Unlike the positive results obtained in humans with storage diseases, the short chain fatty acid triheptanoin does not appear to be a good fat supplement for horses with polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM), reported Stephanie Valberg, DVM, PhD, professor of large animal medicine and director of the University of Minnesota’s Equine Center.

PSSM is a form of exertional rhabdomyolysis (ER, tying-up) that is common in Quarter Horses. Affected horses have very high levels of glycogen–a storage form of glucose–in the muscle fibers. (Read more.)

"Feeding a low-starch, fat-supplemented diet that includes corn oil or a high-fat, low-starch (HFLS) commercially prepared feed can decreased the number of episodes of ER in horses with PSSM," relayed Valberg. "To date, the amount and type of fat that is best utilized by horses with PSSM remains unclear."

Triheptanoin is a short, 7-carbon fat that has been used in human medicine to treat such disease as type II glycogen storage disease (such as Pompe’s disease)