Clinical Research Abstracts of the British Equine Veterinary Association Congress 2015.

Summary

Intestinal infiltrative disease—whether inflammatory or neoplastic—represents a significant differential diagnosis for equine weight loss, as it compromises intestinal wall integrity through cellular infiltration and fibrosis development. Koskinen and colleagues investigated the utility of iohexol as a contrast medium for quantifying altered intestinal permeability in affected horses, providing a measurable marker of intestinal barrier dysfunction. The ability to objectively assess changes in intestinal permeability offers clinicians a diagnostic tool for characterising the severity of mucosal compromise and distinguishing infiltrative conditions from other causes of malabsorption and weight loss. For practitioners managing chronic weight loss cases, this approach could help inform prognosis and guide treatment decisions by establishing a baseline measurement of intestinal function and monitoring response to therapy. Given the often non-specific presenting signs of intestinal infiltration, incorporating permeability assessment into diagnostic protocols may improve diagnostic accuracy and allow earlier intervention in cases where histological confirmation proves challenging.

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Key Findings

• •Infiltrative disease of the intestine is an important cause of weight loss in horses
• •Inflammatory or neoplastic cell infiltration into the intestinal wall causes changes in intestinal wall integrity
• •Altered intestinal permeability can be measured using the contrast medium iohexol

Conditions Studied