Effects of Differently Composed Feeds and Physical Stress on Plasma Gastrin Concentration in Horses

Evaluation of diet as a cause of gastric ulcers in horses

“…Such factors, including digestible energy, addition of concentrate, and differences in bulk of the diet, may have contributed to differences in pH of stomach contents detected in these horses. In a recent study, 25 Standardbreds were fed 3 diets (unlimited hay [8 to 9 kg]; limited hay and grain [0.6 kg/100 kg of body weight and 0.2 kg/100 kg of body weight, respectively]; grain alone [0.2 kg/100 kg]). In that study, the restricted hay-grain diet resulted in an increase in plasma gastrin concentration immediately after feeding that remained high for the subsequent 4 hours.…”

“…Analysis of these data suggests that the alfalfa hay-grain diet may have had a buffering effect on stomach acid. Furthermore, in the aforementioned study, 25 Standardbreds were fed unlimited amounts of hay (a diet high in bulk), which resulted in an increase in plasma gastrin concentration that remained high for 12.5 hours after feeding. A high plasma gastrin concentration would be expected to result in an increase in gastric acid secretion and a lower pH of stomach contents.…”

The effect of porcine hydrolysed collagen on gastric ulcer scores, gastric juice pH, gastrin and amino acid concentrations in horses

“…Risk factors for ESGD include stall confinement, intermittent feeding and intense exercise and the pathogenesis is due to the erosive effects of gastric hydrochloric acid, volatile fatty acids and bile acids (Berschneider et al 1999;Nadeau et al 2003a,b;Sykes et al 2015a;Sykes et al 2015b). In addition, grain feeding has been shown to increase serum gastrin concentration, which leads to increased gastric acid secretion (Smyth et al 1989;Sandin et al 1997;Wickens et al 2013). Horses with this condition perform poorly (Franklin et al 2008;Nieto et al 2009), which has an adverse economic effect.…”