Topic:Cholesterol
Cholesterol in horses is a lipid molecule found in the blood that plays a role in various physiological processes, including cell membrane structure and hormone synthesis. It is obtained from dietary sources and synthesized in the liver. Cholesterol levels in horses can be indicative of metabolic health and are influenced by factors such as diet, age, and activity level. Measuring cholesterol concentrations can assist in assessing the nutritional status and detecting metabolic disorders in equines. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the metabolism, regulation, and clinical implications of cholesterol in equine health.
Addition of cholesterol linked to cyclodextrin in processing of cryopreserved equine spermatozoa and addition of motility stimulants post-thaw. This study investigated the effects of cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrin (CLC) before cryopreservation and the use of FertTalp (FT) after thawing on the structural and functional quality of equine spermatozoa. Methods: Two ejaculates from twelve stallions were divided into four groups: G1 (0 mg CLC), G2 (1.0 mg), G3 (1.5 mg), and G4 (2.0 mg). Post-thaw semen quality was evaluated through computer-assisted sperm analysis and flow cytometry. Results: In Experiment I, supplementation with 1.5 mg (G3) significantly improved total motility (64.9 ± 10.1 %) and progressive motility (40.5 ± 8.8 %) com...
Impact of exercise frequency, race distance, age, and pregnancy stage on oxidative stress and lipid metabolism in purebred Arabian mares. Pregnancy causes increased oxidative stress in mares, possibly harming both the mare and the foal, whereas the effects of different exercise levels on oxidative stress and lipid metabolism during pregnancy remain unclear. Objective: For this reason, the aim of this research was to explore the impacts of different training intensities on oxidative stress and lipid metabolism during pregnancy. Methods: The study comprised 22 clinically normal Purebred Arabian mares from Algeria, which were divided into three groups according to age and exercise frequency. Blood samples were collected during both...
Optimising Stallion Semen Cryopreservation: Preliminary Insights Into Pre-Centrifugation Extender Effects. This study evaluated the effects of cholesterol, pentoxifylline and casein, with or without skim milk, added to extenders during pre-centrifugation on equine sperm cryosurvival. Seven ejaculates from four stallions (n = 28) were divided into four groups: SM (skim milk), SMP (SM + pentoxifylline), SMCho (SM + cholesterol) and ChoCa (cholesterol + casein). After centrifugation and freezing, sperm kinematics and plasma membrane integrity were assessed immediately and 30 min post-thaw. SMCho and ChoCa showed superior results compared with SM and SMP. These findings indicate that chol...
Equine Asthma Is Characterised by Severity-Dependent Correlations Between Blood Neutrophil Cholesterol Content and NET Formation. Equine asthma (EA) is the most prevalent chronic lung disease in horses. Neutrophils are the main effector cells in severe EA. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) have been described as contributors to severity in human asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Thus, we aimed to investigate if NET-related factors in equine neutrophils, blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) allow us to differentiate EA severities and to identify NET-related mechanistic insights in EA. We quantified NETs and NET-related factors in the blood and BALF of eight healthy horses and 18 horses with di...
Morphometric parameters, metabolic profile and musculoskeletal alterations in Criollo horses competing in the morphology trial. Obesity is common in some horse breeds, raising concerns about health and performance. Criollo horses in morphological events often undergo intensive management promoting early adiposity. Objective: This study aimed (1) to assess morphometric traits, metabolic profile, hoof morphology, and tarsal joint alterations in Criollo horses participating in morphological trials; (2) to evaluate sex-related differences; and (3) the associations between morphometric measurements, hoof morphology, and tarsal osteoarthritis grades. Methods: Fifty-five horses (30 mares, 25 stallions) were evaluated for body...
Human Adenovirus 36 Antibodies in Horses with Different Metabolic Statuses. This study investigated the presence of antibodies to human adenovirus type 36 (HAdV-D36) in horses with different metabolic statuses, including normal, overweight, and those diagnosed with equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). A total of 151 serum samples were tested, of which 47.6% were positive for anti-HAdV-D36 antibodies. Although the horses were confirmed to be susceptible to HAdV-D36 infection, there was no significant correlation between infection and blood glucose or cholesterol levels. However, the triglyceride levels showed significant differences-they were particularly elevated in the s...
Investigations on metabolic diseases of horses in Egypt. Obesity is a significant risk factor that predisposes horses to laminitis, equine metabolic syndrome, arthritis, heart disease, and respiratory issues. Unassigned: Mares showing overweight or laminitis ( = 30), different BCS ( = 90) weighing 350-550 Kg were subjected to clinical and rump fat assessments. Blood samples were collected to measure circulating estradiol, progesterone, cortisol, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and leptin. Additionally, glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, total proteins, albumin, nitric oxide (NO), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutathione redu...
