Horses on pasture may be affected by equine motor neuron disease.
Equine Vet J
; 38(1): 47-51, 2006 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16411586
ABSTRACT
REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY Equine motor neuron disease (EMND) was diagnosed in 3 horses maintained on lush, grass-based pasture. This contrasted with North American studies which identified limited or no access to green herbage as an important risk factor for EMND. HYPOTHESIS:
Grazing horses that have an apparently adequate intake of pasture herbage to meet normal equine vitamin E requirements can develop EMND.METHODS:
Owners of 32 European horses diagnosed with EMND completed a questionnaire regarding intrinsic, managemental, nutritional and environmental factors that could potentially be risk factors for EMND, and also regarding clinical signs, treatments and case outcome. Plasma/serum vitamin E data for these horses were supplied by the veterinarians. No control population was studied.RESULTS:
Thirteen of 32 horses (termed the 'grazing' group) had part- or full-time access to grass-based pasture at the onset of EMND (median duration at pasture 12 h/day, range 3-24 h). Five of these horses were at pasture for at least 235 h/day at the onset of EMND, 2 of which were at pasture for at least 23.5 h/day throughout the year. Despite grazing, all these horses had a low vitamin E status. The remaining 19 horses resembled those cases reported from North America, in that they had no or limited access to pasture. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE A diagnosis of EMND should not be discounted on the basis that a horse has access, even full-time, to lush grass-based pasture. Inadequate vitamin E intake was probably not the sole cause of either the EMND or the low vitamin E status in the grazing horses; the latter was probably the result of abnormal bioavailability or excessive utilisation of vitamin E.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Vitamina E
/
Doença dos Neurônios Motores
/
Poaceae
/
Doenças dos Cavalos
/
Fenômenos Fisiológicos da Nutrição Animal
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Equine Vet J
Ano de publicação:
2006
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido