Animals : an open access journal from MDPI.
Publisher:
Molecular Diversity Preservation International,
Frequency: Quarterly
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Start Year:2010 -
ISSN:
2076-2615 (Electronic)
2076-2615 (Linking)
2076-2615 (Linking)
Impact Factor
4.2
2022
| NLM ID: | 101635614 |
| (OCoLC): | 667255765 |
| LCCN: | 2012254619 |
Changes in Salivary Analytes of Horses Due to Circadian Rhythm and Season: A Pilot Study. This study aims to evaluate the circadian and circannual variations in a panel of analytes in horse saliva that have been previously described as biomarkers related to stress and disease, in order to interpret them correctly when they are measured in this species. This panel of analytes integrated cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), lipase (Lip), total esterase (TEA), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), adenosine deaminase (ADA), γ-glutamyl transferase (gGT), creatine kinase (CK), urea, total bilirubin, total protein (TP), and phosphorus. These analytes were measured in saliva obtained from a p...
Oral Supplementation with Ultramicronized Palmitoylethanolamide for Joint Disease and Lameness Management in Four Jumping Horses: A Case Report. Background: Four show jumping horses were evaluated for non-responsive lameness, which caused their withdrawal from show jumping competitions. The clinical evaluation was performed by radiographic examination, flexion tests, diagnostic anesthesia and lameness evaluation using the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) scale. The diagnoses were a case of navicular syndrome, a complicated case of chronic navicular syndrome and arthrosis of the distal interphalangeal joint of the right anterior limb and two cases of distal intertarsal joint arthritis. Nutraceuticals are often an impo...
Can Endocrine Dysfunction Be Reliably Tested in Aged Horses That Are Experiencing Pain? The aim of the present study was to evaluate (i) the effects of different intensities and types of treated pain on the basal concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol, and (ii) the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation test, to determine whether treated pain caused a marked increase of ACTH, which would lead to a false positive result in the diagnosis of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID). Methods: Fifteen horses with treated low to moderate pain intensities were part of the study. They served as their own controls as soon as they were pain-free agai...
Luminal and Mucosal Microbiota of the Cecum and Large Colon of Healthy and Diarrheic Horses. The aim of this study was to compare the mucosal and luminal content microbiota of the cecum and colon of healthy and diarrheic horses. Marked differences in the richness and in the community composition between the mucosal and luminal microbiota of the cecum and large colon of horses with colitis were observed. Microbial dysbiosis occurs in horses with colitis at different levels of the intestinal tract, and microbiota composition is different between the mucosa and luminal content of diarrheic horses. The changes in some key taxa associated with dysbiosis in the equine intestinal microbiota,...
Genetic Structure Analysis of the Pura Raza Español Horse Population through Partial Inbreeding Coefficient Estimation. The aim of this work was to analyze genetic parameters such as the inbreeding coefficient (F), relatedness coefficient (AR) and partial inbreeding coefficient (Fij) of the whole PRE population, and the ancestors which account for 50% of the total genetic variability of the current population, from genealogical information. The average F of the whole PRE population (328,706 animals) has decreased from 8.45% to 7.51% in the least 20 years. The Fij was estimated for the whole PRE population, resulting in a database of 58,772,533 records containing one record for each Fij that each animal receives...
Effects of High Intensity Laser Therapy in the Treatment of Tendon and Ligament Injuries in Performance Horses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of high intensity laser therapy (HILT) on tendon and ligament injury treatment in horses. Twenty six horses with tendinopathies were randomly assigned to a HILT treated or to a non-treated group. Each horse was subjected to the same rehabilitation programme. Horses from the treatment group underwent a series of fifteen HILT treatments with the same parameters. Clinical and ultrasound assessments were performed by the same veterinarian and were carried out before (day 0), during (day 13-15) and after treatment (day 38-40). Clinical evaluation in...
The Relationship between Lung Inflammation and Aerobic Threshold in Standardbred Racehorses with Mild-Moderate Equine Asthma. Mild-moderate equine asthma (MEA) is a common disease of young racehorses characterized by inflammation of the lower airways diagnosed by cytological examination of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and it is considered an important cause of poor performance. The most common parameter of athletic capacity associated with horse performance is the speed at 4 mmol/L of lactate (VLA4). The aim of the present work was to evaluate the relation between the different BALF inflammatory cells and VLA4 in racehorses affected by MEA. A population of Standardbred racehorses that underwent an accurate pr...