Stress, lipid profile and inflammatory responses to flunixin meglumine administration in surgical and non-surgical castration in donkeys. Donkeys are in the Equidae family but have several differences from horses. There are many studies on the pathophysiology of pain and its clinical signs in horses, but data are limited for donkeys. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate biochemical effects of flunixin meglumine in donkeys subjected to pain induced by bloodless and surgical castration. Twenty healthy male donkeys were randomly divided into four groups: 1- Surgical castration with flunixin injection, 2- Surgical castration without flunixin injection, 3- Non-surgical castration with flunixin injection, and 4- Non-surgi...
Fluctuations of antimüllerian hormone, ovarian follicular reserve, and antioxidant status throughout the estrous cycle in aged mares. Senility influences fertility in women and companion animals, especially horses. Unassigned: This study aimed to investigate the effect of aging in horses on the daily changes in the dominant follicle (DF) dynamics and hemodynamics, antimüllerian hormone (AMH), enzymes, antioxidants, and ovarian hormones during the estrous cycle. Unassigned: Ovaries of old mares ( = 5, age >20 years) and young native mares ( = 6, age <10 years) were scanned during 6 different estrous cycles from March 2022 to August 2023 with Doppler ultrasound. The DF diameter and color area, the corpus luteum (CL) dia...
Effect of hCG and prostaglandin on ovarian, luteal development, and hormonal changes in embryo donor mares during the hot summer months in subtropics. Commercial embryo flushing of horses has required hormonal management of both the donor and recipient mares throughout the breeding season. Unassigned: This study aimed to find out the effect of using human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and prostaglandin F2α (PG) on the ovarian and uterine dynamics and hemodynamics, estradiol (E2), progesterone, oxidants-antioxidants, and blood biochemicals in embryo donor mares during the hottest months of the year in a subtropical climate. Unassigned: Three Control estrous cycles of native mares (10-20 years; = 10) followed by two treated cycles with hCG an...
Obesity and gestation in Criollo mares: endocrine and metabolic profiles. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of body condition score (BCS) on metabolic and endocrine parameters in pregnant Criollo mares (n=41), which were categorized according to their BCS as obese (7 to 9 BCS, n=26) or normal (5 to 7, n=15). Blood samples were taken during gestation in 3 periods: between 3.5 and 5 months (I), 8 and 9 months (II) and in the last month of gestation (III). The data was analyzed in the statistical model by mixed procedures, including BCS, gestational period and their interaction as fixed effects. BCS was only different in period I, as normal mares increa...
Effect of breeding season and age on follicular dynamics and hemodynamics in embryo donor mares subjected to luteolysis after embryo flushing. Mares are the only companion animals simulating women in the large diameter of their follicles. Horses start reproduction at the age of three years, and some of them live for >30 years, so aging influences their reproductive capacity. Mares are sensitive to summer heat stress as they can sweat like humans. Unassigned: The current work aimed to study the effects of age (young versus senile), season (cold versus hot), and the hormonal treatments during embryo collection on the dominant and subordinate follicular dynamics and hemodynamics and circulating ovarian hormones in embryo donor mares ...
Blood-based assessment of oxidative stress, inflammation, endocrine and metabolic adaptations in eventing horses accounting for plasma volume shift after exercise. After submaximal exercise, blood values of eventing horses show physiological reactions. This prospective longitudinal study investigated blood parameters in 20 elite eventing horses before and after two-four-star cross-country rides. Using a mixed model adjusting for plasma volume shift, we assessed exercise-dependent parameters and compared blood values with reference ranges for healthy horses at rest. Following exercise, cortisol, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) showed short-term increases, and superoxide-dismutase showed a small short-term increase. Hepatic values showed short-ter...
Characterization of preovulatory follicular fluid secretome and its effects on equine oocytes during in vitro maturation. In vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes is clinically used in horses to produce blastocysts but current conditions used for horses are suboptimal. We analyzed the composition of equine preovulatory follicular fluid (FF) secretome and tested its effects on meiotic competence and gene expression in oocytes subjected to IVM. Preovulatory FF was obtained, concentrated using ultrafiltration with cut-off of 10 kDa, and stored at -80 °C. The metabolic and proteomic composition was analyzed, and its ultrastructural composition was assessed by cryo-transmission microscopy. Oocytes obtained post-mortem ...
