Most cases of laminitis are associated with metabolic
disturbances – often involving elevated blood levels of insulin. How the
hyperinsulinaemia results in laminitis is not fully understood.
One possible mechanism has been identified in a recent study
that showed that insulin weakens the structural integrity of equine lamellae.
The laboratory study used explants (small portions of hoof
wall, lamellar tissue and distal phalanx) maintained in tissue culture medium.
Half of the explants were kept in plain culture medium; the
other half were grown in medium supplemented with insulin (2.5 μg/ml).
After eight hours the explants were subjected to
biomechanical testing.
The authors report: “Lamellar explants that had been incubated
in medium supplemented with insulin failed at significantly lower load (P =
0.0001) and lower stress (P = 0.001) and had greater elongation to failure (P =
0.02).”
They conclude that insulin weakens the structural integrity
of equine lamellar explants.
They suggest that this laboratory model will be useful for
further studies hyperinsulinaemia‐induced lamellar failure.
For more details, see:
Ex vivo effects of insulin on
the structural integrity of equine digital lamellae
Sandow, C., Fugler, L.A., Leise,
B., Riggs, L., Monroe, W.T., Totaro, N., Belknap, J., Eades, S.
EVJ (2018)
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