[Studies on the effects of intravenous administration of glucose, fructose, invertose and sorbitol on various blood constituents of blood plasma (monosaccharides, insulin, lactate, pyruvate and free fatty acids as well as glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase) in the horse].

This research study examined the effects of administering various sugar solutions intravenously to horses, specifically the effects on several blood components including glucose, insulin, lactate, pyruvate and free fatty acids.

Research Methodology

• The study was conducted on a group of horses that received intravenous infusions of glucose, fructose, invertose, and sorbitol.
• The amount of infusion given was 0.5 g/kg based on the live weight of the horse.
• The behaviour of certain blood constituents was monitored before and after the infusions.
• The main metric recorded was the half-life of various substances, which is the time it takes for the concentration to reduce by half in the bloodstream.
• Research elements like lactate and pyruvate concentrations in the blood, free fatty acids in the blood plasma, insulin levels, and Glutamate-Oxaloacetate Transaminase (GOT) activity were also examined.

Research Findings

• After glucose was infused in six horses, the observed glucose half-life varied between 11 and 23 minutes.
• Subsequent invertose infusion resulted in a prolonged glucose half-life.
• Half-life values for fructose were between 17 and 33 minutes, while for glucose it was between 21 and 80 minutes.
• In the case of fructose infusion, half-life values ranged between 17 and 18 minutes in two horses.
• The half-life values observed in four horses that received sorbitol ranged between 16 and 29 minutes.
• Administering sugar or sorbitol infusions did not significantly affect the concentrations of lactate and pyruvate in the blood or free fatty acids in the blood plasma or GOT activity.
• The rise of insulin in the blood plasma differed across the different types of sugar infusions.

Research Conclusion

• Though all types of sugar infusions investigated in the study could be subjected to horses with minimal physiological disruption, the study recommended the use of invertose and sorbitol solutions in particular. These were observed to have the least disruptive effects on the horses’ blood sugar levels and metabolic responses tied to insulin.
• The findings concluded that these two types of sugar could beneficially manage and control energy regulation in horses without causing major disruptions to other vital blood components.