Ohio Update On Cobalt Study

Published: September 3, 2015 12:29 pm EDT

The Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC) heard an update on the status of the cobalt study being conducted by the OSCR, The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s (ODA) Analytical Toxicology Laboratory (ATL), at its monthly meeting at 77 S. High St., Columbus, Ohio on August 25.

Dr. James Robertson, OSRC consulting veterinarian, offered comments and insight on the OSRC-funded Cobalt research.

“The Ohio State University has acquired five Standardbred horses for the pilot study and they are currently in a routine quarantine,” Dr. Robertson explained. “Once that is completed, the study will begin and take about eight weeks to complete.”

Dr. Robertson stated that the goals for this pilot study are as follows: one, to investigate the pharmacology of different doses of IV cobalt chloride on healthy horses; two, to associate cobalt doses with blood and urinary cobalt concentrations over time; and three, to determine how cobalt chloride affects various body systems (cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular and hematopoietic).

When OSRC Chairman Robert K. Schmitz asked about the recently announced United States Trotting Association (USTA)-funded cobalt study, Dr. Robertson first responded that it was regrettable that the research data of the previous USTA-funded cobalt study in 2014 was never published or made available for peer review.

“Based on the dose-response data collected from the pilot study, we intend to do a series of larger studies to examine all aspects of the effects of cobalt in the horse, including its effects on performance,” said Dr. Robertson. “The OSRC, OSU and ATL have the financial, physical and intellectual resources to plan and execute the most comprehensive series of cobalt studies to date. The USTA announcement that they will fund a study to evaluate the effects of cobalt in an exercise physiology model will not change our research plans.”

(Ohio State Racing Commission)

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