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Leptin In Horses: Influences Of Body Condition, Gender, Insulin Insensitivity, Feeding, And Dexamethasone, Joshua Allen Cartmill

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The experiments described herein were designed to answer questions that arose from initially attempting to determine whether treatment with dexamethasone increased concentrations of leptin in geldings. Dexamethasone treatment did in fact increase leptin concentrations in mares, geldings, and stallions. Additional experiments were designed to determine leptin's interaction, not only with the adrenal axis, but with the thyroid axis, the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 axis, as well as glucose and insulin metabolism in geldings, mares, and stallions. During the course of these experiments, differences in leptin concentrations in the horse were attributed to degree of body condition, gender, and feeding time. …