Short Road Transport and Slaughter Stress Affects the Expression Profile of Serotonin Receptors, Adrenocortical, and Hematochemical Responses in Horses. Horse transport is considered a cause of stress in animals and is known to affect the 5-HT concentrations in both the brain and other tissues. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of horse transportation and slaughter stress on plasma serotonin's concentration and the expression levels of the related 5-HT1B and 5-HT2A receptors in PBMCs. Furthermore, the IL-12 levels and a variety of blood parameters, including triglycerides, total cholesterol, glucose, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine phosphokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, were also considered. This research was carried o...
Pre-analytical stability of selected biochemical analytes in serum of horses and oxen stored at -20°C. Delays between blood collection and analysis are inevitable, and samples are always stored in the refrigerator. The current study aimed to evaluate the stability of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), total protein (TP), albumin and urea (URA) in horses and oxen after storage at -20°C. Methods: Sera from apparently healthy 20 male horses and 20 oxen were obtained and aliquots of serum were divided into 3 portions. The first tube was used for baseline (T0) measurement of analyte values, whereas the other two tubes, T1 and T2, were stored at -20°C for 1 and 2 months, respectively...
Transmission ratio distortion detection by neutral genetic markers in the Pura Raza Española horse breed. Transmission Ratio Distortion (TRD) is a genetic phenomenon widely demonstrated in several livestock species, but barely in equine species. The TRD occurs when certain genotypes are over- or under-represented in the offspring of a particular mating and can be caused by a variety of factors during gamete formation or during embryonic development. For this study, 126 394 trios consisting of a stallion, mare, and offspring were genotyped using a panel of 17 neutral microsatellite markers recommended by the International Society for Animal Genetics for paternity tests and individual identification...
Lipid metabolites, interleukin-6 and oxidative stress markers in follicular fluid and their association with serum concentrations in mares. The application of trans-vaginal ovum pick up (OPU) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is well established for commercial in vitro embryo production in horses. These assisted reproductive techniques are especially applied during the non-breeding season of the mare. However, little is known about how the health of the oocyte donor may affect the biochemical composition of the follicular fluid (FF) in small and medium-sized follicles routinely aspirated during OPU. This study aimed to investigate associations between systemic and FF concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6), total choleste...
Correlation between sphingomyelin and the membrane stability of mammalian erythrocytes. Lipid compositions of mammalian erythrocyte membranes are different among species. Therefore, the information on hemolysis from mammalian erythrocytes is useful to understand membrane properties of human erythrocytes. In this work, pressure-induced hemolysis and hypotonic one were examined using erythrocytes of human, sheep, cow, cat, dog, pig, horse, rat, and mouse. Pressure-induced hemolysis was suppressed by membrane sphingomyelin, whereas hypotonic hemolysis decreased upon increment of cell diameter. Mass spectra of erythrocyte membrane lipids demonstrated that sphingomyelin with an acyl c...
Comparison Between the Direct Method and Friedewald’s Formula for the Determination of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Serum Levels in Horses. This study aimed to compare the use of enzymatic colorimetry and Friedewald's formula for the determination of LDL in horses. A total of 260 samples were used. Direct analysis was performed to determine low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC). The LDL level was calculated using the Friedewald equation (LDL= TC-HDL-TG/5). The correlations between the direct LDL analysis and the LDL calculated using the Friedewald formula were determined by Pearson's tests, and the coefficient of determination was also obtained by ...
Donkey Milk: An Overview of its Chemical Composition and Main Nutritional Properties or Human Health Benefit Properties. The donkey milk has a remarkable similarity to human milk, in addition to its valuable nutritional composition and content of numerous immune factors. The donkey milk is the subject of research worldwide, and data from the literature suggest significant differences with respect to the contents of individual components. However, some basic characteristics of donkey milk have been established: low contents of fat and cholesterol, total proteins and casein and high contents of lactose, whey proteins, calcium, selenium, and Vitamin D3. The donkey milk is rich in various protective proteins (α-lac...
Evaluation of Shiitake Mushroom (Lentinula edodes) Supplementation on the Blood Parameters of Young Thoroughbred Racehorses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of shiitake mushroom () supplementation on the hematology and biochemical blood parameters of young Thoroughbred racehorses. The study was conducted with 20 horses divided into two groups: the supplemented and the control group. The supplemented group was given 30 g of daily for four months. One blood sample was collected four times from each horse at four-week intervals. The hematology analysis in the supplemented group showed a higher level of monocytes at day 56 when compared to the control group ( = 0.000986). Biochemical analysis showed th...
Kallikrein proteoforms and reproductive parameters in stallion are conditioned by climate. Horses are seasonal polyoestrous animals, and the photoperiod is the main factor modulating their reproductive activity. There is no consensus on the andrological and biochemical factors that influence breeding seasonality. To assess the involvement of climate in reproduction, Mangalarga Marchador stallions were monitored over 1 year regarding semen quality and seminal plasma proteome. Here, we show that kallikrein (KLKs) proteoforms in seminal plasma are involved in climate conditioning of reproduction. During the breeding season, greater abundance and different types of KLKs occurred simult...
