Treatment of large colon ulcers is a combination of medical therapies, nutritional changes and management. One of the primary initial goals is to reduce the workload for the colon by reducing hay consumption (long fibre) and supplementing with roughage chunks or chopped hay (short fibre) and a complete feed. Medication may be prescribed to aid in healing the ulceration/inflammation (i.e. sucralfate, misoprostol, psyllium).
Probiotics and prebiotics are frequently part of any GI patients treatment plan and are defined as:
Probiotic: living microorganisms that if supplemented in sufficient numbers can be beneficial to the patient (i.e. supplementing during times of stress, disease (diarrhea). Common probiotic strains for horses include: Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus as well as the yeast ‘Saccharomyces’.
Prebiotic: a nondigestible food ingredient that stimulates growth of specific organisms. These products are able to survive the enzymes of the stomach/small intestine in order to be fermented in the hind-gut. For example, psyllium is able to pass through the upper GI tract to the large colon where it is converted to butyrate – a short chain fatty acid (SCFA) that appears to be anti-inflammatory to the colon cells.
Current research is looking at anti-inflammatory and ‘healing’ properties of short chain fatty acid supplementation fed as ‘prebiotics’ as well as amino acids and zinc supplementation. There was a recent human study that evaluated Crohn’s disease patients with and without zinc supplementation. The group receiving the zinc supplementation demonstrated improved intestinal barrier function (less “leaky gut”).
Many of the current human/rodent studies have yet to be evaluated thoroughly in horses, however, it does indicate where the fields of nutrition and internal medicine may meet for the betterment of the horse!
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For more information on equine GI health and colic prevention, check out the next Gut Health and Colic Prevention offering by TheHorsePortal.ca, currently scheduled for the winter of 2021.