Equine Internal Medicine Resident The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio, United States
Abstract:
Background: Investigations of the enteroinsular axis (EIA) in neonatal foals suggest that imbalances in incretin responses in critically ill foals may contribute to mortality. Therefore, the impact of feeding method may have clinical relevance. Hypothesis/objectives: Our objective was to compare the incretin response (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide [GIP], glucagon-like peptide-1 [GLP-1], glucagon-like peptide-2 [GLP-2]) in healthy foals to bolus feeding mare's milk (MM), mare’s milk replacer (MMR), and lactated Ringer’s solution (LRS; control), with direct nursing (DN) from the dam. We hypothesized that DN would enhance the incretin response compared to other groups. Animals: Twenty-eight healthy Standardbred foals, less than 96 hours of age, were included.
Methods: Each foal was randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: bolus feeding 500 ml MM, MMR, or LRS via nasogastric tube, or DN from the mare for 5 minutes after a one-hour fast. Blood samples were collected for incretin measurements up to 180 minutes.
Results: The GIP area under the curve (AUC) was larger in the MMR group compared to control. The GLP-2 AUC was larger in the MM group compared to DN and control, with DN and control larger compared to MMR. Time to maximum incretin concentration (GIP, GLP-2) was shorter for MM and MMR compared to DN. There were no differences in GLP-1 AUC among groups. Incretin concentrations appeared to vary with age (0-48 hrs vs 48-96 hrs).
Conclusions: The results suggest that the incretin response in neonatal foals is variable amongst feeding methods and may be influenced by age.
