Nikolaos Diakakis

ABSTRACT

Objective: To test the hypothesis that oxytocin could alter gastrointestinal motility and, therefore, be potentially useful as a prokinetic drug in the horse. Method: On day 1, 200 barium-impregnated polyethylene spheres (diameter=3.2, weight=20mgr) were administered to each of 30 healthy, adult Warmblood horses via nasogastric intubation. During the next three days the following variables were recorded: gut motility, defecation frequency per day, weight of feces per defecation and intestinal transit time. On day 5, following the administration of barium spheres, horses were randomly separated in two even subgroups. The first subgroup received 0.07IU/kg of oxytocin intravenously while the second subgroup received 0.14IU/kg. During the next three days the same variables were recorded of each horse.