Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1444581

Essential oil supplementation improves insulin sensitivity and modulates the plasma metabolome of hyperinsulinemic horses

Provisionally accepted
Caroline M. Loos Caroline M. Loos 1Shuang Zhao Shuang Zhao 2Liang Li Liang Li 2Janet Li Janet Li 2Wei Han Wei Han 2Eric Vanzant Eric Vanzant 1Kyle R. McLeod Kyle R. McLeod 1*
  • 1 University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, United States
  • 2 University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of essential oil (EO) supplementation on insulin sensitivity (IS) and the plasma metabolome in insulin dysregulated (ID) horses. Horses were blocked by degree of IS and assigned randomly to treatment: oral daily bolus (50 mL) of either a plant derived EO supplement or carrier (CON). Mares were housed in dry lots with ad libitum access to grass hay and supplemented individually twice daily with a concentrate to meet nutrient requirements for mature horses. Before and after 6 wks of treatment, mares underwent a combined glucose-insulin tolerance test (CGIT) and an oral sugar test (OST) on separate days.Global metabolome analysis was conducted on plasma samples before and after treatment.Although treatment did not affect (P>0.4) AUC or glucose clearance during CGIT, there was a treatment*covariate interaction (p≤0.08) for insulin concentrations at 75 min (INS75) and positive phase time (PT) with EO decreasing both INS75 (p≤0.002) and PT (p=0.05) in horses with more severe initial degree of ID. Similarly, EO treatment reduced (p≤0.006) insulinemic response to the OST in horses exhibiting higher pre-treatment responses (treatment*covariate, p=0.004). There were 702 metabolites identified that were uniquely changed with EO treatment.Pathway analysis and biomarkers showed EO-mediated changes in amino acid, linoleic acid, mesaconic acid, TCA-cyle intermediates and bile acid metabolism. The directional changes in these pathways or biomarkers are consistent with changes in inulin sensitivity in other models. These data show that EO shifted the plasma metabolome and improved insulin sensitivity in horses.

    Keywords: essential oils, Insulin dysregulation, Metabolomics, horse Insulin dysregulation and essential oils, biomarker

    Received: 05 Jun 2024; Accepted: 04 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Loos, Zhao, Li, Li, Han, Vanzant and McLeod. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kyle R. McLeod, University of Kentucky, Lexington, 40506, Kentucky, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.