1982 Volume 1982 Issue 19 Pages 51-58
A study was carried out on a high-performance liquid-chromatographic (HPLC) analysis of horse serum tocopherols to explore a part of the etiology of the muscle diseases in the Thoroughbred horse. As a result, linear standard calibration curves, high sensitivity and reproducibility, and a recovery of over 95% of the tocopherols were obtained. Overlapping findings between d-α-tocopherol standard and d-α-tocopherol of horse serum were observed in the chromatogram. The serum α-tocopherol level in Thoroughbred horses was evidently lower than, or about 1/4 to 1/3 of that in human beings. The difference in α-tocopherol level was significant, at P<0.05, between the Thoroughbred racehorse and the Thoroughbred riding horse. Regarding the above mentioned overlapping finding of tocopherol, the peaks of β-tocopherol in horse serum and denatured vitamin A possessed the same retention time. The peak of the former could not be estimated separately from that of the latter by HPLC analysis with the UV detector alone. In racehorses the mean serum α-tocopherol level in the post-exercise pre-feeding in the early morning was lower than the level in the post-feeding resting time. The serum α-tocopherol level was examined in 7 horses with the tying-up syndrome 7-10 days after attack. It was lower in 3 horses, but was not so much lower in the other 4 horses than in the healthy racehorses.
