| Summary: | The thoroughbred horse has been selectively bred for speed and has a high capacity for carbohydrate metabolism. The following series of studies investigated the relative contribution of fat and carbohydrate to energy production during exercise of varying intensity. Furthermore the work assessed the capacity of the horse to increase the contribution of fat to energy production as the result of either an acute increase in the availability of plasma free fatty acids (FFA) or as the result of chronic fat supplementation. Finally an adaptational response to feeding a fat supplemented diet was described. The variation in plasma long chain FFA over a 24 hour period was described. The early hours of the morning represented the period of greatest variability in plasma FFA concentration. This period was characterised by a significant increase in total and individual FFA concentration, which was unrelated to feed intake. As a result of the reported circadian rhythm in plasma FFA all subsequent exercise studies were performed during the period of least variability in plasma FFA concentration. A model for the pre-exercise elevation of plasma FFA, using a combination of a triglyceride emulsion and the heparinoid type substance pentosan polysulphate, was used to investigate the effect of increased FFA availability on fat utilisation during prolonged low intensity exercise. Pentosan polysulphate was used in preference to heparin following an investigation of their relative lipolytic and anticoagulative properties. Pentosan polysulphate when administered at 3 times the dose of heparin resulted in a comparable increase in plasma total lipase activity. When co-administered with a triglyceride emulsion, pentosan polysulphate resulted in a similar increase in plasma FFA concentration relative to that produced with the same triglyceride emulsion and heparin. The anticoagulative effect of pentosan polysulphate, however, was approximately 9 times less than that of heparin, as measured by activated partial thromboplastin time. The contribution of fat and carbohydrate to energy production during exercise was influenced by both the intensity and duration of exercise, as indicated by measurements of respiratory exchange ratio (RER). The inter-horse variability in RER was greatest during low intensity exercise. An increase in the contribution of carbohydrate to energy production occurred at the onset and during the early stages of prolonged exercise and as the result of an increase in exercise intensity. A proportion of horses exhibited an increase in the utilisation of fat during low intensity prolonged exercise as a result of a pre-exercise elevation in plasma FFA concentration. RER was consistently lower during exercise in 5 out of the 7 horses studied following a pre-exercise elevation of plasma FFA. Furthermore, plasma glucose concentration was elevated above that observed during the control session in 4 of these 5 horses for at least the first 15 minutes of exercise. A prolonged period of fat supplementation resulted in an improved management of the fat load. Following 10 weeks of dietary treatment a significant increase in plasma cholesterol concentration and a significant decrease in plasma triglyceride concentration was reported. The decrease in plasma triglyceride concentration was associated with a mean 50% increase in post pentosan polysulphate plasma total lipase activity. It is suggested that the increase in the post pentosan polysulphate plasma total lipase activity may have reflected an increase in muscle lipoprotein lipase activity. A significant increase in the activity of muscle citrate synthase was observed during the period of fat supplementation. No significant change occurred in muscle ß-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase activity or in the concentration of resting muscle glycogen and triglyceride as a result of fat supplementation. RER was significantly lower in the latter stages of prolonged low intensity exercise, during the period of fat supplementation, relative to the same exercise performed before the introduction and following 5 weeks of withdrawal of the fat supplemented diet. The reduction in RER during the period of fat supplementation was associated with a greater exercise induced increase in plasma FFA concentration. The above differences were also apparent during moderate intensity exercise, although, examination of the individual horse data revealed that the effect was not as clear as that observed during low intensity exercise. No significant differences were reported in either RER or plasma FFA concentration in response to moderate/high intensity exercise during the period of fat supplementation. Neither were any significant differences observed in either RER or plasma FFA concentration in the control group at any exercise intensity. An increased availability of plasma FFA and an increase in the oxidative capacity of muscle, as well as an enhanced ability to utilise plasma triglycerides may have contributed to the increase in fat utilisation, observed during low and moderate intensity exercise, in response to fat supplementation. The effect of differences in the hormonal response to a fat supplemented diet as a precipitant of the observed adaptational responses in these studies requires further investigation.
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