Use of oral tolerance tests to investigate disaccharide digestion in neonatal foals.

The research study is about testing the ability of newborn horses (foals) to digest different types of sugars (disaccharides), to inform decisions about their diets. The results suggest that while foals can digest lactose well, they only slightly digest maltose, and cannot digest sucrose within the first five days after birth.

Research Methodology

• Oral tolerance tests were conducted on a sample size of thirteen newborn foals to investigate their capacity to digest various disaccharides (specifically maltose, lactose and sucrose).
• The tests were conducted on days 1, 3 and 5 post-birth.
• The foals were randomly assigned different treatment groups, which varied by the type of disaccharide administered. The disaccharides were given as a 20% weight/volume solution, with the dosage set at 1 gram per kilogram body weight.
• For a control group, glucose was administered at a dosage of .5 grams per kilogram body weight.
• Prior to the administration, the foals were fasted for 2 hours, after which an initial blood sample was collected.
• Further blood samples were collected every 15 minutes for one hour, and thereafter every 30 minutes for three hours.

Research Findings

• Upon analysis of the plasma glucose levels in the blood samples, it was determined that the levels increased after administration of lactose or glucose, but not after administration of sucrose.
• It was also found that in foals administered maltose, plasma glucose levels increased slightly on days 3 and 5.
• Consequently, these results suggest that neonatal foals digest lactose very well, show slight digestion of maltose, and fail to digest sucrose by day five postpartum.

Implications & Recommendations

• Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that maltose and sucrose are not suitable for inclusion in the diets of foals less than one week old due to their inability to digest these disaccharides.
• Oral tolerance tests, such as those used in the study, were recommended as a useful tool for determining the digestibility of alternate carbohydrate sources in premature or sick foals suffering from lactose intolerance.