Serum Vitamin D Level Is Unchanged in Equine Asthma.
Authors: Mainguy-Seers Sophie, Holcombe Susan J, Lavoie Jean-Pierre
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to asthma development and severity in humans, yet its role in equine asthma remains unexplored. Using serum samples from 45 horses (15 healthy controls, 14 with mild-to-moderate asthma, and 16 with severe asthma) analysed via radioimmunoassay, researchers compared total serum vitamin D concentrations (25(OH)D) alongside clinical, environmental, and respiratory parameters including bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology and lung function testing. Mean serum vitamin D levels showed no significant difference between groups—57.9 ± 11.6 nmol/L in controls, 55.6 ± 20.0 nmol/L in mild-to-moderate asthma cases, and 64.6 ± 14.5 nmol/L in severe asthma cases (p = 0.3)—indicating that vitamin D status does not appear to influence asthma development or disease severity in horses. For equine professionals, this finding suggests that whilst vitamin D supplementation may have other benefits for musculoskeletal health and general wellbeing, targeting this micronutrient is unlikely to be an effective intervention strategy for managing equine asthma, and clinical focus should remain on established management approaches including environmental control and medication protocols.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Vitamin D supplementation is unlikely to be an effective therapeutic strategy for managing equine asthma based on this evidence of unchanged serum levels across disease severity
- •Equine asthma pathophysiology differs from human asthma regarding vitamin D involvement, suggesting different nutritional intervention approaches are needed
- •Focus respiratory management efforts on other proven environmental and treatment modalities rather than vitamin D repletion
Key Findings
- •Serum 25(OH)D levels showed no significant difference between healthy controls (57.9 ± 11.6 nmol/L), horses with MEA (55.6 ± 20.0 nmol/L), and horses with SEA (64.6 ± 14.5 nmol/L; p = 0.3)
- •Vitamin D does not appear to play a major role in equine asthma pathophysiology, contrasting with human asthma associations
- •Study included 15 control animals, 14 MEA cases, and 16 SEA cases with comprehensive clinical, respiratory, and environmental parameter analysis