Topic:Antibodies
Antibodies in horses are specialized proteins produced by the immune system in response to foreign substances, known as antigens. These substances can include pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Antibodies function by recognizing and binding to specific antigens, thereby neutralizing them or marking them for destruction by other immune cells. In equine health, antibodies are integral to both natural immune responses and those induced by vaccinations. The study of antibodies in horses encompasses their production, diversity, and role in disease resistance and management. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the generation, function, and implications of antibodies in equine immunology and disease control.
Environmental exposure to Coxiella burnetii: a sero-epidemiologic survey among domestic animals. The prevalence of agglutinating serum antibodies against Coxiella burnetii, the cause of Q fever in humans, was tested in a hospital population of companion animals and livestock in California during 1973--1975. A sample of stray dogs was also tested. Among the hospitalized animals 346 (48%) of 724 dogs, 7 (9%) of 80 cats, 9 (32%) of 28 cattle and 31 (26%) of 121 horses had antibodies against C. burnetii. Of 316 stray dogs 208 (66%) were seropositive. The overall prevalence of 53% among 1040 dogs tested was comparable to the 63% antibody prevalence found in an earlier survey among coyotes and ...
Suppressor T cells in tolerance to deaggregated horse anti-human thymocyte globulin in man. To understand the mechanism by which deaggregated horse anti-human thymocyte globulin (dATG) fails to induce untoward immunological reactions in man, three patients who received ATG and two patients who received dATG were studied for evidence of sensitization or tolerance to the foreign globulin. The ATG but not the dATG recipients developed allergic or serum sickness reactions; antihorse serum antibody could be detected in their serum and their blood cells proliferated in vitro in the presence of horse serum and secreted antihorse serum antibodies (P less than 0.001). Tolerance of the dATG re...
The immunological approach to pregnancy diagnosis: a review. The developing embryo/fetus bears antigens which are foreign to the mother and it could be expected that immune rejection of the conceptus would occur. One of the reasons why the fetus is not rejected is because a depression of the maternal immune response takes place during pregnancy. Serum from pregnant animals of several species has been shown to contain a factor, early pregnancy factor (EPF), which is immunosuppressive. EPF has been detected as early as six hours after mating and its detection could aid diagnosis of early pregnancy in all species.
Combined active-passive immunisation of horses against tetanus. The protection afforded by active, passive and combined active-passive methods of immunisation against tetanus was examined in previously unimmunised horses. Three groups of horses were injected; one with tetanus toxoid alone, one with tetanus antitoxin alone and one in which the tetanus toxoid and tetanus antitoxin were injected simultaneously. The protection afforded was determined by monitoring the levels of antitoxin achieved in the horses by each of these methods. The results obtained demonstrated the effectiveness of the combined active-passive method in affording rapid and prolonged pro...
Evaluation of the double immunodiffusion test for the diagnosis of louping ill infection. The usefulness of the double immunodiffusion test for the diagnosis of louping ill infection was investigated. Whereas louping ill viral antigen was not detected in brain material from field cases of the infection, its presence was readily confirmed in suckling mouse brain isolates of the virus. The double immunodiffusion test was found to be unreliable as a serological test for the retrospective diagnosis of louping ill infection in the horse.
A comparison of the complement fixation and immunofluorescent antibody tests in a survey of the prevalence of Babesia equi and Babesia caballi in horses in the Sultanate of Oman. The incidence of antibodies to Babesia equi and B. caballi in horses in the Royal Stables of His Majesty the Sultan of Oman was assessed by complement fixation (CF) and immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) tests. Two series of samples taken with a 2-year interval, mainly from animals reared in Oman, indicated a stable but high prevalence of antibodies. On the 2 occasions 94.6 and 97.7% respectively were positive to B. equi by IFA and 76.8 and 75.0% were positive by CF. For B. caballi the corresponding percentage figures were lower--67.9 and 40.9 by IFA and 30.4 and 40.9 by CF. A group of animals t...
[Investigation of mare sera for antibodies against acholeplasmas and mycoplasmas with ther enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (author’s transl)]. After abortion sera were taken from 58 thoroughbred and other mares of the northwestern part of Germany and investigated by ELISA (enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay) for antibodies against Mycoplasma equirhinis, M. subdolum, M. equigenitalium, M. pulmonis, M. felis, Acholeplasma laidlawii, A. hippikon, and A. equifetale. Reactions at serum dilutions of 1:32 and higher were considered as positive. At serum dilution 1:32 no antibodies were found in 11 sera. The remaining sera showed antibodies against one or more of the mycoplasma antigens investigated. The number of multiple reactions decrease...
