Laminitis Research: BEVA's Equine Veterinary Journal Grants Free Public Access to New Findings

Temporary open access to a group of laminitis research papers is available to students, professionals and horse owners.

This doesn't happen every day.

The Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) has announced that it is giving the public open (free) access to a collection of important new research papers on equine laminitis.

Normally, non-subscriber access to these articles would be as much as US$40 per view.

The papers include practical advice as well as the latest research. The initiative has been made possible thanks to sponsorship from the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Trust.

Professor Celia Marr, BVMS, MVM, PhD, DEIM, DipECEIM, MRCVS, and editor of the EVJ explains: “In view of the growing public interest in high quality science, there is increasing demand for easy, open access to journal articles via the internet, particularly on topics such as laminitis.

"In recent years, there has been an explosion of knowledge and new thinking about this devastating condition. We have also recognized that some of the old-fashioned remedies, such as standing in cold water, have sound science behind them. I hope that horse owners who are unfortunate enough to have come across laminitis will find this new online resource valuable.”

Laminitis is an equine health crisis whose time has come. The British Equine Veterinary Association Foundation recognized the need for open access to the latest research, and responded by opening a special edition of its journal to the public. (BEVA image)

The EVJ laminitis virtual issue, comprising 15 original research articles on topics including the role of insulin, the effects of cryotherapy and the regulation of epidermal stem cells in affected horses, is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1001/%28ISSN%292042-3306/homepage/laminitis__recent_advances_and_future_directions.htm.

In addition, the issue contains several articles from international experts commissioned by the EVJ on important aspects of laminitis including causes, treatment, prevention and future research projects.

Contributors to this special issue include world-leading equine veterinary and research experts on the subject of laminitis: James Belknap, Ray Geor, Samuel Black, James A. Orsini from the USA, Andrew van Eps from Australia and Nicola Menzies-Gow from the UK.

Subjects covered include the present state and future of laminitis research, endocrinological aspects of the pathophysiology of equine laminitis, sepsis-related laminitis, supporting limb laminitis and progress towards effective prevention and therapy for laminitis.

The EVJ has a long history of promoting laminitis research. In 2004, the publication produced a special issue dedicated to laminitis and since that time significant numbers of articles on laminitis have been published every year.

Professor Marr concludes: “We hope that this special laminitis virtual issue will provide the rigor and quality of information that many horse owners are now seeking, to help them to understand and deal with this condition as effectively as possible.”

The landscape of academic publishing is changing as "open access" becomes the zeitgeist.

Open access in scientific publishing is a growing controversy in the academic and professional publishing world. New peer-reviewed journals are appearing that offer the public free viewing and sometimes downloading of new research and educational content, while others continue to restrict access to individuals and libraries that purchase subscriptions. These new journals both challenge the traditional model of restricting access to research while also expanding exposure for researchers.

Logo for the open access system.

Authors and researchers desire more access for their papers, but the traditional model restricts access, and the fees do not go to the authors and researchers. Journal publishers, on the other hand, have the high cost of editing and printing journals and of maintaining web sites.

The debate over open access is a fascinating one. EVJ's opening of this special issue to the public is evidence that the British Equine Veterinary Association recognizes the benefits of at least occasionally opening a few papers to the public, who often donate to the research that is detailed in the papers, but are often asked to pay to read what they have already funded.

To learn more:

Click to purchase and/or review the contents of the 2004 special print edition with Dr. Pollitt's papers

Click to view ordering information for your own copy of Professor Denoix's valuable reference on the horse's foot.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Prepare for Takeoff: Orsini and Grenager Summary of Laminitis Research at California "Equine Limb" Conference

Equine Limb: Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics 

 in Monterey, California on November 2 and 3, 2012.

When the "Equine Limb" conference opens in Monterey, California next weekend, attendees who are interested in learning about the latest equine laminitis research won't have to wonder, "What page are we on?"

