Browsing by Author "Steel C"

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    Evaluation of the effects of medium-term (57-day) omeprazole administration and of omeprazole discontinuation on serum gastrin and serum chromogranin A concentrations in the horse.
    (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2023-07-01) Clark B; Steel C; Vokes J; Shan JR; Gedye K; Lovett A; Sykes BW
    BACKGROUND: Rebound gastric hyperacidity (RGH) secondary to hypergastrinemia has been suggested to contribute to the rapid recurrence of equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) in horses after discontinuation of omeprazole. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate changes in serum gastrin and chromogranin A (CgA) concentrations in response to medium-term (57-day) omeprazole treatment and after omeprazole discontinuation. ANIMALS: Fourteen mature Thoroughbred racehorses in simulated race training. METHODS: Horses received 2.28 g of oral omeprazole PO q24h for 57 days within a 61-day period, excluding a withholding period applied mid-protocol during which treatment was stopped as part of a concurrent study. Serum samples were collected on day 0 before omeprazole treatment, on day 1 of each week of the treatment period, and for an additional 5 weeks after discontinuation of treatment. Serum gastrin and CgA concentrations were analyzed using radioimmunoassay (RIA) and ELISA, respectively. RESULTS: Median serum gastrin concentrations increased 2.5-fold from baseline to day 7 (P < .001) but did not increase further during the omeprazole treatment period. Median serum gastrin concentrations returned to baseline within 2 to 4 days after administration of the last dose of omeprazole. No effect of treatment or discontinuation was seen in serum CgA concentrations. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Serum gastrin concentrations increased in response to omeprazole treatment but returned to baseline within 2 to 4 days after the last dose of omeprazole. No effect of treatment or discontinuation was seen in serum CgA concentrations. Our results do not support the use of tapering protocols in horses.
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    Horse Grimace Scale Does Not Detect Pain in Horses with Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome.
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2023-05-12) Ferlini Agne G; May BE; Lovett A; Simon O; Steel C; Santos L; Guedes do Carmo L; Barbosa B; Werner LC; Daros RR; Somogyi AA; Sykes B; Franklin S; Mendoza FJ; Hassel DM
    Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is a highly prevalent and presumptively painful condition, although the amount of pain horses might experience is currently unknown. The aims of this study were to determine if the Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) could identify pain behaviours in horses with and without EGUS and if severity would be positively associated with the HGS score. Horse grimace scale scores were assessed blindly using facial photographs by seven observers and involved evaluation of 6 facial action units as 0 (not present), 1 (moderately present) and 2 (obviously present). Lameness examination, serum amyloid A (SAA) measurement and gastroscopy evaluation were performed on all horses. Horses (n = 61) were divided into two and three groups based on the presence (yes, no) and severity (none, mild, moderate-severe) of EGUS, respectively. Presence of lameness and elevated SAA (≥50 µg/mL) were used as exclusion criteria. Inter-observer reliability was analyzed by intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). HGS scores between groups were compared using Welch's and Brown Forsythe tests (p < 0.05). Overall, HGS ICC was "excellent" (0.75). No significant differences (p = 0.566) were observed in HGS scores between horses with and without gastric lesions (mean, 95% CI; 3.36, 2.76-3.95 and 3, 1.79-4.20, respectively). HGS was not influenced by the presence or severity of EGUS in this current study. Further studies investigating the use of different pain scales in horses with EGUS are needed.