A primary immune response to dextran B512 is followed by a period of antigen-specific immunosuppression caused by autoanti-idiotypic antibodies. After a primary immune response to the alpha 1-6 epitope of dextran B512, dextran high responder strains exhibit a specific inability to produce IgM and IgG antibodies against this epitope, although they gave an expected secondary response to horse erythrocytes. Spleen cells from dextran-primed and-suppressed mice responded well to dextran after transfer to lethally irradiated previously untreated mice, indicating that tolerance or exhaustive proliferation of dextran reactive B cells is not responsible. Thymus-dependent dextran-protein conjugates also induced specific suppression. Suppression ...
Survey on antibody to Getah virus in horses in Japan. A seroepidemiological survey was performed on antibody against Getah virus in horses in Japan by the complement fixation test. The positive rate was 35 and 53% in two areas where an outbreak of the infectious disease was reported, whereas it was in a range of 3.3 to 24.2% in other areas, except in certain prefectures of the Kyushu district where a high positive rate was observed. In the Hokkaido district, the northernmost part of Japan, no reactors were found in horses under 6 years old, unlike in any other district. It was also suggested that Getah virus infection might have already been prev...
Persistence in nature of influenza virus A/eq/Praha/56 (Heq1Neq1). Equine influenza occurred in Czechoslovakia 14 years after the last epizootic in horses that had returned from abroad. Six strains A (Heq1Neq1) antigenically related to, but not identical with, strain A/eq/Praha/56 were isolated from 10 washings. Seroconversion was demonstrated with paired sera, but the antibody increase was more marked against the newly isolated strain.
Topographic antigenic determinants on cytochrome c. Immunoadsorbent separation of the rabbit antibody populations directed against horse cytochrome. Seven populations of site-specific antibodies were isolated from each of three sera of rabbits immunized against glutaraldehyde-polymerized horse cytochrome c. The antibodies were separated using an immunoadsorption scheme which employed the following cytochromes c: horse, beef, guanaco, rabbit, mouse testicular, pigeon, and the cyanogen-bromide cleaved fragment of the rabbit protein containing residues 1 to 65. The monovalent, antigen-binding fragments of the antibodies (Fab') gave 1:1 stoichiometries with native horse cytochrome c in fluorescence quenching assays. Cross-reactivities with het...
Dynamic changes of horse serum T-globulin immunization with snake venoms, tetanus and diphtheria toxoids. In course of immunizing horses with snake venoms, tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, a new serum component, T-globulin, was formed and migrated between the beta- and gamma-globulins. The T-globulin content was parallel with the antibody titre after the middle course of immunization. There were many components in snake antivenin and T-globulin was composed of most of those components. The components of diphtheria T-globulin were the same as those of crude antitoxin and tetanus T-globulin except one precipitin.
Sero-epidemiologic investigations on brucellosis in the states of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) and Delhi (India). Sero-prevalence of brucellosis in man and animals was studied during the years 1976 and 1977. Samples were collected from Hospitals/slaughter houses/livestock farms located in Delhi and different districts of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). The sera samples tested were from 1685 men, 1607 goats, 438 sheep, 244 pigs, 361 cattle, 551 buffalos, 50 dogs, 318 equine and 43 free living animals. The percentage of seropositivity, excluding doubtful ones, was recorded as: man 0.89, goat 5.53, sheep 3.42, pigs 15.98, cattle 6.37 buffalo 4.9 and equine 12.89. Additionally an evidence of agglutinins was also detect...
The immune response of horses to tetanus toxoid. An intramuscular injection of 8-16 Lf tetanus toxoid in water-in-oil emulsion protected adult horses against tetanus for at least 128 weeks. A booster dose of 8 Lf toxoid in aqueous solution protected them for a further period of at least 3 1/2 years. Colostral immunity protected foals for at least 10 weeks. An intramuscular injection of 8 Lf toxoid in water-in-oil emulsion given to foals from immune dams when they were 10-18 weeks old did not elicit any antibody response. They did respond, however, to a booster injection of 8 Lf toxoid in aqueous solution given 12 weeks after the first dose. ...
Incidence of bluetongue virus precipitating antibodies in sera of some domestic animals in the Sudan. To determine the presence and prevalence of bluetongue (BT) infection in a variety of domestic animal species in different geographical regions of the Sudan, a serological study using the agar gel precipitation technique was initiated. A total of 2142 serum samples were examined. Of the numbers tested approximately 28% of sheep, 11.2% of goats, 8% of cattle and 4.9% of camels were positive for group-specific antibodies to BT virus antigen, indicating previous exposure to BT infection. None of the samples tested from horses or donkeys were positive. The findings suggest that the disease is wide...
