Equine atypical myopathy: A metabolic study.

Area of Science:

• Equine Medicine
• Metabolomics
• Toxicology

Background:

• Atypical myopathy (AM) is a severe, often fatal, disease affecting grazing horses.
• The condition is strongly suspected to result from ingesting sycamore seeds containing the toxin hypoglycin A.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the metabolic alterations associated with atypical myopathy in horses.
• To characterize the serum and urine metabolic profiles of horses affected by AM.

Main Methods:

• Serum and urine samples were collected from horses with AM and healthy controls.
• High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was employed for metabolic profiling.
• Multivariate statistical analyses (unsupervised and supervised) were used to evaluate the data.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in the concentrations of glycine conjugates and acylcarnitines (C2-C26).
• Altered levels of purine and pyrimidine metabolites, vitamins (riboflavin, trigonelline, pyridoxate, pantothenate), and various organic and amino acids were detected in AM horses.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a comprehensive overview of the metabolic disturbances occurring in horses with atypical myopathy.
• These findings contribute to understanding the biochemical basis of AM and may aid in future diagnostic or therapeutic strategies.