Background: Nutritional factors are suggested to influence the incidence and severity of glandular gastric disease (GGD) in horses.
Objectives: To retrospectively assess whether dietary fermentable carbohydrates increase the severity of GGD and to prospectively evaluate whether the partial substitution of concentrates by dehydrated alfalfa would decrease GGD severity scores.
Animals: In total, 82 trotters from 4 training centers exercised ≥5 days/week.
Methods: Multicenter retrospective observational study, and prospective 2-arm randomized trial. Glandular mucosae were observed by gastroscopy and scored (0-4 severity scale) at day 0 (D0). Biochemical composition of the diet fed was compared between ulcerated and nonulcerated groups. After D0, horses either received the same diet (control, n = 41) or pelleted dehydrated alfalfa substituting 50% concentrates (alfalfa, n = 41). Glandular scores were recorded in both groups after 21 (D21) and 42 days (D42). The first end point was a successful outcome, defined as a horse with a glandular score of 2 to 4 on D0, decreasing to a score of 0 to 1 on days 21 or 42.
Results: Horses scored 0 to 1 at D0 ingested more (P = .01) soluble sugars from concentrates than those scored 2 to 4 before D0 (77.5 g/kg BW; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 71.1-84.0, vs 59.1 g/kg BW; 95% CI: 48.0-70.3), whereas starch intake did not differ between groups (P = .24). Among horses scored 2 to 4 at D0, fewer were scored 2 to 4 in the alfalfa group (1 out of 6) compared with the control group (6 out of 6) at D42 (P = .02). Clinical success was 47.7 times more likely in horses fed alfalfa compared with horses in the control group (95% CI: 1.6-1422.8).
Conclusion and clinical importance: Relationships were found between diet composition and integrity of the glandular mucosa. Feeding pelleted dehydrated alfalfa could help to reduce the incidence and severity of GGD.
Keywords: French trotters; buffering capacity; gastric ulcer; pelleted alfalfa; simple sugars.
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.