Novel Equine Faecal Egg Diagnostics: Validation of the FECPAKG2. Faecal egg counts (FECs) are the standard method of diagnosing the level of parasitic helminth egg shedding in horses and other grazing animals. Testing before treatment is an important factor in slowing the appearance of anthelmintic resistance in nematode parasites. The FECPAK, optimised for livestock, is reported to allow owners to perform FECs on their own animals without the need for a separate microscope or any specialist knowledge by tapping into remote expertise. However, the performance of the FECPAK has yet to be assessed for equids. Therefore, a comparison of the FECPAK (G2) method ...
Historical Changes and Description of the Current Hungarian Hucul Horse Population. Gene conservation and management of small populations requires proper knowledge of the background and history of the breed. The aim of the study was the evaluation of population structure and changes of the Hungarian Hucul horse population. Population changes were described for the actual breeding stock as well as for groups of 10-year epochs reflecting major periods of change in the breed. Pedigree data of the registered population were analyzed using Endog and GRain software. The average value of equivalent complete generations was above nine for the actual breeding population. The longest g...
Dynamics of the Inbreeding Coefficient and Homozygosity in Thoroughbred Horses in Russia. The Thoroughbred (TB) horse has hugely impacted the development of horse breeding around the world. This breed has unique genetic qualities due to having had a closed studbook for approximately 300 years. In Russia, TBs have been bred since the second half of the 18th century. Here, we analyzed the genetic diversity and the inbreeding level in TB horses (n = 9680) for the period from 1990 to 2018 using polymorphisms of 17 microsatellite loci. We found that the genetic structure of the TB breed in Russia is represented by 100 alleles of panel STR (short tandem repeat) loci and has been stable f...
Moody Mares-Is Ovariectomy a Solution? Unwanted behaviour in mares is a commonly presenting problem to the veterinarian. This behaviour may range from the mare being uncooperative or aggressive when handled on the ground, kicking, bucking or rearing when ridden or being aggressive towards other horses. This purpose of the study was to evaluate whether bilateral ovariectomy in mares with unwanted behaviour improved the mare's behaviour and/or rideability from the owner's perspective. The mares were grouped and compared statistically based on their histological classification as having either "normal" or neoplastic ovaries. This stud...
Prevalence of Ca Blood Type and Alloantibodies in a Population of Horses from Italy. A knowledge of the blood groups and alloantibodies present is essential for the safe transfusion of blood products in horses. Pre-transfusion screening and blood typing minimizes the risk of incompatible RBC transfusions and prevents immunization of the recipient against incompatible RBC antigens. The frequencies of blood groups can vary among different breeds. Knowledge of a breed's blood group prevalence can be very useful for identifying the best blood donors during transfusion in clinical practice. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of the Ca blood type in horses from I...
Identification and Functional Annotation of Genes Related to Horses’ Performance: From GWAS to Post-GWAS. Integration of genomic data with gene network analysis can be a relevant strategy for unraveling genetic mechanisms. It can be used to explore shared biological processes between genes, as well as highlighting transcription factors (TFs) related to phenotypes of interest. Unlike other species, gene-TF network analyses have not yet been well applied to horse traits. We aimed to (1) identify candidate genes associated with horse performance via systematic review, and (2) build biological processes and gene-TF networks from the identified genes aiming to highlight the most candidate genes for hor...
Antimicrobial Resistance in Horses. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasingly recognized global public health threat to the modern health-care system that could hamper the control and treatment of infectious diseases [...].
Antimicrobial Resistance in Horses. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasingly recognized global public health threat to the modern health-care system that could hamper the control and treatment of infectious diseases [...].
