Nutrition

Additives Help Protect Gut

By Adam Marcus

Adding a blend of plant products with gut-protective properties, particularly beet pulp, to conventional horse feed can significantly reduce the burden of gastric ulcers, researchers have found.

The mix—of beet pulp, alfalfa and oat fiber—led to complete resolution of ulcers in animals with equine squamous gastric disease and prevented recurrence of lesions, according to the study, which was reported in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.

The notion that a beet-alfalfa-oat fiber mix could suppress gastric ulcers has biological plausibility, according to the researchers. Beet pulp contains pectin, which can help the gastrointestinal tract form a protective barrier against acid and can bind to and neutralize bile acids. Meanwhile, alfalfa is rich in protein and calcium, which also can buffer gastric acid. Previous research has suggested horses fed a diet high in alfalfa are less prone to gastric ulcers.

For the new, randomized controlled trial, led by Nicola Menzies-Gow, DVM, of the Royal Veterinary College in North Mymms, in the United Kingdom, researchers fed the beet-alfalfa-fiber blend (1 kg over 2 meals per day) to 5 horses with equine squamous gastric disease for 1 month. Another 5 horses with gastric disease did not receive the feed product.

All the animals (mean age, 11 years) were treated with omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor, to control gastric acid, and all underwent gastroscopy at the end of the month to evaluate the state of their lesions.

Use of omeprazole was discontinued in the horses whose ulcers had resolved, and they continued the commercial feed for another month—at which point another gastroscopy was performed.

After the first month, none of the animals showed evidence of gastric disease on imaging. However, at the second month, ulcers had returned in 3 of the 5 horses that did not receive the beet-alfalfa-fiber blend at the start of the study, but none of those that began the trial eating the feed (P=0.04), according to the researchers. The mean grade of the gastric disease was higher, too­—3 of 4 versus 2 of 4 originally. “Thus, the commercial beet pulp/alfalfa/oat fiber mix aided prevention of [gastric disease] recurrence when fed during the healing and prevention phases,” the researchers reported.

“Feeding the beet pulp for longer seemed to have a better protective effect against ulcer recurrence,” Dr. Menzies-Gow said. “I would hope that vets can use this approach of combining feedstuffs with pharmacologic agents to aid in the treatment and prevention of squamous gastric ulcers.

“The food was well liked by all the horses and we got no complaints from the owners,” she added. “The feedstuff could either be used as part of the treatment of horses diagnosed with ulcers or as a prevention for animals that might be at an increased risk for getting ulcers.” MeV

For more information:
Menzies-Gow NJ, Shurlock T. The effect of feeding a commercial feedstuff on gastric squamous gastric disease (ESGD) healing and prevention of recurrence. J Equine Vet Sci. Feb 2024;133:105015.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080624000224?via%3Dihub