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values have not been previously available. This study aimed to describe variations in insulin response to OGT via nasogastric tubing and to provide a clinically useful cut-off value for ID when using the insulin quantification performed with an equine-optimised insulin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


Using a model based clustering method which considered


all data-points for the classification, taking into account the individual insulin trajectory during the OGT, two clusters were differentiated, one with low and one with high insulin responses during OGT. The cluster of individuals with low insulin response was consistently detected, independently of the initialisation parameters of the algorithm. In this cluster the 97.5% quantile of insulin is 110 pLU/mL at 120 min. The authors concluded that OGT performed with 1 g/kg


bwt glucose and administration via nasogastric tubing can easily be performed under clinical settings and suggest using an insulin concentration of 110 pLU/mL as a cut-off value for samples obtained at 120 min in OGT.


Corneal sensitivity and tear production


In this study Kelly Knickelbein and colleagues in the USA compared corneal sensitivity and tear production in horses with keratitis to horses with other ocular disease. Medical records were reviewed to identify horses


presented during a 1-year period for an ocular complaint who had Schirmer tear test (STT) or corneal touch threshold (CTT) measured. The following variables were studied: age and sex; affected eye; category of presenting ocular complaint (keratitis vs. other ocular complaint); STT; and CTT. Horses with ulcerative keratitis, immune-mediated keratitis, and stromal abscess were categorised in the keratitis group. Horses with uveitis, as well as lid, lens, or retinal disease, were categorised in the group having other ocular disease. For horses presenting more than once in the study period, only the first visit at which STT or CTT was measured was included. For horses with bilateral disease, STT and CTT of both eyes were averaged. A total of 108 horses were included, 45 with keratitis and 63


with other ocular disease. Average age was 13.65 years, with 77 males and 31 females. Adjusted for age, STT in affected eyes did not differ significantly between the two groups (keratitis 29.92 mm/min; other ocular disease 27.96 mm/min), but CTT was significantly lower in cases with keratitis (33.78 mm) than in cases with other ocular disease (40.10 mm). The authors concluded that corneal sensitivity may be


decreased in cases with keratitis. It is not known whether this is a cause or an effect of corneal disease.


Antibiotic use in broodmares with endometritis


This RCVS Knowledge Summary by Elizabeth Barter and Annalisa Barrelet looked at the question ‘In broodmares with post-service endometritis after natural cover, is antibiotic intervention superior to other routine therapies without antibiotic intervention in increasing pregnancy rates?’


Literature searches were performed and seven


publications were identified: two were descriptive studies, one observational study, two randomised nonblinded controlled trials and two nonrandomised nonblinded controlled trials. Included publications were of level 3 (randomised control trials) or level 4 (lower quality controlled trial). The outcomes studied varied between the studies including pregnancy rates at 15 days, 45 days, 60 days, or unknown. There was no standard population treated, antibiotic prescribed or method of administration between the studies. In the three studies with no case selection any treatment


was seen to benefit pregnancy rates over no treatment at all. In the two studies with mares with a previous history of endometritis a significantly higher pregnancy rate was seen in mares treated with antibiotics and ecbolic agents compared to no treatment at all. In the two studies which compared mares with and without signs of endometritis and treatment with antibiotics, higher pregnancy rates were achieved in mares that were not treated and had no signs of endometritis. The findings support the need for case selection in treating mares with post-service induced endometritis. There is currently a lack of evidence to suggest that


antibiotics delivered into the uterus post-service improves pregnancy rates. The evidence does support that post- service treatment with or without antibiotics improves pregnancy rates in mares with endometritis compared to no treatment (pregnancy rates between 40–90% compared to 0–56% respectively). The studies further identify the need to recognise mares at risk of post-service endometritis to target appropriate therapy.


S. WRIGHT EVE Editorial Office References


Barter, E. and Barrelet, A. (2018) The use of antibiotics in broodmares with post-service endometritis. Vet. Evidence 3,1.


Bergren, A.L., Abuja, G.A., Bubeck, K.A., Spoormakers, T.J.P. and Garcia-Lopez, J.M. (2017) Diagnosis, treatment and outcome of cranial nuchal bursitis in 30 horses. Equine Vet. J. Epub ahead of print; https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.12787.


Knickelbein, K.E., Scherrer, N.M. and Lassaline, M. (2018) Corneal sensitivity and tear production in 108 horses with ocular disease. Vet. Ophthalmol. 21, 76-81.


MacDonald, K.D., Hart, K.A., Davis, J.L., Berghaus, L.J. and Giguere, S. (2017) Pharmacokinetics of the anticonvulsant levetiracetam in neonatal foals. Equine Vet. J. Epub ahead of print; doi: 10.1111/ evj.12790.


Saville, W.J.A., Reed, S.M., Dubey, J.P., Granstrom, D.E., Morley, P.S., Hinchcliff, K.W., Kohn, C.W., Wittum, T.E. and Workman, J.D. (2017) Interobserver variation in the diagnosis of neurologic abnormalities in the horse. J. Vet. Intern. Med. 31, 1871-1876.


Warnken, T., Delarocque, J., Schumacher, S., Huber, K. and Feige, K. (2018) Retrospective analysis of insulin responses to standard dosed oral glucose tests (OGTs) via naso-gastric tubing towards definition of an objective cut-off value. Acta Vet. Scand. 60,4.


© 2018 EVJ Ltd


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