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Due to the prevalence of equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS), any method of easily and accurately diagnosing the disease would be welcome by veterinarians and horse owners alike. Diagnosis by biomarkers, which are molecules indicative of disease or biological abnormality, would allow veterinarians to identify affected horses using noninvasive techniques.

In a preliminary study conducted to assess whether biomolecules, proteins in particular, were produced in horses with EGUS, 22 horses were recruited. Six were previously diagnosed with equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD), six were diagnosed with equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD), and 10 were healthy with no evidence of EGUS.

“Both ESGD and EGGD are included under the umbrella term EGUS, but they are recognized as separate diseases with different causes and potentially different treatments,” explained Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a Kentucky Equine Research nutrition advisor.

“Both types of EGUS are, however, considered important health and performance issues, and can only be definitively diagnosed via gastroscopy. This involves passing a long, fiberoptic camera into the stomach to directly visualize lesions in either the glandular (lower) or squamous (upper) regions of the stomach,” she explained.

Rather than relying on endoscopy, which can be considered invasive by some owners, identifying proteins uniquely produced in horses with either ESGD or EGGD would facilitate a diagnosis of EGUS.

Proteomics, a laboratory technique that analyzes large numbers of proteins in various biological samples, was used to evaluate saliva samples collected from all horses included in the study. Horses were client-owned animals with naturally occurring disease referred to the Large Animal Teaching Hospital at the University of Copenhagen between February 2020 and October 2021.

The results included:

  • Ten salivary proteins were differentially expressed in horses with EGGD compared to the healthy controls. Those proteins were recognized as those involved in immune activation;
  • In horses with ESGD, 36 salivary proteins were found to differ from saliva samples collected from healthy horses. Those proteins were primarily involved in squamous cell regulation and growth;
  • Protein profiles also differed between horses with ESGD and EGGD.

“These preliminary results show the potential for using proteomics to identify biomarkers of EGUS, and even differentiate between ESGD and EGGD, by simply analyzing a saliva sample,” Whitehouse said.

Once EGUS is recognized, various therapies, management strategies, and feeding protocols can be initiated based on the specific diagnosis (ESGD, EGGD, or both).

“In addition to sound feeding and management practices, gastric health can be maintained with products designed to reduce acidity as well as support the integrity of the stomach lining. Kentucky Equine Research offers several digestive health products that contain safe and effective digestive buffers,” advised Whitehouse.

*Muñoz-Prieto, A., M.D. Contreras-Aguilar, J.J. Cerón, et al. 2022. Changes in proteins in saliva and serum in equine gastric ulcer syndrome using a proteomic approach. Animals (Basel) 12(9):1169.

 

 

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