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Published on: January 7, 2018
Physical characteristics, blood hormone concentrations, and plasma lipid concentrations in obese horses with insulin
Nicholas Frank1, Sarah B Elliott, Laura E Brandt
1Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
Objective:
To compare obese horses with insulin resistance (IR) with nonobese horses and determine whether blood resting glucose, insulin, leptin, and lipid concentrations differed between groups and were correlated with combined glucose-insulin test (CGIT) results.
Animals:
7 obese adult horses with IR (OB-IR group) and 5 nonobese mares.
Procedures:
Physical measurements were taken, and blood samples were collected after horses had acclimated to the hospital for 3 days. Response to insulin was assessed by use of the CGIT, and maintenance of plasma glucose concentrations greater than the preinjection value for > or = 45 minutes was used to define IR. Area under the curve values for glucose (AUC(g)) and insulin (AUC(i)) concentrations were calculated.
Results:
Morgan, Paso Fino, Quarter Horse, and Tennessee Walking Horse breeds were represented in the OB-IR group. Mean neck circumference and BCS differed significantly between groups and were positively correlated with AUC values. Resting insulin and leptin concentrations were 6 and 14 times as high, respectively, in the OB-IR group, compared with the nonobese group, and were significantly correlated with AUC(g) and AUC(i). Plasma nonesterified fatty acid, very low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations were significantly higher (86%, 104%, and 29%, respectively) in OB-IR horses, and HDL-C concentrations were positively correlated with AUC values.
Conclusions And Clinical Relevance:
Measurements of neck circumference and resting insulin and leptin concentrations can be used to screen obese horses for IR. Dyslipidemia is associated with IR in obese horses.
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