BackgroundAlthough acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is not frequently used as a therapeutic agent in horses, its metabolite SA is of special interest in equestrianism since it is a natural component of many plants used as horse feed. This led to the establishment of thresholds by horse sport organizations for SA in urine and plasma. The aim of this study was to investigate plasma and urine concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) after oral administration of three different single dosages (12.5 mg/kg, 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg) of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to eight horses in a cross-over designed study.ResultsIn the 12.5 mg/kg group, SA concentrations in urine peaked 2 h after oral administration (2675 μg/mL); plasma concentrations peaked at 1.5 h (17 μg/mL). In the 25 mg/kg group, maximum concentrations were detected after 2 h (urine, 2785 μg/mL) and 1.5 h (plasma, 23 μg/mL). In the 50 mg/kg group, maximum concentrations were observed after 5 h (urine, 3915 μg/mL) and 1.5 h (plasma, 45 μg/mL). The plasma half-life calculated for SA varied between 5.0 and 5.7 h. The urine concentration of SA fell below the threshold of 750 μg/mL (set by the International Equestrian Federation FEI and most of the horseracing authorities) between 7 and 26 h after administration of 12.5 and 25 mg/kg ASA and between 24 and 36 h after administration of 50 mg/kg ASA. For ASA, IC50 were 0.50 μg/mL (COX-1) and 5.14 μg/mL (COX-2). For salicylic acid, it was not possible to calculate an IC50 for either COX due to insufficient inhibition of both cyclooxygenases.ConclusionThe established SA thresholds of 750 μg//mL urine and 6.5 μg/mL plasma appear too generous and are leaving space for misuse of the anti-inflammatory and analgetic compound ASA in horses.