The link between insulin dysregulation, obesity and laminitis in horses

Laminitis is a crippling disease of the feet of horses and ponies, for which there are no drug treatments other than pain relief. Professor Simon Bailey, whose Veterinary Inflammation and Metabolism research group found the link between prolonged high insulin and laminitis, discussed the latest research into this condition in a recent seminar.

Laminitis occurs in around 15 per cent of ponies and pleasure horses in Australia and other parts of the developed world; it can also occur in cattle and sheep. In equids (unlike cattle and sheep), the most common form of the condition is associated with prolonged high insulin levels and this is one component of the condition termed Equine Metabolic Syndrome, named due to perceived similarities with Human Metabolic Syndrome (also referred to in humans as ‘pre-diabetes’).

While diabetes is rare in horses, insulin resistance and dysregulation are extremely common in many ‘thrifty’ equine breeds, often fuelled by high carbohydrate levels in modern pastures and associated with a high prevalence of obesity.

Professor Bailey’s group was the first to determine the mechanism by which prolonged high insulin causes laminitis and along with collaborators have developed the first monoclonal antibody therapy in horses, to block the effects of insulin on the lamellar tissues. Working with feed companies and veterinary pharmaceutical companies, the group is also leading efforts to understand the causes of insulin resistance and dysregulation in these equine breeds, with the aim of developing treatments, feeds and dietary management practices to help prevent laminitis.

This involves understanding the hormones and mediators released from the intestine, and other tissues, that may augment insulin production from the pancreas.

More information: https://fvas.unimelb.edu.au/news/list...