Selecting the group for the Biome Balancer Study

Pathogenes Inc. is investigating causes of recent high and sustained c-reactive protein (CRP) levels in horses. An elevated CRP was linked to horses with neuromuscular disease (Ellison 2016). Elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines drive polyneuritis.

Recently pathologic levels of  CRP have been noted in horses receiving medications intended for ruminants (FB protocol). The disruption of the normal biome in horses may be an unintended consequence of administering these over the counter medications. Our hypothesis is that ruminant medications given to horses have altered the gut biome and increased the release of toxins into the bloodstream.

The first question we wanted to answer is was there a difference between endotoxin levels in horses using different treatments? We looked at 4 groups of animals that were: no treatment, treatment 1, treatment 2, and a protocol found on Facebook (FB). All animals selected had elevated CRP levels (>50).

The chart below shows that 50% of the horses treated using the FB protocol had

endotoxemia. That is significantly higher than no treatment where 26% of these horses had endotoxins in the serum.

The data charted below examines the effect of treatment group on endotoxin. The FB treatment was least effective in decreasing endotoxin.

Next we will examine treatments to target endotoxins. We will examine CRP and endotoxin levels in horses before and after endotoxin treatment. The best population for this study is horses that have been on the FB protocol.