Evaluation of coagulation and fibrinolysis during the prodromal stages of carbohydrate-induced acute laminitis in horses.

This study investigates the role of coagulation and fibrinolysis, major processes involved in blood clotting and clot removal respectively, during the initial stages of acute laminitis in horses. Laminitis is a serious disease affecting the hooves of horses, and this research, which involved 15 horses, found that imbalances in coagulation and fibrinolysis do not cause the onset of this condition.

Experiment Setup and Procedure

• The study made use of a sample size of 15 horses, which were subjected to carbohydrate overload to induce acute laminitis – a painful and potentially crippling disorder that can affect the hooves of horses.
• In order to monitor the progression of the disease, it was ceased 12 to 24 hours prior to when lameness was expected to set in the first trial involving 8 horses; and at the point of lameness in the second trial involving the remaining 7 horses.
• The stopping points for each trial were determined based on specific changes in blood pressures (in the first trial) and changes in pulse, rectal temperature, and arterial pressure (in the second trial) according to the parameters set by the original experimental model.
• Blood samples were drawn both before and after the carbohydrate overload in the first trial and only after the carbohydrate overload in the second trial. These were used for the assessment of hemostasis, which is the process of blood clot formation and disintegration.

Findings and Conclusions

• Despite these induced conditions, the researchers did not detect any significant changes in various parameters. These include platelet count, mean platelet volume, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen concentration, plasminogen concentration, alpha-2-antiplasmin, antithrombin III, protein C, thromboxane B2, and fibrin(ogen) degradation product concentration.
• The paper, therefore, comes to the conclusion that there is no correlation between imbalances of coagulation and fibrinolysis and the onset of acute laminitis in horses. Essentially, disorders in the clotting and clot removal systems of horses’ blood do not appear to play a role in triggering equine acute laminitis.
• However, it’s worth noting that several new test methods were employed in the evaluation of hemostasis in the horses under study. As a result, the researchers also established reference values for these measures from 34 healthy adult horses.