Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Jul 2;49(1):17.
doi: 10.1186/1751-0147-49-17.

Vitamin E deficiency and risk of equine motor neuron disease

Hussni O Mohammed  1 , Thomas J Divers, Brian A Summers, Alexander de Lahunta
Affiliations

Vitamin E deficiency and risk of equine motor neuron disease

Hussni O Mohammed et al. Acta Vet Scand. .

Abstract

Background: Equine motor neuron disease (EMND) is a spontaneous neurologic disorder of adult horses which results from the degeneration of motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain stem. Clinical manifestations, pathological findings, and epidemiologic attributes resemble those of human motor neuron disease (MND). As in MND the etiology of the disease is not known. We evaluated the predisposition role of vitamin E deficiency on the risk of EMND.

Methods: Eleven horses at risk of EMND were identified and enrolled in a field trial at different times. The horses were maintained on a diet deficient in vitamin E and monitored periodically for levels of antioxidants--alpha-tocopherols, vitamins A, C, beta-carotene, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and erythrocytic superoxide dismutase (SOD1). In addition to the self-control another parallel control group was included. Survival analysis was used to assess the probability of developing EMND past a specific period of time.

Results: There was large variability in the levels of vitamins A and C, beta-carotene, GSH-Px, and SOD1. Plasma vitamin E levels dropped significantly over time. Ten horses developed EMND within 44 months of enrollment. The median time to develop EMND was 38.5 months. None of the controls developed EMND.

Conclusion: The study elucidated the role of vitamin E deficiency on the risk of EMND. Reproducing this disease in a natural animal model for the first time will enable us to carry out studies to test specific hypotheses regarding the mechanism by which the disease occurs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Initial plasma vitamin E levels. The mean value of 4 replicates is shown for each horse enrolled in the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Plasma levels of vitamin A and β-carotene. Mean values of four replicates are shown for each horse at the time of enrollment.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes of plasma vitamin E levels. Mean value of vitamin E at initial enrolment and at censoring for each horse in the study. The significance of changes in the mean values was evaluated using paired t-test. The mean of the changes was significantly different from zero.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Rate of change in plasma vitamin E levels. The significance of the coefficient was determined using the t-test. All of the coefficients were significantly different from zero except for horse number 833.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Rate of change (regression coefficient) in vitamin A and β-carotene (B-car). The significance of the coefficient was determined using the t-test. None of the rate of changes was significantly different from zero. (Regression coefficient reflects the changes in plasma vitamin A and β-carotene per day).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Survival rates. Plot of the survival experience of horses computed using the Kaplan-Meier method.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Cork LC, Griffin JW, Munnell JF, Lorenz MD, Adams RJ. Hereditary canine spinal muscular atrophy. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1979;38:209–221. - PubMed
    1. el-Hamidi M, Leipold HW, Vestweber JG, Saperstein G. Spinal muscular atrophy in Brown Swiss calves. Zentralbl Veterinarmed A. 1989;36:731–738. - PubMed
    1. Higgins RJ, Rings DM, Fenner WR, Stevenson S. Spontaneous lower motor neuron disease with neurofibrillary accumulation in young pigs. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 1983;59:288–294. doi: 10.1007/BF00691495. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cummings JF, George C, de Lahunta A, Fuher L, Valentine BA, Cooper BJ, Summers BA, Huxtable CK, Mohammed HO. Equine motor neuron disease: a preliminary report. Cornell Vet. 1990;80:357–379. - PubMed
    1. Divers TJ, Mohammed HO, Cummings JF, Valentine BA, de Lahunta A, Summers BA, Trembicki-Graves K. Equine motor neuron disease in twenty-six horses. Equine Vet J. 1994;26:409–415. - PubMed

Publication types