The Dynamics of Serum Lipid and Lipoprotein Profiles in Growing Foals

The neonatal period is a transitional phase between the fetal and newborn functions during which homeostatic mechanisms complete their maturation allowing the foal's adaptation to extrauterine life. Knowledge of these physiological conditions in newborn foals establishes the basis of their management and has important implications in health and welfare. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in lipid parameters in eight healthy full-term foals during the first month of life. From each animals, blood samples were collected every 3 days from day 1 until day 30 of life and were tested for serum total lipids, phospholipids, triglycerides, total cholesterol (total chol), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL chol), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL chol), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL chol). One-way repeated measures analysis of variance was applied to determine the effect of days of life on studied parameters. Significant effect of days of life was found on serum total lipids (P < .01), triglycerides, total chol, HDL chol, LDL chol (P < .05), and VLDL (P < .01). The changes in serum lipids and lipoproteins levels found in the present study could represent a response to metabolic adaptations occurring during neonatal period to ensure a better utilization of energy sources by newborn animal. Our results enhance the knowledge about the lipid profile in growing foals providing new information that could be useful in clinical practice to assess foals suffering from disease.