19/02/2021

Vitamin D

In general, vitamin D metabolism is poorly studied in horses and care should be taken to extrapolate observations done in studies regarding other species (incl. human) to horses. This study assessed the question how a single bout of high-intensity exercise would affect the Vitamin D and related metabolites in skeletal muscle of horses. The fitness or training level of the ponies used as well as the dietary vitamin D intake were not reported. The paper provides interesting observations that provide food for thought for the role of vitamin D in horses in general. Confirmation of similar observations in homogenous group of horses with a high fitness level and fed a diet according to vitamin D recommendations is warranted. However, the question how to measure blood vitamin D levels and the use of different analyzing techniques may need to be addressed first.

Reference

• C. Puangthong, P. Sukhong, P. Saengnual, R. Srikuea and M. Chanda. 2020. A single bout of
high-intensity exercise modulates the expression of vitamin D receptor and vitamin D
metabolising enzymes in horse skeletal muscle. Equine Vet. J. 13346. Publisher

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