Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Serum alcohol dehydrogenase levels in horses with acute intestinal
By Megid Gomaa, Naglaa Abdel et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001)·2011·Department of Large Animal Medicine, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical evaluation of serum alcohol dehydrogenase activity in horses with acute intestinal obstruction.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A group of 77 horses with acute intestinal obstruction was evaluated for their serum alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) levels to help diagnose the severity of their condition. The study found that horses with strangulating obstructions had significantly higher ADH levels compared to healthy horses, which could help veterinarians determine the likelihood of survival. Specifically, an ADH level above 20 U/L indicated a high chance of strangulation, while levels below 80 U/L suggested a better chance of recovery. This information could be crucial for making treatment decisions in affected horses.
People also search for: horse intestinal obstruction symptoms · elevated ADH levels in horses · horse strangulation treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To measure serum alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity in horses with acute intestinal obstruction and to determine the diagnostic and prognostic utility of this analyte. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: University Veterinary Hospital. ANIMALS: Thirty healthy horses (control group) and 77 horses with acute intestinal obstruction, including 36 horses with nonstrangulating obstruction (23 with left ventral colon impaction and 13 with left dorsal displacement [G1], 22 with small intestinal strangulation [G2], and 19 with colon torsion [G3]). INTERVENTIONS: Serum ADH activity was assayed spectrophotometerically in all horses. Serum lactate concentration and hepatic enzyme (aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, glutamate dehydrogenase) activities were measured using an automatic analyzer. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The median [interquartile range] serum ADH activity in healthy horses was 10.5 [8.7-11 U/L]. ADH activity was significantly increased (P<0.05) in G1=16.5 [13.8-18 U/L], G2=40 [20-74.9 U/L], and G3=63.2 [40-78 U/L] compared with healthy controls. Aspartate aminotransferase and glutamate dehydrogenase activities were also significantly increased in G3 in comparison with controls. ADH activity was correlated with serum lactate concentration in G1 and G3, respectively (P<0.01, r=0.55 and 0.8). Other liver enzymes did not show any significant correlation with lactate. ADH activity was directly related to the probability of strangulation; odds ratio=1.11. ADH activity >20 U/L had 80.6% specificity and 80.5% sensitivity for discriminating horses with strangulating obstruction. Twelve horses euthanized before surgery were excluded from the outcome analysis. Increasing ADH activity was associated with nonsurvival; odds ratio=1.03. ADH activity <80 U/L had 94.44% specificity and 66.67% sensitivity for survival. CONCLUSION: Serum ADH activity may be a useful clinical parameter in detecting intestinal strangulation in horses and may provide some prognostic value in horses with acute intestinal obstruction.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21631710/