Metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the Icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise
Obesity is one of the most common welfare problems affecting domesticated horses and is believed to stimulate the development of other metabolic syndromes, i.e. insulin resistance and laminitis. The Icelandic horse is considered to be an „easy keeper“, indicating that it requires lower amount of fee...
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| Format: | H2 |
| Language: | Inglés Icelandic |
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SLU/Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (until 231231)
2017
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| _version_ | 1855572136108752896 |
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| author | Jóhannsdóttir, Tanja Rún |
| author_browse | Jóhannsdóttir, Tanja Rún |
| author_facet | Jóhannsdóttir, Tanja Rún |
| author_sort | Jóhannsdóttir, Tanja Rún |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | Obesity is one of the most common welfare problems affecting domesticated horses and is believed to stimulate the development of other metabolic syndromes, i.e. insulin resistance and laminitis. The Icelandic horse is considered to be an „easy keeper“, indicating that it requires lower amount of feed compared to many other horse breeds to maintain its body condition. However, obesity and its effect is an unexplored subject in the breed.
The aim of the thesis was to evaluate how altered body fat content affects metabolic- and physiological responses to feeding and exercise, respectively, in the Icelandic horse. The experiment was designed as a change-over study comprising of two experiments and two experimental periods. Ten Icelandic geldings, at the age of 6-8 years were used and equally divided into two groups and fed on different energy allowance over each period, restricted energy allowance diet vs. high energy allowance diet. The metabolic plasma profile was compared at the end of each treatment period by using a meal feeding trial and a standardised exercise treadmill test (SET). In the feeding trial collected blood samples were analysed for plasma insulin, glucose and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and from the SET, blood samples were analysed for plasma glucose, NEFA and lactate.
The results from the study showed that body condition (BCS) and body weight were positively correlated to each other as well as other assessed body parameters, indicating that greater number of assessed body parameters increases the accuracy of the estimated BCS. In the meal feeding trial, all horses irrespective of treatment showed normal metabolic responses. However, horses adapted to the high energy allowance diet had significantly higher plasma insulin concentration, but significantly lower plasma glucose and NEFA concentrations. In the standardised exercise treadmill test horses adapted to restricted energy allowance showed significantly higher plasma glucose and NEFA concentration and significantly lower plasma lactate concentration. They also reached significantly higher VLa2 and VLa4 implying a greater aerobic capacity.
It was concluded that altered body condition and fat content affects the metabolic response to feeding and metabolic- and physiological responses to exercise. Keeping horses in a moderate body condition and physically active is of great importance. Feeding strategy and physical activity should be adapted to each other and maintained at a fine balance to positively affect the horse athletic abilities, enabling it to reach and maintain higher performance capacity in a healthy and sound state. |
| format | H2 |
| id | RepoSLU12812 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés ice |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (until 231231) |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (until 231231) |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU128122021-11-01T00:15:03Z Metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the Icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise Jóhannsdóttir, Tanja Rún Icelandic horse body condition metabolic effects training physiology Obesity is one of the most common welfare problems affecting domesticated horses and is believed to stimulate the development of other metabolic syndromes, i.e. insulin resistance and laminitis. The Icelandic horse is considered to be an „easy keeper“, indicating that it requires lower amount of feed compared to many other horse breeds to maintain its body condition. However, obesity and its effect is an unexplored subject in the breed. The aim of the thesis was to evaluate how altered body fat content affects metabolic- and physiological responses to feeding and exercise, respectively, in the Icelandic horse. The experiment was designed as a change-over study comprising of two experiments and two experimental periods. Ten Icelandic geldings, at the age of 6-8 years were used and equally divided into two groups and fed on different energy allowance over each period, restricted energy allowance diet vs. high energy allowance diet. The metabolic plasma profile was compared at the end of each treatment period by using a meal feeding trial and a standardised exercise treadmill test (SET). In the feeding trial collected blood samples were analysed for plasma insulin, glucose and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and from the SET, blood samples were analysed for plasma glucose, NEFA and lactate. The results from the study showed that body condition (BCS) and body weight were positively correlated to each other as well as other assessed body parameters, indicating that greater number of assessed body parameters increases the accuracy of the estimated BCS. In the meal feeding trial, all horses irrespective of treatment showed normal metabolic responses. However, horses adapted to the high energy allowance diet had significantly higher plasma insulin concentration, but significantly lower plasma glucose and NEFA concentrations. In the standardised exercise treadmill test horses adapted to restricted energy allowance showed significantly higher plasma glucose and NEFA concentration and significantly lower plasma lactate concentration. They also reached significantly higher VLa2 and VLa4 implying a greater aerobic capacity. It was concluded that altered body condition and fat content affects the metabolic response to feeding and metabolic- and physiological responses to exercise. Keeping horses in a moderate body condition and physically active is of great importance. Feeding strategy and physical activity should be adapted to each other and maintained at a fine balance to positively affect the horse athletic abilities, enabling it to reach and maintain higher performance capacity in a healthy and sound state. Offita er talið eitt af algengustu heilsufarsvandamálum sem herja á nútímahestinn, burtséð frá því af hvaða hestategund hesturinn er. Offita er talin ýta undir þróun annarra efnaskiptasjúkdóma, líkt og aukið insulín viðnám og hófsperru. Samanborið við mörg önnur hestakyn þá er íslenski hesturinn flokkaður sem „easy keeper“, sem gefur til kynna að hann getur viðhaldið holdastigi sínu á minna fóðurmagni eða orkuminna fóðri. Offita og áhrif hennar eru hins vegar, enn sem komið er, órannsakað viðfangsefni meðal íslenska hestsins. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar var að meta hvaða áhrif breytt holdafar, það er aukin líkamsfita, hefur á efnaskipta- og lífeðlisfræðilega svörun jafnt við fóðurát sem og við þjálfun meðal íslenska hestsins. Rannsóknin samanstóð af tveimur aðskildum meðferðum og tveimur tímabilum og voru allir hestar prófaðir í báðum meðferðum. Tíu íslenskir geldingar, 6-8 vetra gamlir voru notaðir og skipt jafnt í tvo hópa sem fóðraðir voru annars vegar á gjöf þar sem orkuinnihald var takmarkað frá viðhaldsþörfum og hins vegar á gjöf þar sem orkuinnihald var umfram viðhaldsþarfir. Efnaskipta svörun var mæld í lok hvors tímabils með notkun sérstakrar fóðurrannsóknar og staðlaðs æfingaprófs sem framkvæmt var á hlaupabretti. Blóðsýni sem tekin voru á meðan fóðurrannsókn stóð voru greind fyrir insúlíni, blóðsykri og frjálsum fitusýrum og blóðsýni sem tekin voru á meðan staðlaða æfingaprófið fór fram voru greind fyrir blóðsykri, frjálsum fitusýrum og mjólkursýru. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar sýndu fram á jákvæða fylgni milli holdastigs og líkamsþunga sem og við aðra mælda líkamsparta. Þetta gefur til kynna að nákvæmni holdastigunar eykst þegar fleiri heldur en færri líkamspartar eru teknir með við gerð matsins. Niðurstöðurnar fóðurranssóknarinnar gáfu til kynna að allir hestarnir, óháð meðferð, sýndu heilbrigða efnaskipta svörun við fóður inntöku, sem dregur fram mikilvægi þjálfunar. Hins vegar, hestar sem fóðraðir voru umfram orkuþarfir höfðu marktækt hærra magn af insúlíni í blóðinu en marktækt lægra magn af blóðsykri og frjálsum fitusýrum. Niðurstöður frá staðlaða æfingaprófinu sýndu að hestar sem fóðraðir voru á takmörkuðu orkuinnihaldi höfðu marktækt hærri blóðsykur og magn frjálsra fitusýra en um leið marktækt lægra magn mjólkusýru í blóði. Þessir hestar náðu einnig meiri hraða áður en magn mjólkursýru fór yfir 2 mmol/L og 4 mmol/L en hið síðarnefnda er hinn eiginlegi „mjólkursýruþröskuldur“ og bentu niðurstöður til aukinnar loftháðrar getu eða þols. SLU/Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (until 231231) 2017 H2 eng ice https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/12812/ |
| spellingShingle | Icelandic horse body condition metabolic effects training physiology Jóhannsdóttir, Tanja Rún Metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the Icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise |
| title | Metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the Icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise |
| title_full | Metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the Icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise |
| title_fullStr | Metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the Icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the Icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise |
| title_short | Metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the Icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise |
| title_sort | metabolic effects of altered body fat content in the icelandic horse : responses to feeding and exercise |
| topic | Icelandic horse body condition metabolic effects training physiology |