Effect of Human Attachment Style on Horse Behaviour and Physiology during Equine-Assisted Activities-A Pilot Study. Equine-assisted activities (EAA) for human well-being and health rely on human-horse interactions for therapeutic effect. At-risk participants with mental and emotional difficulties can show poor social skills and functioning relationships, potentially leading to unsuccessful human-horse interaction in EAA. This study addresses the effect of the attachment style (AS) of at-risk adolescents on horse physiology and behaviour during an equine-facilitated learning (EFL) program. Thirty-three adolescents participated in a 10-week EFL program with nine therapy horses (the same therapy horse per adol...
Simulation Study on the Integration of Health Traits in Horse Breeding Programs. Osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) is a degenerative disease of the cartilage leading to osseous fragments in the joints. It is important in horse breeding both from an animal welfare and an economic perspective. To study adequate breeding strategies to reduce OCD prevalence, a lifelike simulation of the breeding program of German Warmblood horses was performed with the R package MoBPS. We simulated complex breeding schemes of riding horses with different selection steps and realistic age structure, mimicking the German situation. As an example, osseous fragments in fetlock and hock joints were c...
Elo Method and Race Traits: A New Integrated System for Sport Horse Genetic Evaluation. This first survey on Sardinian Anglo-Arab horse (SAA) race traits highlights important aspects for the breeding purpose of this population. The heritability of the race traits were estimated through a trivariate model; the estimates were 0.39, 0.33, and 0.30 for the number of placings, total earnings and Elo rating, respectively. The genetic progress could be improved by using an MT genetic evaluation of stallions and mares, combining information from competition traits.
Welfare of Free-Roaming Horses: 70 Years of Experience with Konik Polski Breeding in Poland. To prevent abuse and to assure the welfare of domestic horses, attempts to assess welfare in a standardized way have been made. Welfare-assessment tools often refer to the physical and social environments of feral domestic horses as examples of welfare-friendly conditions for horses. However, free-roaming horses are often exposed to conditions or states that may be regarded as welfare threats or abuse. The aim of this review was to present cases of welfare compromises as well as natural ways to restore high standards of welfare to Konik polski horses (Koniks) living in semiferal conditions in ...
Survey of Serum Amyloid A and Bacterial and Viral Frequency Using qPCR Levels in Recently Captured Feral Donkeys from Death Valley National Park (California). Feral donkey removal from state land has raised concerns in terms of disease transmission between equine species. Disease outbreaks may occur as a result of the relocation of animals to new environments. Virus and bacteria DNA load and serum amyloid A derived from the pathogenic processes that they involve were measured in recently captured donkeys. Blood and nasal swabs were collected from 85 donkeys (Death Valley National Park, Shoshone, California); 24 were retested after 30/60 days in the Scenic (Arizona) long-term holding facility co-mingled with feral donkeys from Arizona and Utah. Quant...
Edition of Prostaglandin E2 Receptors EP2 and EP4 by CRISPR/Cas9 Technology in Equine Adipose Mesenchymal Stem Cells. In mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), it has been reported that prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) stimulation of EP2 and EP4 receptors triggers processes such as migration, self-renewal, survival, and proliferation, and their activation is involved in homing. The aim of this work was to establish a genetically modified adipose (aMSC) model in which receptor genes EP2 and EP4 were edited separately using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. After edition, the genes were evaluated as to if the expression of MSC surface markers was affected, as well as the migration capacity in vitro of the generated cells. Adipose MSCs we...
A New Framework for Assessing Equid Welfare: A Case Study of Working Equids in Nepalese Brick Kilns. Equids fulfil many different roles within communities. In low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), in addition to providing a source of income, equids also provide essential transport of food, water, and goods to resource-limited and/or isolated communities that might otherwise lack access. The aim of this investigation was to understand the welfare conditions that donkeys, mules, and horses are exposed to whilst working in Nepalese brick kilns. To understand the welfare conditions of equids in Nepalese brick kilns, the Welfare Aggregation and Guidance (WAG) tool in conjunction with the Equid ...
Combining Threshold, Thurstonian and Classical Linear Models in Horse Genetic Evaluations for Endurance Competitions. The racing time and rank at finish traits are commonly used for endurance horse breeding programs as a measure of their performance. Even so, given the nature of endurance competitions, many horses do not finish the race. However, the exclusion of non placed horses from the dataset could have an influence on the prediction of individual breeding values. The objective of the present paper was to develop a multitrait model including race time (T), rank (R) and placing (P), with different methodologies, to improve the genetic evaluation in endurance competitions in Spain. The database contained 6...
