Intestinal Aspects of Laminitis

Elliott detailed evidence of a reduction in hind gut (cecal) pH following carbohydrate overload, generally believed to be the leading factor in the onset of laminitis in otherwise healthy horses. Carbohydrate overload has also been associated with an increase in amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen) production in the gut.
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How laminitis starts and proceeds through the horse's body is being charted by Jonathan Elliott, MRCVS, PhD, and other researchers at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in the United Kingdom. Elliott spoke at a conference organized by the Veterinary Advisory Committee of the Horserace Betting Levy Board in England this spring, where he outlined the RVC's progress in charting a pharmacological vision of the laminitis disease process. His recent studies detailed how fermentation factors in the equine gut could cause a reduction of blood flow to the foot.

Through some as-yet defined disease process, laminitis reduces blood flow to the sensitive laminae of the foot and deprives the tissues of oxygen and nutrients. According to the RVC's vision of laminitis, the return of blood to the diseased tissues activates enzymes that destroy the bonds in the laminae and causes further destruction of the tissue. Disruptive enzyme attacks can start in two places in the horse: Within the circulating blood itself or in the digestive tract. The enzymes produce unique "mediators" that take over normal regulatory functions in blood platelet cells and nerve endings.

Elliott detailed evidence of a reduction in hind gut (cecal) pH following carbohydrate overload, generally believed to be the leading factor in the onset of laminitis in otherwise healthy horses. Carbohydrate overload has also been associated with an increase in amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen) production in the gut.

Changes in the gut's acidity were linked to simultaneous changes in the permeability of the gut; a drop in pH would allow more of the excess amines into the bloodstream. Elliott's challenge was to connect the amines crossing into the bloodstream with the damage to the hoof wall

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