Hepatic diseases in horses

Abstract

The concept 'liver disease' includes several pathological conditions affecting liver's functions. It can either consist of a temporary impaired functioning of the liver and/or it can progress to its failure. The purpose of this review is to update the knowledge on hepatobiliary diseases and in particular on equine hyperlipaemia. Hepatobiliary disease's aetiology, clinical signs, diagnosis and nutritional management are thus described in the first part of the review the second part being devoted to hyperlypaemia's lipid metabolism, epidemiology, clinical signs, post-mortem observations and nutritional management. Diagnosis of hepatic disease is usually based on the assessment of the serum activities while hepatic biopsy is considered as the golden standard of diagnosis of hepatic function. Nutritional management is often very useful in management of hepatic diseases: diet should be low in protein (of good biological value) and high in non-structural carbohydrates except for chronic hepatic disease (slightly high protein). Equine hyperlipaemia's mortality is around 70%. It consists of a disorder of lipid metabolism, characterized by increase in plasma triglycerides and deposition of fat on organs. From a nutritional point of view, hyperlipaemia in horses can be approached by maintaining positive energy balance, fighting dehydration and metabolic acidosis, and by the use of lipotropic factors.

Trends of hematological and biochemical values in the blood of young race horses during standardized field exercise tests

“…It is not recorded in human beings or rodents (Poso et al, 1989). A disorder of lipid metabolism can lead to equine hyperlipaemia and hepatic diseases (Bergero and Nery, 2008).…”

Age and sex features of organism non-specific resistance of Ukrainian riding horse

“…Almost all serum proteins are produced and secreted by hepatocytes (Tothova et al, 2016). The liver endocrine functions include the secretion of plasma proteins such as albumin and α-and β-globulins (Bergero and Nery, 2008). Therefore, differences in the content of total protein may be due to sexual differences in the functioning of the liver (Thapa and Walia, 2007;Tothova et al, 2016).…”

Fasciola hepatica in UK horses

“…However, there is evidence from case reports and experimental infections that horses can be adversely affected by F. hepatica , with clinical signs including poor performance, fatigue, diarrhoea, inappetence and jaundice. At the same time, liver disease is common in horses and the cause can often be difficult to find . These factors together led to a concern that liver fluke in horses may be responsible for some cases of undiagnosed equine liver disease.…”