Equine Glandular Gastritis and Ulceration

Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) has been recognized as a clinical entity in horses for almost 3 decades. EGUS is common in all types of horses and clinical signs are variable and include inappetence/slowed eating, colic, weight loss, poor hair coat, poor performance and behavior changes. Anatomy of the stomach, low forage diets, intense/increased exercise, high concentrate diets, regular/prolonged transport, interval feeding, management/housing change, water deprivation, weaning/movement to a new home, prolonged stabling and NSAID administration are risk factor for horses developing EGUS. In published reports, ulceration of the squamous mucosa is predominant and our understanding of the pathophysiology is relatively complete. However there is minimal published information on the pathophysiology and epidemiology of equine gastric glandular mucosal disease. It is this author’s experience gained in over 1800 gastroscopic examinations that glandular lesions are underrepresented in the current literature and that glandular lesions are present in 50-60% of horses diagnosed with ulcers (unpublished data). Based on the appearance of these lesions, response to acid suppression therapy may not be as expected.