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Saliva serves many important functions, including moistening and softening food in the horse’s mouth; facilitating transport of food down the esophagus; and buffering the stomach, protecting it against gastric ulcers. Saliva can even be used to measure stress. A recent study* conducted by researchers from the U.K. suggests that saliva can also help detect tapeworm burden in horses.

“Tapeworm infections can cause colic, and large burdens may also result in damage to the wall of the intestine where they attach,” explained Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., an equine nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research.

Tapeworms attach at the junction between the ileum (the last segment of the small intestine) and cecum, and large numbers can obstruct the passage of ingesta between the small and large colon. Standard testing methods for internal parasites, such as fecal egg count methods, are unreliable for tapeworm infections.

To better diagnose tapeworm infections, DNA-based tests (polymerase chain reaction, PCR), blood tests, and salivary tests have all been developed. To date, however, these tests vary markedly in their ability to correctly diagnose tapeworm burdens in horses.

To better assess the efficacy of the salivary-based test for tapeworm infection, researchers collected saliva and blood samples from over 100 horses that were euthanized for other reasons. Tapeworms was counted in each of the horses and compared to the saliva and blood sample scores that were attained by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), which measures specific proteins produced by tapeworms.

According to the researchers, the salivary ELISA test performed well and was capable of identifying the presence of one or more tapeworms with a high sensitivity and specificity (a measure of false positive and false negative test results). In addition, the salivary ELISA correctly diagnosed horses with high burdens (>20 tapeworms) every time.

These results prompted Lightbody and coworkers to conclude, “It is hoped that the easy-to-use saliva tapeworm test will encourage wider adoption of regular testing for tapeworm and targeting of treatment, thereby reducing the amount of praziquantel and pyrantel pamoate being administered unnecessarily, which will ultimately safeguard their future efficacy due to possible development of parasite resistance.”

*Lightbody, K.L., P.J. Davis, and C.J. Austin. Validation of a novel saliva-based ELISA test for diagnosing tapeworm burden in horses. Veterinary Clinical Pathology. In press.

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