Horses Referred to a Teaching Hospital Exclusively for Acupuncture and Herbs: A Three-Year Retrospective Analysis

Evaluation of a Chinese herbal supplement on equine squamous gastric disease and gastric fluid pH in mares

Background

Wei Le San (WLS) is a Chinese herbal formula comprised of 9 herbs selected for their putative anti‐inflammatory effects.

Objectives

To evaluate the effects of WLS administration in horses with nonglandular gastric ulcers.

Animals

Ten mixed breed mares (aged 7‐21 years, 401‐567 kg body weight).

Methods

Experimental design was a blinded, prospective, 2‐period crossover study. All horses received a placebo (25 mL dextrose‐based syrup; n = 10) and the treatment (WLS, 5 g in 25 mL dextrose‐based syrup; n = 10), administered twice daily. Horses underwent a 1‐week, alternating feed‐deprivation period to induce or worsen existing ulcers; treatment began on day 7. Gastroscopic examination was performed on d0, d6, and d35, with gastric fluid pH obtained on d6 and d35. Gastric ulcer scores assigned by 3 masked observers were averaged for each examination.

Results

Ulcer number scores for horses treated with WLS (median = 0; range, 0‐4) was not different from the untreated controls (median = 0.5; range, 0‐4; P = .81) by the end of the treatment period. Ulcer severity score for treated horses (median = 0; range, 0‐1) was also unchanged compared to the control group (median = 0.5; range, 0‐1; P = .85). Gastric pH was not altered by either treatment, with a median of 2.1 (range, 1.9‐4.1) for the horses treated with WLS and 2.8 (range, 1.6‐7.2) in the untreated controls (P = .46).

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

The experimental model used to induce gastric ulceration was unable to discern a difference between the herbal supplement and the placebo in normal horses.