Stephânia Katurchi Mendes Mélo

Heart rate and blood biomarkers in Brazilian gaited horses during a standardised field gaited test

There is little information about biochemical and physiological parameters in Brazilian gaited horses that could be used to develop training and performance evaluation programs. The aims of the current study were to evaluate heart rate (HR) and blood biomarkers in gaited horses during a standardised field gaited test (SGT). Sixteen horses were used to develop an SGT (10 min of warming up, 30 min of marcha gait and 15 min of recovery). Blood samples and HR were collected at rest, after warming up, after 15 (F+15) and 30 (F+30) min of marcha, and after the recovery period. The following blood parameters were measured: glucose, lactate, total plasma protein, haematocrit, urea, creatinine, glutamine, glutamate, triglycerides, total cholesterol, Ca, P, Mg, Na, Cl and K. HR measurement was carried out using an HR monitor. The results were analysed using one- and two-way ANOVA tests, and post-hoc Holm-Sidak tests. Students t-tests were used to compare means, and the Pearsons test was utilised for correlation a...

Aerobic exercise produces changes in plasma IL-6 but not IL-1b in four-beat gaited horses

Exercise is an important stressor and is correlated with cytokine production in several tissues. There is little information about changes in interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1b in four-beat gaited horses during a typical aerobic exercise challenge. The objective of this research was to characterise changes in plasma IL-6, IL-1b, cortisol and other blood biomarkers in four-beat gaited horses after a marcha simulation test. We subjected 12 fit horses (approximately 5 years old and 390 kg) to the marcha simulation test (MST) (i.e. a 10 min warm-up, 30 min at marcha and 15 min cool down). Blood samples were collected before the MST, immediately after the MST and 15 and 120 min after the MST (i.e. recovery). Results were analysed with One Way Repeated Measures ANOVA and a Tukey tests with P≤0.05 and Pearson correlation test. The highest value of plasma IL-6 was observed immediately after MST (6.85 pg/ml) (P≥0.05). IL-1 and cortisol did not change (P≥0.05). However, creatine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase...