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A49 TheHorse.com/AAEP2017 March 2018 THE HORSE AAEP Wrap-Up SPONSORED BY had significantly more severe glandular ulcers than the horses given firocoxib. She also noted that fecal MPO in- creased with both treatments but was only statistically significant in the horses given phenylbutazone. Because MPO is derived from neutrophils, the type of white blood cell involved in NSAID- induced intestinal injury in other species, these results suggest that GI disease caused by NSAID administration is neu- trophil-driven in horses, said Richardson. So while both phenylbutazone and firocoxib induced GI inflammation and injury, glandular ulcers were more severe and fecal MPO levels greater in the horses receiving phenylbutazone. These results suggest that firocoxib's effects were less severe, said Richardson. Gut Check: How Phenylbutazone and Firocoxib Affect Horses' Microbiota In humans and other species there is evidence that NSAIDs might induce GI microbial imbalance, but we don't yet know if they alter horses' microbiota. So Canaan Whitfield-Cargile, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, ACVSMR, and a team from Texas A&M; University conducted a study to compare the effects of firocoxib and phenylbutazone on adult horses' fecal microbiota composition and diversity. Trillions of organisms make up the microbiota of the equine hindgut—the GI tract from the large intestine backward. Altering the GI microbiota might affect a horse's overall health and disease severity . Whitfield-Cargile's team randomly as- signed 10 adult horses to one of two treat- ment groups (firocoxib administered at 0.1 mg/kg once a day or phenylbutazone at 4.4 mg/kg once a day) and five horses to a control group that received a placebo. They treated horses for 10 days and col- lected fecal samples on Days 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25. Then they extracted DNA from the feces and sequenced it to determine microbiota composition and diversity. Results showed that the control group's fecal microbiota remained stable. How- ever, both treatment groups' microbial diversity decreased, most significantly on Day 10. The changes were similar for both drugs. Specifically, the microorgan- isms they lost were Clostridiaceae and Lachnospiraceae, which are involved in mucosal homeostasis (stability/balance). Past studies have shown their numbers to be higher in healthy horses than in horses suffering from colitis. Therefore, a reduction in these microorganisms can potentially impact horse health. They also noticed a decrease in the fatty acid butyrate, which is an important energy source for horses. "Owners and veterinarians should consider the potential impacts of these (microbiota) changes when administering NSAIDs to their horses and limit dura- tion of NSAID use to prevent or limit the impact of these changes," said Whitfield- Cargile. h ISABELLE ARNON When researchers scoped horses after 10 days of NSAID treatment, they found that phenylbutazone caused more severe glandular ulcers than did firocoxib.