7/22/97

Sam Hendrix, 844-3698 (hendrj1@vetmed.auburn.edu

AU EQUINE EXPERT TESTING FEED-BASED SOLUTION TO HORSE DISEASE

AUBURN -- Research at Auburn University's Large Animal Teaching

Hospital is showing promise for a feed-based solution to a chronic cause

of lameness and arthritis in horses.

Assistant Professor Reid Hanson of AU's College of Veterinary Medicine is overseeing testing of Cosequin, a nutritional additive to feed. So far, Cosequin, which has been on the market for four years, is proving an effective treatment for navicular syndrome, which Hanson says causes up to 40 percent of equine lameness cases.

"Many products claim to improve navicular syndrome, but we're seeing significant results in our tests," Hanson said. "If we continue to see positive results, we will likely have confirmed a real breakthrough in the equine industry."

Horses have an oval-shaped navicular bone in each of their hooves, and running down the lower leg and under these bones are the deep flexor tendons. Hanson says walking and running bring the tendons in contact with the navicular bone, and the resulting friction over time creates an arthritic condition.

"This turns an athletic horse into a backyard horse," he says. "And that means a loss of many talented horses."

Hanson says navicular syndrome is the most common cause of arthritis lameness in Quarter horses and probably in several other breeds. Navicular syndrome increases the horse's sensitivity to pain in the feet and leads to the horse's developing a short, choppy gait.

"There are a host of treatments for navicular syndrome, which means equine specialists have tried a lot of different solutions and nothing has worked consistently," Hanson said.

Cosequin, a patented combination manufactured by Baltimore-based Nutramax, provides chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, raw materials essential for the synthesis of joint fluid and cartilage. Twice-daily supplements to a horse's diet have shown Hanson enough results in preliminary testing that he believes the product has promise.

"We conducted a study of 25 horses with arthritis two years ago. We put them on Cosequin and evaluated them every other week for six weeks. We found significant improvement in an analysis of their movement and in a measure of their increasing stride length," he said.

In that test, researchers knew that the horses were all on Cosequin. Hanson and AU veterinary students are currently conducting a double blinded study, meaning they are analyzing a group of horses ages five to 15 years, all of which have come up with navicular disease only during the past year.

By design, AU researchers will not know which horses are on Cosequin and which are receiving a placebo until the study ends. But Hanson knows the results they seek.

"Optimal functioning of the skeletal joints dramatically affects the performance of the equine athlete," he said. "And while physical conditioning of performance horses can strengthen muscles, bones and tendons, the tremendous forces exerted on the joints during training and competition cause mostly wear and tear to the joint cartilage.

"We along with many horse owners will be very interested in a product that can reduce the problems associated with navicular disease."

Hanson, who testified as to the product's effectiveness two years ago before the Food and Drug Administration, will present his research findings in September at the World Equine Veterinary Congress in Padova, Italy.

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july97:AU-horses

CONTACT: Hanson, 844-4490.