Phototherapy in newborn foals
Research from Chile suggests that blue fluorescent lights may have a role in treating foals with high bilirubin levels. Bilirubin is a break down product of the haemoglobin in the red blood cells. Low levels are normally present in the blood. Newborn foals tend to have slightly higher levels than normal ("physiological hyperbilirubinemia") because the system for dealing with the bilirubin in the liver (conjugation) is not yet fully developed. But some diseases can result in a marked increase in the bilirubin concentration. This is of particular importance in foals with conditions such as neonatal isoerythrolysis (hemolytic disease) and septicemia. High levels of bilirubin have been shown to cause problems because the molecule can pass into the nervous system where it can cause permanent damage to the nerve cells.
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Research directed by Dr. Víctor H. Parraguez in the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Chile at Santiago has been assessing the value of phototherapy with blue fluorescent lights in reducing the bilirubin concentration in newborn foals.
He explains that light has several actions that combine to reduce the bilirubin concentration. As well as altering the molecule to make it less toxic, it oxidises it making it easier for the body to excrete. Indeed, phototherapy with blue fluorescent lamps has been used for that purpose in newborn children with abnormally high blood bilirubin concentrations
In the study, reported in The Veterinary Record, the research team monitored the blood bilirubin levels in eight newborn foals. Blood samples were taken every 12 hours during the study, which lasted for 7 days.
Four of the foals were housed with their mothers in stalls that contained a phototherapy corral in one corner. The other foals were housed in conventional stalls.
The scientists reported a rapid and constant decline in blood bilirubin concentrations in foals housed with blue fluorescent light tubes. Phototherapy-treated foals had lower plasma concentrations of total and unconjugated bilirubin than did untreated foals.
Phototherapy appears to be a promising technique for reducing bilirubin levels. However, this study only tested its effect on normal foals with a physiological increase in bilirubin levels. The scientists suggest that it now needs to be assessed on foals with hyperbilrubinemia resulting from disease conditions such as neonatal isoerythrolysis.
For more details see:
Effect of phototherapy on the plasma bilirubin concentration of newborn foals.MC Durán, H Ramírez, AM Ramírez, VH Parraguez.
Veterinary Record (2009) 164, 503 - 504.
Reproduced with kind permission of Mark Andrews BVM&S CertEP MRCVS
© Copyright Mark Andrews - Equine Science Update 2009
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Added on: 27/06/09.
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