Plasma steroid profiles before and after ACTH stimulation test in healthy horses

Abstract

This study describes steroid profiles in equine plasma before and after ACTH stimulation. In human medicine, other steroids have been shown to have a more pronounced reaction to an ACTH stimulation test than cortisol. This study aimed to determine if the same was true for the horse. A total of 11 clinically healthy horses were selected for this study. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid plasma samples were taken before and 60 min after stimulation with 1 μg/kg BW of synthetic ACTH administered intravenously. The samples were analyzed for cortisol, 11-deoxycortisol, 21-deoxycortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, 11-deoxycorticosterone, androstenedione, 17-OH-progesterone, progesterone, and testosterone with a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Cortisol, 11-deoxycortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, and 11-deoxycorticosterone showed a significant increase after ACTH stimulation. In conclusion, the LC-MS/MS represents a viable method to measure glucocorticoids and related precursors or metabolites in equine plasma samples. In addition, we were able to show a more pronounced increase of 11-deoxycorticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, and corticosterone compared with cortisol. These 3 metabolites could potentially serve as more sensitive biomarkers for stress in horses than cortisol.