Twelve university‐owned equestrian team competition horses with a history of forelimb lameness due to navicular syndrome were randomised to receive either 1.4 mg/kg clodronate (CLOD n = 6) or an equivalent volume of LRS (CONT; n = 6) in a blinded manner.
Blood was evaluated weekly for 8 weeks before and after drug administration (clodronate or placebo) for bone turnover markers CTX‐I and osteocalcin.
Lameness evaluations were performed to assess for change in lameness one week before and one, 2, 3 and 8 weeks after drug administration.
Coach questionnaires were performed to assess for change in ridden performance one, 2, 3 and 8 weeks after drug administration.
Bone cell recruitment was evaluated in vitro 2 weeks before and after drug administration.
There were no differences in in vitro bone cell recruitment from whole bone marrow or in bone turnover markers CTX‐I or osteocalcin.
A small but significant decrease in forelimb lameness was detected in CLOD treated horses one week after treatment (p = 0.005).
There were no significant differences in hindlimb lameness.
Coaches identified an improvement in performance significantly more often in CLOD vs. CONT (p = 0.01) at week 8.
Main limitations
Two CONT horses received intra‐articular anti‐inflammatory medication after treatment, which may have altered lameness results.
A single dose of clodronate appears to reduce lameness without producing detectable effects on bone turnover markers.
Due to the long half‐life of a bisphosphonate drug, the effect of multiple doses on bone remodeling and lameness should be investigated.
Source: A. Mitchell G. Wright S. N. Sampson M. Martin K. Cummings D. Gaddy A. E. Watts, Clodronate improves lameness in horses without changing bone turnover markers. EVJ, Early View.
First published: 28 August 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13011
This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1111/evj.13011
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