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  Discussion on Research Summary: Unusual enzyme findings in the horse pancreas
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Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 9, 2007 - 8:22 am:

The dietary fat revolution in feeding horses that require large amounts of energy or are sensitive to relatively normal amounts of carbohydrates was a giant step forward in equine nutrition (see article on Nutrition Overview for more on this).

This has been difficult to explain as horses are not naturally exposed to even moderate amounts of fat so where is the environmental pressure to evolve to the point of being able to use fat as a major contributor of energy? This piece of research helps answer the how: horses form more lipase, the enzyme that digests fats, than any other enzyme. But it does not answer the question why?
DrO

Am J Vet Res. 2007 Oct;68(10):1070-2.
Digestive enzyme concentrations and activities in healthy pancreatic tissue of horses.

Lorenzo-Figueras M, Morisset SM, Morisset J, Laine J, Merritt AM.

Island Whirl Equine Colic Research Laboratory, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32601.

Objective-To measure concentrations and activities of major digestive enzymes in healthy equine pancreatic tissue. Animals-7 adult horses with normal pancreatic tissues. Procedures-Small pieces of pancreatic tissue were collected immediately after euthanasia, immersed in liquid nitrogen, and maintained at -80 degrees C until analyzed. Concentrations and activities of amylase, lipase, chymotrypsin, trypsin, and elastase were determined by use of a microtiter technique. Relative pancreatic protein concentrations were determined by use of bovine serum albumin as the standard. Pancreatic DNA was extracted and con-centrations determined by use of the diphenylamine method with calf thymus DNA as the standard. Results-The pancreatic cellular concentration of each enzyme, expressed as units per milligram of DNA, was consistent among horses. Cellular concentration of lipase (1,090.8 +/- 285.3 U/mg of DNA) was highest, followed by amylase (59.5 +/- 9.8 U/mg of DNA). Elastase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin were detected in small concentrations (1.9 +/- 0.6, 3.5 +/- 1.5, and 9.6 +/- 2.9 U/mg of DNA, respectively). Similar results were obtained for specific activities of the enzymes. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Results were unexpected because, under natural conditions, the predominant energy source for horses is carbohydrate. These results may indicate, in part, the reason horses seem to tolerate large amounts of fat added to their diet.
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 9, 2007 - 10:02 am:

Perhaps, like the secret elephant burying grounds, there are secret equine ice cream stores?

Thank goodness for these new high fat feeds!
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