Particle Size Distribution of Plasma Lipoproteins in Donkeys from Death Valley Compared to a Sampling of Horses. The clinical evaluation of lipid metabolism in equids is often limited to the measurement of total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. This provides a limited picture of metabolic state and general health, given the continuous exchange of lipid species between various lipoproteins. Major lipoprotein classes in equids include high-density lipoprotein (HDL), intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and chylomicrons (CM). Unlike large breed horses, donkeys are highly susceptible to hepatic lipidosis. Currently, serum trig...
Effect of cholestanol and cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrin on stallion sperm function and capacitation post-cryopreservation. Cryopreservation of stallion semen is less efficient than other species such as bovine. This is mainly because of the greater susceptibility of stallion sperm to the freezing damage that generates oxidative stress and plasma membrane injury, resulting in DNA fragmentation and cell death. These data suggest the need to develop new strategies of sperm cryopreservation that can improve the efficiency of this technique in stallions by reducing or preventing membrane damage and cell death. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of adding membrane stabilizers to the freezing medium and asses...
Effects of Bromocriptine on Glucose and Insulin Dynamics in Normal and Insulin Dysregulated Horses. The objectives of the study were to study the effects of the synthetic ergot alkaloid (EA), bromocriptine, on glucose and lipid metabolism in insulin dysregulated (ID, n = 7) and non-ID (n = 8) mares. Horses were individually housed and fed timothy grass hay and two daily concentrate meals so that the total diet provided 120% of daily DE requirements for maintenance. All horses were given intramuscular bromocriptine injections (0.1 mg/kg BW) every 3 days for 14 days. Before and after 14 days of treatment horses underwent a combined glucose-insulin tolerance test (CGIT) to assess insulin sensit...
Successful Pregnancy Outcome in Mares: The Potential Role of Body Conditional Score, Age and Biochemical Parameter’s Adjustments. The objective of this research was to evaluate the changes in body condition score (BCS), age and the main biochemical parameters in pregnant Spanish Purebred mares. A total of 45 pregnant Spanish broodmares has been studied, classified in three different groups: group A (n = 15), aging 14-18 years old and BCS lower than 4 of 10, group B (n = 15), with ages of 4 to 8 years and a BCS of 5-6/10, and group C (n = 15), aging between 6 and 11 years and a BCS of 8 of 10. Three pregnancy periods were considered: the 1st period, from the 1st to the 3rd, the 2nd from the 4th to the 6th, and the l...
Case-control exercise challenge study on the pathogenesis of high serum gamma-glutamyl transferase activity in racehorses. High serum γ-glutamyl-transferase (GGT) activity syndrome in racehorses has been associated with maladaption to exercise. Investigation of affected horses before and immediately after standard exercise may provide critical insight into the syndrome's pathophysiology. Objective: To investigate blood biomarker changes in actively competing racehorses with high GGT activity associated with an exercise challenge. Methods: Case-control study. Methods: High GGT case (age: 2-3 years) and normal GGT control (age: 2-7 years) pairs (3 Thoroughbred, 4 Standardbred pairs) at least 3 months into thei...
Use of biochemical and protein profiles of seminal plasma to prediction of semen quality and fertility in stallions. The identification of various substances in seminal plasma has opened the way to study their functionality. It was aimed to identify the electrophoretic protein profile (EPP) and biochemical parameters (BP) of seminal plasma (SP) as predictors of semen quality and fertility in stallion. Forty-six ejaculates from 7 fertile stallions, aged between 6-26 years, were collected from May to July and 117 mares were used to obtain fertility data. For each ejaculate, volume, sperm motility, concentration were determined and seminal plasma samples were collected to perform one- -dimensional electrophores...
Microbiota, Phagocytic Activity, Biochemical Parameters and Parasite Control in Horses with Application of Autochthonous, Bacteriocin-Producing, Probiotic Strain Enterococcus faecium EF 412. The beneficial influence of bacteriocin-producing, probiotic, mostly non-autochthonous bacteria has already been reported in various animals. However, their use in horses provides limited information, and results with autochthonous bacteria have not been reported. Therefore, the main objective of this model study was to test the effect of autochthonous, bacteriocin-producing faecal strain Enterococcus faecium EF 412 application in horses. One gram of freeze-dried EF 412 strain (10 CFU/mL for 21 days) was applied to horses in a small feed ball. Clinically healthy horses (12), Slovak warm-blood ...