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Research & Development

At AlvuSana, we are passionate about how our proprietary gut health assessments can be used both within new product development and as a research tool. 

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For equine scientists and veterinarians

Monitoring horse gut health

Whether you own, train or manage companion, leisure or elite competition horses you will be familiar with the two horse gut issues that often lead to veterinary visits: gastric (stomach) ulcers and colic. Diagnosis of inflammatory diseases of the horse GI tract mainly focuses on gastroscoping, which identifies gastric ulcers, or lesions in the oesophagus and stomach, the very first part of the horse GI tract. Gastric ulcers are a major issue in domestic horses, with estimates of between 70-90% horses likely to have some lesions. Performance horses are at higher risk - and as severe ulcers are associated with behavioural and performance issues, diagnosing and treating ulcers is increasingly a part of horse management. In fact, ulcer diagnosis and treatment is now the most common veterinary reason for insurance payouts.

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However, a vast amount of the GI tract is hard to evaluate. In comparison to the rest of the GI tract, horse stomachs are small (~30cm long), whereas the small and large intestines are surprising long - around 25m (2500cm). Colic is an intestinal issue but incorporates a range of different problems (see below).

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The difficulties in monitoring and measuring horse guts health has resulted no consensus about the prevalence and impact of 'hind gut' inflammation issues. Some argue that stomach ulcers go hand-in-hand with equine irritable bowel disease (Kranenburg et al., 2024), others argue that hind gut issues are uncommon and over-diagnosed.​ Without tools to evaluate the hind gut, it is very hard to support one or the other perspective.

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Moreover, there are few ways to assess the impacts of all the interventions we do to support gut health: diet, supplements and management. We know when things go catastrophically wrong but have little early warning indicators and few ways to know whether our preventative efforts help. 

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At AlvuSana, we have taken this challenge seriously and have developed a panel of horse-specific markers that are similar to those used for IBD, leaky gut and dysbiosis in human medicine. See a table summary of gut issues and how they relate to our markers of gut health.  

For nutrition companies

Product development and validation

Our services can be used to evaluate how feeds and supplements support and enhance horse gut health. With existing industrial partners in place, watch this space to see transformative evidence for how supplements can support good gut health in different contexts. 

For academic researchers

Sample processing and results for research 

AlvuSana was born out of an unmet research need: how can we better understand animal health using non-invasive markers. Our wild animal research seeks to understand the physiological costs of environmental challenge (climate, resources and disturbance) and parasites. Our domestic animal research focuses on understanding the burden of chronic endemic diseases. To this end, we have developed, validated and published hormone, immunoglobulin and inflammation markers on wild and domestic mammals in the UK, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. If you are interested in using our approach in your research setting (veterinary, conservation or ecology) please reach out to learn how we can support your projects. We have a lot of exciting research on the way but below is a taster of some of our published animal health studies.

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Related Publications

A proven track record in peer reviewed publications

Publications using Alvusana associated science (reverse chronological order):

  1. Burton, A. M., Halls, A. M., Else, K. J., Irving, J., Gichuyia, C., Gakuya, F., ... & Shultz, S. A Cross-sectional Study Reveals Complex Associations between Gastrointestinal Parasite Composition and Faecal Immune and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Wildlife and Livestock in Kenya. Frontiers in Immunology, 17, 1881798. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1881798

  2. Irving, J., Pineau, V., Shultz, S., Ter Woort, F., Julien, F., Lambey, S., & van Erck-Westergren, E. (2025). Impact of Low-Starch Dietary Modifications on Faecal Microbiota Composition and Gastric Disease Scores in Performance Horses. Animals, 15(13), 1908.  https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15131908

  3. Burton, A. M., Else, K. J., Irving, J., Mair, I., & Shultz, S. (2025). Antibodies and inflammation: fecal biomarkers of gut health in domestic ruminants. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, 343(4), 468-479. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2896

  4. Burton, A. M., Britnell, J. A., Davies, G. K., & Shultz, S. (2025). Faecal oestrone, rather than an androgen, is a sensitive and consistent marker of male reproductive state in equids. Theriogenology Wild, 7, 100132.  https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2896

  5. Britnell, J. A., Palme, R., Kerley, G. I., Jackson, J., & Shultz, S. (2024). Previous assessments of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) were flawed. Functional Ecology, 38(9), 1862-1874. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14621

  6. Pineau, V., Irving, J., ter Woort, F., Shultz, S., & van Erck-Westergren, E. (2024, July). Low starch diet alters microbiome composition and decreases gastric disease and ridden horse pain ethogram scores in performance horses. In 14th International Equine Colic Research Symposium (pp. 34-35). Equine Veterinary Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/eve.45_14008

  7. Cruickshank, S. M., Else, K. J., Mair, I., Shiels, H., & Shultz, S. (2024). How (Eco) immunology can augment global EcoHealth programmes: opportunities, needs, and challenges. Discovery Immunology, 3(1), kyae015. https://doi.org/10.1093/discim/kyae015

  8. Granweiler, J., Cristóbal-Azkarate, J., Morton, N., Palme, R., & Shultz, S. (2024). The paradox of spring: Thyroid and glucocorticoid responses to cold temperatures and food availability in free living Carneddau ponies. Hormones and behavior, 161, 105526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105526

  9. Shultz, S., Britnell, J. A., & Harvey, N. (2021). Untapped potential of physiology, behaviour and immune markers to predict range dynamics and marginality. Ecology and Evolution, 11(23), 16446-16461. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8331

  10. Liu, R., Shi, J., Shultz, S., Guo, D., & Liu, D. (2021). Fecal bacterial community of allopatric Przewalski’s gazelles and their sympatric relatives. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12, 737042. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.737042

  11. Antwis, R. E., Edwards, K. L., Unwin, B., Walker, S. L., & Shultz, S. (2019). Rare gut microbiota associated with breeding success, hormone metabolites and ovarian cycle phase in the critically endangered eastern black rhino. Microbiome, 7(1), 27.

  12. Antwis, R. E., Lea, J. M., Unwin, B., & Shultz, S. (2018). Gut microbiome composition is associated with spatial structuring and social interactions in semi-feral Welsh Mountain ponies. Microbiome, 6(1), 207.

  13. Edwards, K. L., Shultz, S., Pilgrim, M., & Walker, S. L. (2015). Irregular ovarian activity, body condition and behavioural differences are associated with reproductive success in female eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli). General and comparative endocrinology, 214, 186-194.

  14. Edwards, K. L., Walker, S. L., Bodenham, R. F., Ritchie, H., & Shultz, S. (2013). Associations between social behaviour and adrenal activity in female Barbary macaques: consequences of study design. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 186, 72-79.

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