Dr. Alonso Guedes and colleagues are evaluating whether inhibiting an enzyme found in all mammals could help advance laminitis and osteoarthritis pain management in equine veterinary—and, eventually, human—medicine. | Photo: Amanda Stombaugh/Courtesy of University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine

By Carolyn Bernhardt

In the 1980s, researchers at the University of California (UC), Riverside, were looking for a way to control insects and found an enzyme—called JHEH—that, when inhibited, prevents caterpillars from becoming butterflies. This work led to the discovery of an equivalent enzyme in mammals, called soluble epoxide hydrolase, or sEH.

After spending a few years at UC Davis, Alonso Guedes, DVM, MS, PhD, became an associate professor of anesthesia and pain medicine in the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, where he is working to further understand how to use sEH to advance pain management in veterinary—and eventually human—medicine.

“We mammals have a similar enzyme,” Guedes says. “However, most of us don’t undergo metamorphosis,” he adds with a smile