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Virginia Tech

The effects of hyaluronic acid and exercise on equine skeletal muscle

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Unaccustomed, strenuous exercise can cause skeletal muscle damage that subsequently induces an acute inflammatory response in the tissue which is marked by an infiltration of leukocytes into the damaged muscle. To try and suppress the initial pro-inflammatory response in skeletal muscle of horses performing a single exercise stress test, a commercial sodium hyaluronate (HA) treatment was administered and tested for anti-inflammatory properties. Unfit, adult Thoroughbreds were intravenously injected three times with HA or received no injection at all (CON) over a 3-week period before performing a single submaximal exercise test. Gluteal muscle biopsies were collected before and 1 h after the completion of exercise for RNA-Seq and staining. The results indicated that HA treatment in horses down regulated genes associated with lymphocyte activation and cytokine production (Il17RA, OSCAR, LYL1, TLR1, TLR2, TLR8, TLR10) but did not irreversibly down regulate these genes with the addition of exercise. Exercise as a stressor did cause an acute inflammatory response in muscle which was seen through global expression of macrophage and neutrophil surface markers (NCF2, ELANE, CD168I). These results determine that HA treatment does act as an anti-inflammatory in equine skeletal muscle but does not possess prolonged effects with the initiation of inflammation.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Animal and Poultry Sciences
Department dc:contributor.department
Animal and Poultry Sciences
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2023

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Gregg, Savannah Renee
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Johnson, Sally E.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Gilbert, Elizabeth Ruth
  • Gerrard, David E.

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:38210
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/116059

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Gregg, Savannah Renee. The effects of hyaluronic acid and exercise on equine skeletal muscle. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/116059