Application of a Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram and Its Relationship with Gait in a Convenience Sample of 60 Riding Horses. A Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) comprising 24 behaviours has been developed to facilitate the identification of musculoskeletal pain. The aim was to further test the RHpE by its application to a convenience sample (n = 60) of sports horses and riding school horses in regular work and assumed by their owners to be working comfortably. All horses performed a purpose-designed dressage-type test of 8.5 min duration in walk, trot and canter, with their normal rider. The RHpE was applied retrospectively to video recordings acquired in a standardised fashion. Seventy-three percent of horses were ...
Efficiency of Semen Cryopreservation in Stallions. Differences in the cryotolerance of spermatozoa exist among stallions, but it remains to be determined to what extent such differences are affected by breed. In this study, post-thaw semen quality in stallions presented for semen cryopreservation was analysed retrospectively (1012 ejaculates from 134 stallions of 5 breeds). The percentage of frozen-thawed ejaculates acceptable for artificial insemination (AI) and the number of insemination doses per cryopreserved ejaculate was calculated. Logistic regression analysis revealed sperm motility in raw semen as the most important explanatory variab...
Genetic Variability and Population Structure in the Sardinian Anglo-Arab Horse. The Sardinian Anglo Arab (SAA) is a famous horse breed in Italy, with a significant historical background in the island of Sardinia. The aim of the study is to perform an evaluation of genetic variability in SAA using pedigree and mitochondrial data. In the current population, pedigree completeness was observed to be close to 100%, while the inbreeding coefficient and the average relatedness were lower than 3%. The ratio of effective founders/numbers of ancestors was 3.68 for the whole pedigree. The effective population size (N) computed by an individual increase in inbreeding (N) was 456.86, ...
Genetic Diversity and Signatures of Selection in a Native Italian Horse Breed Based on SNP Data. Horses are nowadays mainly used for sport and leisure activities, and several local breeds, traditionally used in agriculture, have been exposed to a dramatic loss in population size and genetic diversity. The loss of genetic diversity negatively impacts individual fitness and reduces the potential long-term survivability of a breed. Recent advances in molecular biology and bioinformatics have allowed researchers to explore biodiversity one step further. This study aimed to evaluate the loss of genetic variability and identify genomic regions under selection pressure in the Bardigiano breed ba...
Morphometric Characteristics of the Skull in Horses and Donkeys-A Pilot Study. Horses and donkeys belong to the genus Equus, but important differences exist between the species, many of which affect their management and welfare. This study compared skull morphology between horses and donkeys. Horse ( = 14) and donkey ( = 16) heads were obtained post-mortem, sectioned sagittally close to the midline, and photographed for subsequent measurement of various skull structures. Skull, cranial, nasal, and profile indices were calculated for topographical comparisons between the species. The olfactory bulb area (OBA), OB pitch (the angle between the hard palate and the OB axis), ...
GIBBSTHUR: Software for Estimating Variance Components and Predicting Breeding Values for Ranking Traits Based on a Thurstonian Model. (1) Background: Ranking traits are used commonly for breeding purposes in several equine populations; however, implementation is complex, because the position of a horse in a competition event is discontinuous and is influenced by the performance of its competitors. One approach to overcoming these limitations is to assume an underlying Gaussian liability that represents a horse's performance and dictates the observed classification in a competition event. That approach can be implemented using Montecarlo Markov Chain (McMC) techniques with a procedure known as the Thurstonian model. (2) Metho...
Comparative Transcriptome Profiling Analysis Uncovers Novel Heterosis-Related Candidate Genes Associated with Muscular Endurance in Mules. Heterosis has been widely exploited in animal and plant breeding programs to enhance the productive traits of hybrid progeny from two breeds or species. However, its underlying genetic mechanisms remain enigmatic. Transcriptome profiling analysis can be used as a method for exploring the mechanism of heterosis. Here, we performed genome-wide gene expression and alternative splicing (AS) analyses in different tissues (muscle, brain, and skin) from crosses between donkeys and horses. Our results indicated that 86.1% of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 87.2% of the differential alter...