Drug Research Benefitting Mares, Foals

An ongoing study of the veterinary drug Equidone has revealed, when given orally, it effectively treats both infertility and a milk-inhibiting condition plaguing nursing mares.

Dee Cross, professor of animal and veterinary science, is conducting the study.

Equidone helps mares produce milk through the release of prolactin, a lactation hormone. Agalactia, a common ailment that disrupts milk production after birth, can affect up to 20 percent of nursing mares. It is usually caused by a hormonal imbalance in the endocrine system.

But Equidone also helps the mares produce foals by helping develop to full size the Graafian follicle, a pouch in the ovary that encloses the developing egg. Once at ovulatory size, the pouch breaks open and releases the egg.

Treatment has also proven successful in llamas, emus, camels, cattle, dogs and apes.

Previous research by Cross has shown that Equidone also negates the toxic effects of fungus-infected fescue grass so mares can safely deliver normal foals. Cross has patented its use in horses to treat the ailment, called fescue toxicosis.

The drug has been used in every state and has saved the horse industry millions of dollars by allowing mares to deliver normal foals.

Research has also suggested that Equidone could be used to treat infertility in humans. Its active ingredient, Domperidone, was originally used in humans to treat nausea.

For more information, contact Cross at (864) 656-5155, dcross@clemson.edu. Visit Equitox.com (opens a new window.)