Infrared Thermography Correlates with Lactate Concentration in Blood during Race Training in Horses

Abstract

In horse racing the most acceptable way to objectively evaluate adaptation to increased exertion is to measure lactate blood concentration. However, this may be stressful for the horse, therefore, a simple, noninvasive procedure to monitor race progress is desirable. Forty Thoroughbreds attended race training, with blood samples collected at rest, immediately after, and 30 min after exercise. The lactate concentration was determined 60 s after blood collection using an Accusport®. Thermal imaging of the neck and trunk areas was performed following international veterinary standards from a distance of approximately 2 m from the horse using the same protocol as the blood sampling. The Spearman rank correlation coefficients (ρ) between the changes in the blood lactate concentration and surface temperature measures were found for the regions of interest. The highest positive correlation coefficients were found in the musculus trapezius pars thoracica region for the maximal temperature (T Max; ρ = 0.83; p < 0.0001), the minimal temperature (T Min; ρ = 0.83; p < 0.0001), and the average temperature (T Aver; ρ = 0.85; p < 0.0001) 30 min after the exercise. The results showed that infrared thermography may supplement blood measurements to evaluate adaptation to increased workload during race training, however, more research and references values are needed.

Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability of Amateur Show Jumping Horses Competing on Different Levels

“…Lactate concentration is one of the most valuable parameters used to calculate VL4 (speed which corresponds to a blood lactate of 4 mmol/L), which changes during training progress [ 5 ]. The most developed techniques used today in race training, such as infrared thermography, also correlate with lactate concentration [ 6 ]. Also, other parameters may be used in training monitoring, such as changes in PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cell) proliferation and activity [ 7 ] or cytokines mRNA expression [ 8 ].…”

Peripheral Modulators of the Central Fatigue Development and Their Relationship with Athletic Performance in Jumper Horses

“…During physical exercise, free fatty acids are mobilized from adipose tissue and are transported via the blood to the muscle, where they serve as fuel for muscle contraction [ 34 ]. Both free fatty acids and tryptophan compete for binding to albumin and thus, the increase of the NEFAs concentration during exercise, resulting from an elevated adrenergic tone that stimulates subcutaneous lipolysis [ 35 ], could limit the binding of tryptophan and albumin, increasing the concentration of serum free tryptophan. The uptake of BCAAs by the active muscle as a source of energy yields an increase of the tryptophan/BCAA ratio after exercise [ 36 ].…”

Comparison of the Surface Thermal Patterns of Horses and Donkeys in Infrared Thermography Images

“…However, the authors speculate that many imaging approaches applied successfully in equine veterinary medicine [1,25] can also be used for donkey IRT imaging, subject to the visualization conditions presented here. The IRT may become a useful diagnosis tool in donkeys, particularly in the field of orthopedics [5][6][7]14] or effort assessment [21,22,24], but even in the field of animal welfare [2,18,33]. Given the increase in general interest in donkeys, as milk producers, companion animals [33], and working animals under a saddle and in a harness [47], the new noninvasive imaging approaches in donkeys are in demand.…”

“…Moreover, the usefulness of equine IRT in the assessment of transient stress response during training [17,18] and competitive sport [19,20] has been demonstrated. Equine IRT seems to be highly related to thermoregulation, the increase in blood flow due to exercise [18], and the blood concentration of metabolic biochemical measurements [21,22]. During physical exercise, metabolic heat production increases as exercise intensity increases [23], and only a quarter of the energy used by a muscle is converted to mechanical energy.…”