Treatment with pergolide or cyproheptadine of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (equine Cushing’s disease).

This study explores the impacts of pergolide and cyproheptadine treatments on horses with equine Cushing’s disease, also known as pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction. It finds that pergolide is more effective in reducing the symptoms of the disease and improving clinical signs.

Research Design and Methodology

• The researchers utilized the medical records of 27 horses, which includes 13 ponies, that had been treated with either pergolide or cyproheptadine for pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction.
• The study aimed to ascertain how these treatments affected plasma ACTH, insulin and glucose concentrations, and also clinical symptoms of the disease.

Findings

• Prior to the treatment, the most common clinical symptoms among the horses were laminitis, hirsutism, and abnormal body fat distribution.
• The median dose for pergolide treatment was established at 3.0 microg/kg per os every 24 hours.
• All the horses that were subject to cyproheptadine treatment received a consistent dose of 0.25 mg/kg per os every 24 hours.
• Following pergolide treatment, ACTH concentrations were significantly less, compared to those treated with cyproheptadine.
• Among the horses treated with pergolide, the concentration of ACTH post-treatment was found to correlate with the duration of treatment and the dosage of pergolide.
• The study also found that more owners of horses that had been treated with pergolide reported improvement in clinical symptoms compared to cyproheptadine treatment.

Conclusion

• The study thus concludes that pergolide treatment is more effective in reducing the symptoms of equine Cushing’s disease and increasing ACTH concentration reduction than cyproheptadine treatment.
• Furthermore, pergolide treatment was associated with more reported improvement in clinical symptoms from the horse owners, indicating its potential superior efficacy for managing this disease.