Jim Orsini, conference co-director
with Rustin Moore

It's very easy to dive right into the deep end when it comes to covering laminitis research and treatment, and the conference is carefully planned to simulate a 747 jetliner taking off from a busy international airport: it seems physically impossible for it to become airborne, but it does it by acceleration and lift computed at exactly the right equation. Gravity is defied.

Planning a laminitis conference is very similar. And Dr. Jim Orsini of Penn Vet's New Bolton Center and equine practitioner Nora Grenager are the masters of the craft.

These two standard-bearers of the The Laminitis Conference organizing committee are planning a takeoff that would look familiar to air traffic controllers in their towers. They will review recent research thoroughly but quickly. You should buckle your seat because the conference will reach cruising altitude before you know it!

The review of laminitis research begins at the Monterey event's partner conference, the 2011 International Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot held in West Palm Beach, Florida, last November; the scientific program there centered on the pathophysiology of laminitis. While the California event has expanded to cover a broader spectrum, its heart is still beating with the mission of solving the laminitis puzzle.

Some highlights that Orsini and Grenager will touch on:

Nora Grenager will review laminitis
research from the Florida conference
as a preface to the California event.

First, the difference between sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), two terms often used interchangeably in laminitis lectures. But when you hear the word sepsis, does it suggest something like a "septic joint", an overwhelming bacterial infection? How does sepsis factor into laminitis? Semantics? Maybe, but it is critical to understanding the new research.

The 2004 Presidential election may have come down to "Florida, Florida, Florida," but the laminitis conference attendees left chanting, "Inflammation, inflammation, inflammation".

But what about the endocrinopathic form of laminitis? Equine metabolic syndrome and Cushing's disease (PPID) research is burgeoning, along with the role of hyperinsulemia (HI). Insulin levels are being re-evaluated as sirens to all sorts of equine health conditions, large and small.  How exactly does hyperinsulemia cause a horse to develop laminitis?

For that answer, researchers looked directly at how insulin functions (or doesn't) in the foot. The role of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) is a critical area of research, since it is possible that insulin is working through a different mechanism in the equine foot's vasculature than it does in the rest of the body.

Can you hear a second chant rising in the background? "IGF, IGF, IGF!"

Laminitis related to hyperinsulemia is the slow, insidious form of the disease, and the one most commonly seen in our horses. The obesity that accompanies it is reversible, and the predisposition of some breeds to hyperinsulemia mean that it is becoming clearer that early identification and therapy for horses at risk must be a priority in the field.

In their abstract, the authors wrote, "Even in horses with no history of lameness, there is a pattern of abnormal hoof growth that is related to HI: abnormal growth rings in the external hoof wall, separation of the wall at the white line, and seedy toe, often with small areas of hemorrhage within the abnormal white line area. This damage is cumulative and at some point culminates in acute laminitis if not properly addressed with diet, exercise, and medication where necessary to normalize blood insulin concentrations."

Support limb laminitis will also be reviewed, and new information on the distinct form of the disease known as "traumatic laminitis", which researchers at Dr. Chris Pollitt's Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit have outlined. Researcher Brian Hampson PhD discovered that wild horses on arid terrain suffer concussive and/or compressive laminar pathology. Is this laminitis, per se? Much more research on traumatic laminitis needs to be done, but you'll hear about the first phases of this exciting concept.

"Feral horses have little option but to keep moving and either adapt or make do the best they can if they are to survive. In a domesticated horse, comparable changes typically are accompanied by chronic lameness or stiffness, and are incompatible with optimal performance."

That statement in itself is food for thought. While Hampson and Pollitt have cast some doubt on the suitability of the wild horse foot as the ideal equine digit, it seems that there may be deep and profound lessons that can be learned from our domestic horses' wild brethren.

And that, in itself, is just one of the vistas you'll be able to see from the thought clouds of this world-class conference. Distal limb lameness and imaging have been added to the program this year, as the conference's horizons expand over the curvature of the distal limb planet.

If you haven't already reserved your spot at the conference, please do it now. Much more information and a full speaker program is online at www.laminitisconference.com.

Equine Limb: Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics 

 in Monterey, California on November 2 and 3, 2012.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.