Antioxidant and haematological biomarkers in different groups of horses supplemented with polyunsaturated oil and vitamin E

Abstract

Oxidative stress has been correlated with pathologies that impair the performance of athlete horses. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of supplementation with a mixture of polyunsaturated oil and vitamin E on the antioxidant and haematological biomarkers of horses. Horses under maintenance care (n = 6) and horses in training (n = 10) received 100 and 300 ml of the oil mixture respectively. Supplementation was provided for a period of 8 weeks, together with isocaloric inclusion. Blood samples were collected at three time periods (pretest, after 4 weeks and after 8 weeks) to analyse the following: the red blood cell count (RBCc); haemoglobin (Hb); haematocrit (HT); leucocytes; lymphocytes; platelets; the mean corpuscular volume (MCV); the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC); the standard deviation of the red blood cell distribution width (RDW-SD); the coefficient of variation of the red blood cell distribution width (RDW-CV); glutathione peroxidase (GPx); superoxide dismutase (SOD); uric acid (UrAc); total plasma proteins (TPP); and creatine kinase (CK). After the 8 weeks of supplementation, animals under maintenance care exhibited significant increases in SOD, UrAc, the white blood cell count (WBCc), the RDW-SD and the RDW-CV (p < 0.05). The animals in training exhibited increases in GPx, SOD and UrAc (p < 0.05). In conclusion, supplementation with polyunsaturated oil and vitamin E increases blood antioxidants among animals under maintenance and in training, with different trends, while contributing to the fight against oxidative stress in each group analysed.

Basic Studies on the Oxidative Stress Markers in Two Types of Horse Breed: Semi-isolated Population of Huculs Is Different from Commercially Used Arabian Horses

“…The superoxide dismutase family (SODs) is the first line of defence against reactive oxygen species (ROS) [28]. It is known, that changes in SOD activity protect a host against microorganisms [29,30], bacteria [31,32], and parasites [31] and those changes depend on physical activity, diet, and chemical factors [33,34]. A lower level of total SOD activity in Arabian horses may result from the depletion of the antioxidant defence system due to long exposure to oxidative stress caused by vaccination, handling, and commercial usage.…”

Effects of a nutraceutical supplement on gastrointestinal health in racing standardbreds

“…Reports of the antioxidant effects of the GF ingredients cabbage (Kapusta-Duch et al, 2012;Rokayya et al, 2014;Wiczkowski et al, 2016), hemp (Pellati et al, 2018;Smeriglio et al, 2016) and carrot (Jiang et al, 2015;Xavier & Pérez-Gálvez, 2016) provide support for an antioxidant role of GF in the HI horses, which may have contributed to the decline in rouleaux formation. Future studies to explore this possibility should measure production of reactive oxygen species in actively racing horses receiving a diet containing GF or a known antioxidant supplement such as vitamin E (Mélo et al, 2016), and compare rouleaux formation in these horses. for animals exercising at high intensity, as this will buffer (to some extent) accumulation of H+, which contributes to onset of fatigue (Raymer et al, 1985).…”

Physical preparation and antioxidant supplementation for endurance racehorses

“…In equine athletes, several experiments with antioxidant suplemmentation provided evidence that exercise-induced disorders could be partially avoided. Many antioxidant compounds that are present in the diet may have health benefits and there is evidence that the consumption of these products causes a reduction in the expression of different biomarkers of oxidative stress (NOTIN et al, 2010) Mélo et al (2016 confirmed that supplementation with a mixture of polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E over an eight-week period was able to increase the concentration of biomarkers GPx, SOD in horses under maintenance and in training, reducing the effects of oxidative stress. Moffarts et al (2005) using a mixture of vitamins and trace elements (ascorbic acid: 11500 mg, alpha-tocopherol acetate: 7000 mg, beta-carotene: 500 mg, copper: 187 mg, zinc: 769 mg and selenium: 7 mg), administered on purebred horses over a period of three months, found an improvement in antioxidant capacity and GPx activity.…”