The University of Kentucky hosted the fourth and final session of its Equine Research Showcase Feb. 9. Presenting sponsors included BET, Kentucky Performance Products, McCauley’s, Merck, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital and Tribute Equine Nutrition. The session included several 10-minute mini presentations about hot topics in the area of equine research.

Scott Stanley, PhD, professor in the Gluck Equine Research Center, spoke about the Equine Biological Passport project ongoing in his laboratory. It’s a project that has been under way for several years, but is based now in Kentucky after Stanley relocated to UK a few years ago.

The Equine Biological Passport uses protein biomarkers similar to human health monitoring, but as a tool for anti-doping in the horse industry.

The Equine Biological Passport is a drug deterrence process used for biological measurement in individual horses over a period of time. By repeated longitudinal assessments, normal values for the biomarkers in that specific horse are established. If doping techniques are used, altered biomarker levels are evident in the report. Over time, this may lead to even stronger deterrence of illicit practices in horse racing.

“From a research perspective, if a horse is administered a new medication, or a medication in a particular drug class (steroid, painkiller, etc.) we can monitor that by either targeting the drug or by targeting the animal’s system,” Stanley said.

According to Stanley, biological changes are evident after medication administration occurs, and regardless of the amount of change, as long as these biological indicators move from their normal state, one can follow the changes effectively.

The main elements of the Equine Biological Passport are steroidomics, proteomics, genomics and bioinformatics. Stanley described the testing as straightforward but very analytical. Recently, his group has used this process in an administration study of Nitrotain, which is a very short acting anabolic steroid.

“We’ve collected samples over time, separated and analyzed those by a method known as protein depletion, which is removing the unnecessary proteins. We then do a very extensive analysis that includes a high-end analytical tool, called an Orbitrap™,” Stanley said.

From there, the data gets processed through software called Peaks and Proteo Discoverers, allowing the design of specific experiments that can be utilized to identify proteins to determine if there has been a physiological change due to the administration of a prohibited substance.

Future short-term goals for the Equine Biological Passport include improving analytical methodologies, conducting investigations that focus on emerging threats (SARMs, Syntetic EPO, BoTox®, etc.), and incorporating a wider range of biomarkers. Some longer-term goals include validating approaches and ability to detect abuse, and incorporating the entire test into routine regulatory drug testing strategies.

Sabrina Jacobs, a senior majoring in equine science and management and minoring in wildlife biology and management, is a communications and student relations intern with UK Ag Equine Programs.