchers knowing the order in which treatments were received. Such a design is intended to nullify the influence of sequence effects on the results.
• Fourteen horses were randomly divided into two equal groups. One group received 60 ml of water (acting as the control or placebo), and the other received 56.7 g of commercial electrolyte supplement mixed with 60 ml water.
• The electrolyte supplement was administered orally using a dose syringe once every hour for 8 hours.
• Each dose of the supplement included a certain minimum concentration of each constituent electrolyte: sodium (5528 mg), chloride (11,886 mg), potassium (3657 mg), calcium (754 mg), and magnesium (153 mg).
• The presence and severity of gastric ulcers in the horses were scored before and after the treatments, and the findings were analyzed via analysis of variance procedures, which helps assess the variance or difference within and between the groups.

Key Findings

• The repeated oral administration of hypertonic electrolytes caused a statistically significant increase in both the number and severity of gastric ulcers in the horses.
• The nonglandular region of the horses’ stomachs exhibited higher mean ulcer scores. After the hypertonic electrolyte treatment, the mean ulcer number score was determined to be 3.6 and the mean ulcer severity score was 2.7.
• The results established that the oral administration of hypertonic electrolyte solutions can be correlated with an exacerbation of gastric ulcers in horses.

Conclusions

• Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that the particular schedule of electrolyte supplementation commonly used in endurance horses could potentially be harmful to the gastric mucosa.
• The study suggests that caution may be necessary when administering hypertonic electrolyte solutions to horses, particularly those participating in endurance events.