Open AccessOmega‐3 Fatty Acid Supplementation Provides an Additional Benefit to a Low‐Dust Diet in the Management of Horses with Chronic Lower Airway Inflammatory Disease
Author(s) -
Nogradi N.,
Couetil L.L.,
Messick J.,
Stochelski M.A.,
Burgess J.R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of veterinary internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.356
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1939-1676
pISSN - 0891-6640
DOI - 10.1111/jvim.12488
Subject(s) - medicine , polyunsaturated fatty acid , bronchoalveolar lavage , gastroenterology , docosahexaenoic acid , placebo , lung , fatty acid , pathology , biochemistry , biology , alternative medicine
Background Omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ( PUFA ) may benefit humans and animals with chronic inflammatory diseases. Hypothesis Omega‐3 PUFA supplementation improves clinical signs, lung function, and airway inflammation in horses with recurrent airway obstruction ( RAO ) and inflammatory airway disease ( IAD ). Animals Eight research horses and 35 client‐owned horses. Methods A pilot study examined the dose of PUFA that can alter plasma PUFA composition. Then, a randomized, controlled clinical trial was performed in horses with RAO and IAD . Horses were fed a complete pelleted diet with no hay and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 daily treatments for 2 months: 30 or 60 g of the supplement or 30 g of placebo. Clinical signs, lung function, plasma PUFA composition, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid ( BALF ) cytology were evaluated. Data were expressed as median (25–75th percentiles). P < .05 was considered significant. Results Polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation resulted in increased plasma docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) that peaked at 4 weeks. Clinical improvement was noted in all horses involved in the clinical trial, but the group that received PUFA had greater improvement in clinical signs (cough score improved 60%), lung function (respiratory effort decreased 48%), and BALF (neutrophils decreased from 23 to 9%) when compared to placebo (cough score improved 33%, respiratory effort decreased 27%, BALF neutrophils increased from 11 to 17%; P < .05). Conclusions and Clinical Importance Feeding horses with RAO and IAD a PUFA supplement containing 1.5–3 g DHA for 2 months provides an additional benefit to low‐dust diet.