Scanning X-Ray electron microscopy (SEM-EDX) as a therapeutic tool in the diagnosis of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS)

Abstract

Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is a disease entity characterized by a set of clinical sings such as significant obesity, increased insulin and glucose level and development of laminitis. This syndrome occurs more frequently in draft and/or pony horses. The diagnosis process of EMS is difficult and still not fully recognized. The screening tests, recommended for proper recognition of EMS, can be affected by external factors such as pain and/or stress. Moreover diagnosis poses life threatening situation for the patient. Searching for an appropriate and noninvasive method for the assessment of EMS symptoms, the authors decided to evaluate the usefulness of SEM-EDX technique. This analytical method was used to determinate chemical composition of hairs collected form healthy and EMS horses. Comparison of Pb, Cr, Ca and Fe content revealed statistically significant differences between investigated groups of animals. Basing on the obtained results authors recommend SEM-EDX method as an adjunctive diagnostics tool in equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) diagnosis.