Amino acid profile during exercise and training in Standardbreds

Area of Science:

• Equine exercise physiology and sports science.
• Biochemistry and metabolic profiling in athletic animals.

Background:

• Understanding plasma amino acid profiles is crucial for optimizing athletic performance in horses.
• Training regimens can significantly alter an athlete's metabolic state, impacting nutrient requirements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of acute exercise, standard training, and intensified training on plasma amino acid concentrations in Standardbred horses.
• To identify potential limiting amino acids for training performance in this equine population.

Main Methods:

• A 32-week longitudinal study involving 10 Standardbred horses divided into training phases.
• Standardized exercise tests (SET) were conducted post-each training phase, with plasma amino acid levels measured pre- and post-SET.
• Comparison between normally trained and intensified trained groups.

Main Results:

• Training significantly decreased plasma aspartic acid.
• Acute exercise increased alanine, taurine, methionine, leucine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, while decreasing glycine, ornithine, glutamine, citrulline, and serine.
• No significant differences were observed between normally and intensified trained horses.

Conclusions:

• Plasma amino acids, except aspartic acid, are unlikely to limit training performance in Standardbreds.
• Aspartic acid is identified as a potential candidate for supplementation to enhance equine athletic performance.