EP-3639847-B1 - HORSE FEED SUPPLEMENT AND ITS USE

Inventors

• WARING, ROSEMARY
• HUNTER, JOHN

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20130313

Claims (3)

1. An equine feed additive comprising a malt extract for use in the prevention or treatment of an intestinal disease or food digestion associated condition selected from the group consisting of acidosis, colic, diarrhoea and laminitis, wherein the malt extract comprises a plurality of enzymatically active enzymes, wherein the enzymatically active enzymes comprise a plurality of carbohydrases including at least one or more amylases and one or more fructanases, and which is provided in combination with a vegetable material.
2. An equine feed additive comprising a malt extract for use in the prevention or treatment of an intestinal disease or food digestion associated condition selected from the group consisting of acidosis, colic, diarrhoea and laminitis according to claim 1, wherein the vegetable material is selected from one or more of grains including oats, barley or maize; hay including Timothy hay or Alfalfa hay; and silage
3. An equine feed additive comprising a malt extract for use in the prevention or treatment of an intestinal disease or food digestion associated condition selected from the group consisting of acidosis, colic, diarrhoea and laminitis according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the malt extract has a diastatic power of above 35° Lintner (L) (94°WK), 45°L, 50°L, 60°L, 70°L or 80°L.

Description

The invention relates to an equine feed additive comprising a malt extract for use in the prevention or treatment of an intestinal disease or food digestion associated condition selected from the group consisting of acidosis, colic, diarrhoea and laminitis, wherein the malt extract comprises a plurality of enzymatically active enzymes, wherein the enzymatically active enzymes comprise a plurality of carbohydrases including at least one or more amylases and one or more fructanases, and which is provided in combination with a vegetable material. Intestinal disease is the biggest cause of mortality and a major cause of morbidity and economic loss in horses. There is a need to be able to identify the health of the intestine of the horse and to improve digestion of food by the horse. The horse has a digestive strategy that is heavily reliant upon hindgut fermentation of dietary fibre. (C. Janis, Evolution, 1976, 30, 757-774). A consortium of intestinal bacteria in the caecum and colon hydrolyse dietary fibre, releasing soluble carbohydrates which are fermented to short chain fatty acids (acetic, propionic and butyric acid), which provide horses with the majority of their energy requirements. (E.N. Bergman, Physiol. Rev., 1992, 70, 567-590). The energy requirements of horses undertaking heavy work or those performing as athletes far exceed energy arising from hindgut fermentation alone. This "energy gap" is filled by supplementing the diet with readily hydrolysable (digestible) carbohydrate, commonly in the form of grain. However, it is widely recognised that feeding hydrolysable carbohydrate is associated with an increased risk of intestinal disease. (L.L. Clarke et al, Vet. Clin. North Am. Equine Pract. 1990, 6, 433-450) (J.M. Hudson et al, J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 2001, 219, 1419-1425) (S. Gongalves et al, Vet. Res. 2002, 33, 641-652) (M.H. Hillyer et al, Equine Vet. J., 2002, 34, 455-463) (D.C. Archer et al, Vet. J. 2006, 172, 29-39). Acute intestinal disease ("colic") is the single most important cause of mortality in horses and a significant cause of morbidity and economic loss in managed horse populations. (M.K. Tinker et al, Equine Vet J. 1997, 29, 448-453) (J.L. Traub-Dargatz et al, J. A. Vet Med Assoc. 2001, 219, 67-71). Evidence is also emerging of the importance of intestinal disease as a cause of reduced productivity in the 100 million working horses globally. (M.M. Curran et al, Trop Anim Health Prod. 2005, 37, 47-65). Tools allowing the further investigation of relationships between equine health, disease and diet will give rise to welfare, economic and social impact. There is a growing understanding of the complex interactions between host microbiota and metabolism. (J.K. Nicholson et al, Nat. Rev. Microbiol., 2005, 3, 431-438) (R. Goodacre, J. Nutr., 2007, 137, 259S-266S). Metabolites are highly conserved across species and report directly on the metabolic and physiological status of the subject in health and disease. (E. Holmes et al, Nature, 2008, 453, 396-400) (J.M. Kinross et al, Current Gastroenterology Reports, 2008, 10, 396-403) (J.O. Hunter, Eq. vet. J. 2009, 41, 836-840). The faecal metabolome reports specifically on the metabolic interplay between host, diet and intestinal microbiota and offers the potential to identify biomarkers which can act as proxy for specific bacterial populations. (D.M. Jacobs et al, NMR Biomed., 2008 21, 615-626) (P.J. Turnbaugh et al, Cell, 2008, 134, 708-713). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been investigated as markers of health or disease. There are many reports of the use of individual VOCs as biomarkers (A. Amann et al, Breath Analysis for Clinical Diagnosis and Therapeutic Monitoring, World Scientific, Singapore, 2005), for example acetaldehyde or formaldehyde as markers of cancer, (D. Smith et al, Rapid Comms in Mass Spectr., 2003, 17, 845-850) (P. Španěl et al, Rapid Comms. in Mass Spectr., 1999, 13, 1354-1359) acetone as a marker of blood glucose in diabetes;( C. Turner, Ex. Rev. of Mol. Diagnost., 2011, 11, 497-503) increased ammonia levels associated with liver or kidney disease. (S. Davies et al, Kidney Intl., 1997, 52, 223-228). In most cases, unique biomarkers are not evident, however by looking at the pattern of biomarkers, the health or disease status of a population may be inferred. In the past this was often done using so called electronic nose (e-nose) technology which is an array of gas sensors, with each sensor being more or less selective for different compounds. Although they do not give information about the VOCs present, they may potentially be used to diagnose disease, for example by testing urine from patients with bladder disease to diagnose cancer. (C. Weber et al, Analyst, 2011, 136, 359-364). Many animals, including horses and cattle, can have digestive problems when eating carbohydrate-rich food, such as grass in Spring and Autumn, or grain. Attempts have been made to improve the digestion of foodstuffs by the addition o