Somatotropic axis resistance and ghrelin in critically ill foals

Summary Reasons for performing study Resistance to the somatotropic axis and increases in ghrelin concentrations have been documented in critically ill human patients, but limited information exists in healthy or sick foals. Objectives To investigate components of the somatotropic axis (ghrelin, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1]) with regard to energy metabolism (glucose and triglycerides), severity of disease and survival in critically ill equine neonates. It was hypothesised that ghrelin and growth hormone would increase and IGF-1 would decrease in proportion to severity of disease, supporting somatotropic axis resistance, which would be associated with severity of disease and mortality in sick foals. Study design Prospective multicentre cross-sectional study. Methods Blood samples were collected at admission from 44 septic, 62 sick nonseptic (SNS) and 19 healthy foals, all aged