Anti-inflammatory treatments are commonly used in horses for various conditions and we are always looking for new ones. A fairly new anti-inflammatory called microlactin is on the market and a study about it was reported by Dr. Thomas Bello in Equine Veterinary Education. Microlactin is a milk protein concentrate. Its mode of action is to inhibit a white blood cell called a neutrophil, which is responsible for inflammation and bolstering the immune response in musculoskeletal diseases. This study shows excellent results in treating various conditions including respiratory disease, laminitis, foot injury, muscle injury, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), skin disease, and intestinal inflammation.

This product may really be helpful in many of these conditions but there are many problems with this study, and they are the same concern as with many studies of this kind supporting equine supplements. First of all, there is no control group that was treated with a placebo to determine how non-treated horses with similar conditions would have responded. Also, many of the respiratory cases required 16 months to respond. Some of the laminitis cases required 22 months to respond and other treatments were used. The horses could have improved without medication in this length of time. Also, horses in the EPM group were diagnosed on clinical signs only with no laboratory confirmation. Microlactin may be a great medication and this is not to fault Dr. Bello because he indicated he is not endorsing the product. However, many studies like this are used to provide proof of product effectiveness so horse owners need to carefully read these studies before purchasing these products.