The effect of dietary energy source on serum concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I growth hormone, insulin, glucose, and fat metabolites in weanling horses.
Abstract: Feeding diets high in soluble carbohydrates to growing horses has been implicated in the development of orthopedic diseases; as a result, substitution of dietary fat for soluble carbohydrates has received attention. Because IGF-I is integral to growth and cartilage development and because it is influenced by nutrition, we evaluated the effect of dietary fat substitution on metabolic endpoints and circulating GH and IGF-I in growing horses. Twelve Quarter Horse weanlings, four female and eight male, 151 to 226 d old, were blocked by sex and age and assigned to two treatment groups. Group one (CARB; n = six) was fed a concentrate containing 2.21% fat and 33.9% starch; group two (FAT; n = six) was fed a concentrate containing 10.3% fat and 24.0% starch. Both concentrates contained 3.0 Mcal/kg of DE and 16% CP. Brome hay also was fed. Diets were fed at 0800 and 1600 for 60 d. On d 0, 30, and 60, blood samples were obtained via a jugular catheter from 1 h before until 5 h after the morning feeding. Serum was analyzed for glucose, insulin, GH, IGF-I, NEFA, and total cholesterol (CHOL). Neither ADG (0.85 +/- 0.04 and 0.84 +/- 0.04 kg) nor concentrate DMI (4.04 +/- 0.12 and 4.03 +/- 0.12 kg/d) differed between treatments. There were consistent increases in glucose and insulin in response to feeding on d 0, 30, and 60 for both groups. On d 30, the glucose response to feeding was less (P = 0.07) over time in FAT vs. CARB; however, there were no significant treatment x time effects on d 0 or 60. On d 60, the insulin response to feeding was less (P < 0.05) over time in FAT compared with CARB; however, there was no treatment x time effect on d 0 or 30. Serum CHOL concentrations did not differ between groups on d 0. Horses in the FAT group had increased CHOL concentrations on d 30 and 60 compared with CARB (P < 0.01). Although treatment x time interactions were noted for GH on d 30 and 60 (P < 0.05), only transient and inconsistent differences in the secretory profiles between CARB and FAT treatments were evident at those sampling times. Serum NEFA and IGF-I did not differ between treatments on d 0, 30, or 60. These results suggest that dietary energy source, at least at the level used in this study, did not affect foal growth performance or serum IGF-I and NEFA concentrations. Fat substitution increased serum CHOL and variably affected serum GH, glucose, and insulin concentrations in response to feeding.
Publication Date: 2003-06-24 PubMed ID: 12817507DOI: 10.2527/2003.8161581xGoogle Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This research examines how substituting dietary fat for soluble carbohydrates affects various growth and metabolic indicators in weanling horses, and found that it did not significantly alter growth performance or certain serum concentrations, but it did increase cholesterol levels and variably affect other metabolic measures.
Objective and Methodology
- The researchers aimed to investigate the influence of substituting dietary fat for soluble carbohydrates on metabolic markers as well as the circulating levels of Growth Hormone (GH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I), which are critical to growth and cartilage development in weanling horses.
- Twelve weanling Quarter Horses, both males and females, aged between 151 and 226 days were used in this study. The horses were divided into two groups: one group was fed a diet high in carbohydrates and lower in fat (referred to as CARB), whereas the other group received food higher in fat and lower in starch (known as FAT).
- The researchers collected blood samples from the horses before and after feeding at three different stages (day 0, 30, and 60) of the experiment, and analyzed the serum for glucose, insulin, GH, IGF-I, Non-Esterified Fatty Acids (NEFA), and total cholesterol (CHOL).
Findings
- The study showed there was no significant difference in average daily gains (ADG) or concentrate dry matter intake (DMI) between the two diet groups.
- There were consistent surge of glucose and insulin post-feeding in both groups on the three different days.
- On day 30, the FAT group showed less glucose response to feeding compared to the CARB group, albeit this was not statistically significant. Similarly on day 60, the FAT group showed less insulin response to feeding compared to the CARB group, which was statistically significant.
- Levels of CHOL showed no difference between the two groups on day 0, but increased significantly in the FAT group on days 30 and 60.
- GH levels showed a significant interaction effect between diet and time on days 30 and 60, but there were no obvious consistent differences in the secretion patterns between the CARB and FAT groups.
- There were no differences in the levels of NEFA and IGF-I between the two groups at any point in time.
Conclusion
- The main takeaway from this study is that the source of dietary energy, at the levels used in this study, does not seem to affect growth performance or serum levels of IGF-I and NEFA in weanling horses.
- However, substituting dietary fat for carbohydrates did result in increased levels of total cholesterol and variable effects on GH, glucose, and insulin levels in response to feeding. These findings suggest future research should consider the potential impacts of dietary fat substitution, especially concerning metabolic health in horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Ropp JK, Raub RH, Minton JE.
(2003).
The effect of dietary energy source on serum concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I growth hormone, insulin, glucose, and fat metabolites in weanling horses.
J Anim Sci, 81(6), 1581-1589.
https://doi.org/10.2527/2003.8161581x Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506-0201, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Blood Glucose / metabolism
- Cholesterol / blood
- Dietary Carbohydrates / administration & dosage
- Dietary Carbohydrates / metabolism
- Dietary Fats / administration & dosage
- Dietary Fats / metabolism
- Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / blood
- Female
- Growth Hormone / blood
- Horses / blood
- Horses / growth & development
- Insulin / blood
- Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / metabolism
- Male
- Random Allocation
- Weaning
Citations
This article has been cited 3 times.- Baskerville CL, Bamford NJ, Harris PA, Bailey SR. Comparison and validation of ELISA assays for plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 in the horse. Open Vet J 2017;7(1):75-80.
- Lejeune JP, Franck T, Gangl M, Schneider N, Michaux C, Deby-Dupont G, Serteyn D. Plasma concentration of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in growing Ardenner horses suffering from juvenile digital degenerative osteoarthropathy. Vet Res Commun 2007 Feb;31(2):185-95.
- Lashkari S, Beblein C, Christensen JW, Jensen SK. The effect of the fat to starch ratio in young horses' diet on plasma metabolites, muscle endurance and fear responses. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl) 2025 Jan;109(1):113-123.
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