Evaluation of an indirect fluorescent antibody test to diagnose Babesia equi infection in horses. An indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test for the diagnosis of Babesia equi infections was evaluated. Antigen prepared by conventional methods was of high quality in one instance and of lesser quality in a second when possible autofluorescence of the horse blood caused inconvenience in reading tests. Tests on 14 horses shown by parasitological means to be either infected (9) or uninfected (5) produced reactions at dilutions of 1/270 to 1/7290 for infected and at 1/10 to 1/90 for uninfected animals. The accuracy of the test was further demonstrated during investigations of 701 horses in 3 sta...
Identification of alpha1-lipoproteins in crossed immunoelectrophoresis. Evans Blue dye binds selectively, but with different avidities, to five major antigens in human serum. The anodic mobility of the antigen-dye complexes is greater than that of the antigens alone in crossed immunoelectrophoresis, which is of practical value for identification. We used this characteristic to show that in some human sera there is a population of alpha1-lipoprotein molecules that migrates electrophoretically in the beta-lipoprotein region, where in conventional zone electrophoresis it could be mistaken for beta-lipoprotein. We also demonstrate that horses, unlike rabbits, rarely m...
Cellular and humoral immune response of foals to vaccination with Corynebacterium equi. Transformation of peripheral blood lymphocytes from pony foals vaccinated and subsequently infected with Corynebacterium equi was studied. Three foals were vaccinated on two occasions using a formalinized C. equi vaccine with aluminum hydroxide as an adjuvant. Three nonvaccinated foals served as controls. Foals were challenged intratracheally with 9 x 10(9) C. equi six weeks after the initial vaccination. Foals survived this infection for one to two weeks. Significant lymphocyte transformation in response to C. equi antigens was detected in two vaccinated foals at the third week after initial ...
Isolation and characterization of antibodies to Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin from hyperimmune horse serum. Antibodies against epsilon toxin were isolated from hyperimmune horse serum by affinity chromatography. Purified epsilon prototoxin covalently bound to Affigel 202 was used as immunosorbent, and antibodies were eluted with 6.0 M guanidine chloride. In a single run 80 mg of antibody could be recovered from a 20 microliter column of immunosorbent. The antibody was shown to belong to the IgG(T) class of immunoglobulins.
The presence of precipitating antibodies in the sera of horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The sera of horses affected and not affected with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were examined for precipitins to Micropolyspora faeni and Aspergillus fumigatus. Precipitins to both antigens were not restricted to COPD cases but occurred more frequently in animals affected with COPD. Many animals without detectable precipitins responded clinically to inhalation challenge with these antigens.
Leukocyte cytotoxicity in a persistent virus infection: presence of direct cytotoxicity but absence of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity in horses infected with equine infectious anemia virus. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and direct cytotoxicity assays were performed with equine infectious anemia virus-infected target cells, equine leukocytes, and equine anti-equine infectious anemia virus antibody to determine whether these mechanisms play a role in controlling viral replication in equine infectious anemia. Direct cytotoxicity was observed by using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 7 of 10 infected horses. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity was not observed. The antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity reaction in horses was then studied by using sheep eryth...
Immunochemical studies on beta-lactoglobulins. precipitin reactions of sow’s and mare’s mammary secretions against anti – bovine beta – lactoglobulin antiserum. By double diffusion in agarose gel, in well defined experimental conditions, cross reactions were observed between porcine beta-lactoglobulins and anti-bovine beta-lactoglobulin antisera. The immunological reactivity between these beta-lactoglobulins from a monogastric and the ruminant anti beta-lactoglobulin antiserum thus implies a certain degree of similarity between the monomeric beta-lactoglobulins examined and the dimeric of the ruminants. With the same antisera it also proved possible to demonstrate the presence of beta-lactoglobulins in the mammary secretions of another monogastric, na...
Prevalence of antibodies to equine viruses in the Netherlands. The prevalence of antibodies to various viruses was investigated in a series of serum samples collected from horses in the Netherlands between 1963 and 1966 and from 1972 onwards. Neutralizing antibodies to equine rhinopneumonitis virus, equine arteritis virus and to equine rhinovirus types 1 and 2 were detected in respectively 76%, 14%, 66% and 59% of the equine serum samples tested. The observed incidence of serum samples positive to equine adenovirus in the complement fixation test was 39%. Precipitating antibodies to equine infectious anaemia virus were detected only in serum samples from ...