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October 2015 THE HORSE TheHorse.com
(IR)—and shipped samples overnight to
the same laboratory for analysis.
Next, the team sifted through the test
results and associations with demograph-
ics to determine which characteristics
could help predict if a horse has PPID.
Unsurprisingly, Grubbs pointed out, he
and his colleagues determined the odds
of horses 15-19.9 years old having PPID
were twice that of younger horses. Horses
20-24.9 years of age were 4.6 times more
likely to have PPID than horses under 15.
Horses 25 years or older were 14 times
more likely to be diagnosed with PPID.
Overall, 222 (43%) tested PPID posi-
tive, 203 (39.4%) tested as insulin resis-
tant, and 197 (38.3%) tested for neither.
As for the overlap, 97 horses (18.8%)
tested positive for both conditions, 115
(22.3%) tested positive for PPID but
negative for IR, and 106 (20.6%) tested
negative for PPID, but were IR.
Insulin-resistant horses were twice as
likely to have PPID as horses with normal
insulin levels. Forty-three percent of Cush-
ing's horses were also hyperinsulinemic.
From the first paper, Grubbs drew
this take-home: "When evaluating horses
with suspected endocrine disease, at a
minimum evaluate resting ACTH, fasting
insulin, and fasting glucose."
In the second paper, researchers
focused on the clinical signs themselves.
"The prevalence of PPID was significantly
greater among horses found to have five
of the 11 clinical signs present," he said.
It wasn't astonishing that decreased
athletic behavior, delayed shedding, loss
of muscle mass, and weight loss were on
that list, said Grubbs. However, "when
we looked at clinical signs and degree of
predictability, or what … could be most
predictable (of PPID), abnormal sweating
was the No. 1 clinical sign," he said. "A
lot of people don't even think about that."
It wasn't statistically significant, but
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AND SO SHOULD YOUR HORSE.
When evaluating
horses with suspected
endocrine disease, at a
minimum evaluate
resting ACTH, fasting
insulin, and fasting
glucose."
DR. STEVE GRUBBS