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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2007 Apr;71(2):145-51.

Pilot study investigating the ability of an herbal composite to alleviate clinical signs of respiratory dysfunction in horses with recurrent airway obstruction

Wendy Pearson  1 , Armen Charch, Dyanne Brewer, Andrew F Clarke
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Pilot study investigating the ability of an herbal composite to alleviate clinical signs of respiratory dysfunction in horses with recurrent airway obstruction

Wendy Pearson et al. Can J Vet Res. 2007 Apr.

Abstract
in English, French

Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), known previously as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is a debilitating respiratory condition that significantly contributes to lost training days and illness in racehorses. Herbs are becoming increasingly popular for the prophylaxis or treatment of the clinical signs of RAO despite a paucity of research on efficacy and safety. We evaluated the ability of an herbal composite containing garlic, white horehound, boneset, aniseed, fennel, licorice, thyme, and hyssop to reduce the clinical signs of RAO, hypothesizing that the product would safely reduce signs and would improve the inflammatory cell profile within the lungs. The composite was fed to 6 horses with symptomatic RAO for 21 d in a crossover manner. Ventigraphs were used to record respiratory rate and intrapleural pressure; the proportion of inflammatory cells in fluid aspirated from the trachea was determined. Blood biochemical and hematologic screening was conducted to identify possible adverse effects. Treatment with the composite did not result in statistically significant changes in any of the parameters evaluated. A trend to a decrease in respiratory rate (P = 0.1) and an increase in the proportion of macrophages (P = 0.1) was observed in the horses receiving the herbal composite compared with placebo. These data indicate a potential for the herbal composite to safely reduce the elevated respiratory rate in horses with RAO. Future research with a greater number of horses is warranted to further characterize the effect of this product on horses with RAO.

L’obstruction récurrente des voies aériennes (RAO), connue auparavant sous la désignation de maladie pulmonaire obstructive chronique (COPD), est une condition respiratoire débilitante qui contribue de manière significative à la perte de jours d’entraînement et de maladie chez les chevaux de course. Les herbes gagnent en popularité à titre prophylactique ou thérapeutique lors de signes de RAO et ce malgré la rareté des recherches sur leur efficacité et sécurité. Nous avons évalué l’efficacité d’une composition d’herbe contenant de l’ail, du marrube blanc, de l’eupatoire perfoliée, de la graine d’anis, du fenouil, de la réglisse, du thym et du hysope à réduire les signes cliniques de RAO, en assumant que le produit réduirait de manière sécuritaire les signes et améliorerait le profil des cellules inflammatoires dans les poumons. Le composé a été donné à six chevaux symptomatiques de RAO pendant 21 jours selon un mode en croisé. Des pneumographes ont été utilisés afin d’enregistrer le rythme respiratoire et la pression intrapleurale; et les proportions de cellules inflammatoires dans le liquide aspiré à partir de la trachée ont été déterminées. Des profils biochimiques sanguins et hématologiques ont été effectués afin d’identifier des effets non désirés. Le traitement avec le composé d’herbes ne s’est pas soldé par des changements significatifs pour aucun des paramètres étudiés. Une tendance à une diminution du rythme respiratoire (P = 0,1) et une augmentation dans la proportion des macrophages (P = 0,1) a été observée chez les chevaux recevant le composé d’herbes comparativement à ceux recevant un placebo. Ces résultats suggèrent que le composé d’herbes possède un potentiel pour réduire de manière sécuritaire le rythme respiratoire élevé chez les chevaux atteints de RAO. Des recherches supplémentaires utilisant un plus grand nombre de chevaux sont nécessaires pour mieux caractériser l’effet de ce produit chez les chevaux avec RAO.

(Traduit par Docteur Serge Messier)

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Respiratory rates of horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) during treatment with a placebo or an herbal composite. The decrease from baseline during herbal-composite treatment on all subsequent sampling days was not significant (P = 0.1). There were no differences during placebo treatment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportions of neutrophils and macrophages in the tracheal aspirates of the horses during herbal-composite (A) and placebo (B) treatment. The single asterisk denotes a significant change from baseline in the proportion of macrophages, the double asterisk a significant change from day 7 in both the proportion of macrophages and the ratio of neutrophils to macrophages. The changes in the proportion of neutrophils were not significant, nor were any of the changes during placebo treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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