Cost-effective, non-invasive method for screening inflammatory bowel diseases

Photo: PIC by Femke/Adobe Stock

Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have begun development of an innovative method to support the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in horses.^1,2 IBD can lead to premature retirement and even euthanasia of impacted horses. The innovative method offers an accurate, cheap, and non-invasive alternative to traditional equine IBD screening, which can be expensive for owners and stressful for horses.¹

“Diagnosing IBD is also expensive for the owner and stressful for the horse, as it requires fasting, endoscopy, and usually transportation to a horse hospital,” Silva Uusi-Heikkliä, an academy research fellow from the University of Jyväskylä, said in the University’s Phys.org article.¹ She also explained the challenges of endoscopy due to adult horses’ long gastrointestinal tract. At nearly 30 meters long, most of the gastrointestinal tract remains unexplored during endoscopy for practical reasons.

The new methodology, research for which was published in the journal Animals, analyzes fecal microbiota composition.² Findings supported that microbiota composition was different, and the abundances of certain bacterial groups were significantly increased or decreased, in horses with IBD compared to healthy horses. Using assessments of microbiota composition, the researchers were able to develop a machine learning model to predict IBD based on microbiota species composition in fecal samples. The model produced correct predictions with 100% accuracy in the study.²

“This AI-based neural network model predicted IBD in the test samples with 100% accuracy,” Tiina Sävilammi, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Jyväskylä said. “The next step is to further test the model and to improve its performance with more samples.”

Fecal samples for the study were collected prior to grazing season to minimize the effect of rapid changes in diet on gut microbiota composition during that period. The study used fecal samples from 27 healthy horses and 49 horses with IBD.²

In recent years, IBD has become more commonly diagnosed in both humans and animals, which has encouraged the development of new diagnosis methods. Equine IBD is a broad term describing diseases marked by inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract of a horse. It can occur when a horse’s immune system confuses non-antigens for something pathogenic. White blood cells then infiltrate the intestinal lining which disrupts cells that absorb nutrients, secrete hormones, and produce the mucous barrier. Horses with IBD typically have severely low protein levels in their blood as a result of both poor protein absorption and protein loss in the digestive tract.³

Horses with IBD may present outward signs including diarrhea, weight loss (despite proper nutrition), low energy levels, decreased appetite, abdominal swelling, as well as a history of mild colic or concurrent episodes of colic. Symptoms should always warrant a vet visit to determine the underlying cause, though they can often be confused with symptoms of generally poor gut health.^2,3

The study is the first to demonstrate the association between gut microbiota composition and equine IBD. The results of the research are promising, suggesting that the analysis of fecal microbiota composition could become an accurate, cost-effective, non-invasive alternative to IBD diagnosis in horses.

References

1. University of Jyväskylä. Promoting horse welfare with an intestinal disease screening method. Phys.org. September 10, 2024. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-horse-welfare-intestinal-disease-screening.html
2. Sävilammi T., Alakangas R-R., Häyrynen T., Uusi-Heikkilä S. Gut Microbiota Profiling as a Promising Tool to Detect Equine Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Animals. 2024; 14(16):2396. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14162396
3. Banton S. Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Horses – Signs, Causes, Treatment & Diet. Mad Barn. May 17, 2021. Accessed September 17, 2024. https://madbarn.com/inflammatory-bowel-disease-in-horses/