Essential oil spray reduces clinical signs of insect bite hypersensitivity in horses
2020
Cox, A. | Wood, K. | Coleman, G. | Stewart, AJ | Bertin, F‐R | Owen, H. | Suen, WW | Medina‐Torres, CE
OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of an herbal spray combining various essential oils, with a claim of mast cell stabilisation, antipruritic, anti‐inflammatory, and insect repellent effects on the clinical presentation of insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) in horses. DESIGN: Double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled, randomised, cross‐over clinical trial. METHODS: Twenty adult horses with clinical IBH were treated with a daily application of herbal spray or placebo for 28 days in a randomised, cross‐over fashion, separated by a>28‐day washout period. Horses were examined and scored prior to and after the completion of each treatment. Histopathology was performed on four horses. Owners kept daily diaries of observations. RESULTS: The herbal spray significantly reduced the severity of all assessed parameters (pruritus, excoriations, lichenification and alopecia; P < 0.05) compared with baseline values (pretreatment) and with placebo. Owners reported improvement of pruritus in 19/20 horses (95%) with complete resolution in 17 horses (85%) following treatment. Skin biopsies showed resolution of orthokeratosis in 4/4 horses, reduced thickness of the stratum spinosum in 2/4 horses and complete resolution of histopathological abnormalities in 1/4 horses after treatment, compared with either no change or deterioration of histopathologic lesions after placebo. No side effects were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The tested herbal spray may be an effective treatment for the management of equine IBH.
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