PR000197 (Project)

Description:In this project we will investigate the feasibility of metabolomics and to characterize the diversity of ?metabotypes? in the horse, towards discovery of markers and pathways associated with obesity and insulin resistance in the equine model. The collaborative team of researchers assembled for this work have identified horses severely affected with Equine Metabolic syndrome, often characterized by obesity and hyperinsulinemia. These animals are all from the Arabian breed, to control for some genetic background. Horses are age, sex and farm of residence matched with a control animal whenever possible. Carefully controlled collection protocols were utilized to ensure minimal variability in sample age and quality. Blood plasma is submitted for both global LC-MS analysis through the SECIM core facilities. This discovery-based approach will begin to generate new targets for the development of novel therapeutic interventions for the treatment and prevention of obesity, type-2 diabetes as well as related secondary conditions in both humans and horses. Finally, as the first dataset of its kind in the horse, we may also be able to highlight promising new biomarkers for veterinary diagnostic use.