Research on Laminitis

I was listening to a program on our local public radio station about gardening last weekend while running some errands, and was surprised to hear the host interview a vet. The topic? The kinds of trees that are especially toxic to horses.

I am sure all you horse owners know about the dangers of Black Walnut trees, but I did not know that their leaves, roots and wood chips made from their timber are all very toxic--indeed can be deadly--to horses. They are not exactly sure why, but wood chips made from Black Walnut trees can cause laminitis in some horses. In addition the mold from Black Walnut tree leaves can also trigger the deadly disease. Red oaks are equally dangerous--not so much the bark as the mold from their leaves.

All of which points once again to the mysteries associated with this disease. There are so many things that simply cannot be explained. So it was timely that the NTRA announced last week that its subsidiary, NTRA Charities, had disbursed $90,801 in support of one new and two continuing medical research projects on laminitis.

These disbursements were made from the NTRA Charities--Barbaro Memorial Fund. In addition, the Barbaro Fund contributed an additional $60,000 in 2007 toward laminitis research projects and programs at Penn.

The two continuing projects are: "Targeting 5-HT in Equine Laminitis," by Dr. Douglas Allen at the University of Georgia and "Treatment of Equine Laminitis with Doxycycline," by Dr. Susan Eades at Louisiana State University. The new study is "Effect of Digital Hypothermia on Inflammatory Injury in Laminitis," by Dr. James Belknap of Ohio State University and it is a two year project.

It is good to know that Barbaro's legacy lives on in helping to find a cure for this mysterious disease.