Palatability, glycemic, and insulinemic responses to various carbohydrate formulations: Alternatives for the diagnosis of insulin dysregulation in horses?
Authors: Warnken Tobias, Schaub Claudia, Delarocque Julien, Frers Florian, Feige Karsten, Sonntag Johanna, Reiche Dania Birte
Journal: Journal of veterinary internal medicine
Summary
# Editorial Summary Insulin dysregulation (ID) diagnosis in horses relies on oral glycaemic challenge (GC) tests, yet current protocols suffer from inconsistent palatability, variable composition, and limited availability across regions. Researchers evaluated newly formulated carbohydrate preparations—two syrups and a granulate—against conventional glucose-in-chaff and naso-gastric tube administration in 34 horses and ponies across two cross-over experiments, with all formulations standardised to 0.5 g glycaemic carbohydrates per kilogramme of bodyweight. The novel pelleted formulation (DysChEq™) achieved complete consumption within 5±2 minutes from all subjects, whilst the syrup was similarly well-tolerated when administered by syringe; critically, insulin concentrations at 120 minutes showed strong correlations between tube administration and both pellets (r=0.717) and syrup (r=0.913), with both formulations effectively discriminating between metabolically healthy and ID-affected animals. These results offer farriers, veterinarians, and equine professionals reliable alternatives to tube administration that reduce stress and labour whilst maintaining diagnostic accuracy, particularly valuable for field-based screening and situations where naso-gastric intubation poses practical or welfare concerns.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •GC pellets offer a practical field-friendly alternative to traditional glucose challenge tests, eliminating the need for naso-gastric intubation while maintaining diagnostic accuracy for identifying insulin dysregulation
- •The GC syrup formulation provides flexibility for practitioners who prefer syringe administration and correlates excellently with tube OGT results, making it suitable for horses that resist oral tubing
- •Standardized carbohydrate formulations (0.5 g/kg body weight) enable more reliable and comparable diagnostic results across different practices and geographic regions
Key Findings
- •GC pellets (DysChEq™) achieved 100% consumption with mean time of 5±2 minutes, superior to syrups and granulates for free-intake administration
- •Insulin concentrations at 120 minutes showed strong correlation between tube OGT and GC syrup (r=0.913; P<0.001) and moderate correlation with GC pellets (r=0.717; P<0.001)
- •Both GC pellets and GC syrup successfully discriminated between healthy and insulin dysregulated horses
- •Syringe-administered GC syrup demonstrated good palatability and acceptance as an alternative to naso-gastric tube administration