Correlation analysis involves the statistical examination of relationships between variables to determine whether and how strongly they are associated. In equine research, correlation analysis is often used to explore the relationships between various physiological, behavioral, and environmental factors affecting horses. This method helps identify potential associations between variables such as diet, exercise, genetic markers, and health outcomes. By examining these relationships, researchers can gain insights into complex interactions and contribute to the understanding of equine biology and management. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that focus on the application of correlation analysis in the context of equine science, highlighting its role in identifying patterns and informing decision-making in horse care and management.
Rochais C, Fureix C, Lesimple C, Hausberger M.Chronic pain is thought to affect patients' cognitive functioning, including attention. Loss of attention is likely to have an impact on the execution of daily tasks, and, therefore, to have negative effects. However, relationships between chronic pain and cognitive deficits are still debated. Pre-clinical studies using laboratory animals prove useful to model pain-related cognitive impairment, but animal models had to predict effects in the real world. This study investigates attentional engagement of domestic horses by comparing observations in a home setting and evaluations of vertebral dis...
Irvine KL, Burt K, Hill AJ, Shaw S, Papasouliotis K.Equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) may be diagnosed by measuring baseline plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). The Immulite 1000 analyzer uses an automated chemiluminescence enzyme assay, previously validated for measuring equine ACTH. Recently, an automated bench-top immunoassay analyzer (AIA-360), designed for analytes in people, became available for veterinary use. Objective: Objectives were to evaluate analytic performance of the AIA immunoassay for measuring equine ACTH, and compare the results with those obtained by the Immulite. Methods: Adrenocorticotrophic horm...
Brogan PT, Henning H, Stout TA, de Ruijter-Villani M.Colour-flow Doppler sonography has been described as a means of assessing corpus luteum (CL) function rapidly, because area of luteal blood vessels correlates well with circulating progesterone (P4) concentrations [P4] in oestrous cycling mares. The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between CL size and vascularity, and circulating [P4] during early pregnancy in mares, and to determine whether luteal blood flow was a useful aid for selecting an embryo transfer recipient. Equine embryos (n=48) were recovered 8 days after ovulation and were transferred to available recipient mares...
Bauquier JR, Forbes G, Nath L, Tudor E, Bailey SR.Acute gastrointestinal disease occurs commonly in horses. Novel biomarkers might improve the understanding of SIRS and aid diagnosis and determination of prognosis. Objective: Increased plasma concentrations of the biomarkers HMGB-1 and nucleosomes are associated with severity of gastrointestinal lesions in horses; concentrations of these biomarkers will be greater in horses with lesions more likely to cause SIRS; and will provide additional information compared with standard biomarkers fibrinogen and SAA. Methods: Thirty horses with gastrointestinal disease, 22 healthy horses. Methods: Prospe...
Wysocka B, Kluciński W.The aim of the present study was to compare the grade of discharge accumulation in the tracheal lumen, area of tracheal bifurcation, main bronchi and the tracheal septum thickness with the cytology of the tracheal aspirate (TA) and broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in horses with recurrent airways obstruction and inflammatory airway disease from those horses. This study was conducted on 96 horses with RAO, 139 horses with IAD and 10 control horses. In all the horses, both clinical and endoscopic examinations were performed. During endoscopy, a score of mucus accumulation was estimated in 3/...
Arfuso F, Giannetto C, Giudice E, Fazio F, Piccione G.The effect of exercise on platelet aggregation, albumin and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs) values and the correlation among these parameters were evaluated in ten clinically healthy and regularly trained Thoroughbred horses. All horses were subjected to two simulated races. Blood samples were collected by jugular venipuncture before and after the first simulated race (T0PRE and T0POST), every 7 days at rest condition for a month (T1R-T2R-T3R), and before and after the second simulated race (T4PRE and T4POST) in order to assess platelet aggregation, albumin and nonesterified fatty acids (NEF...
Wylie CE, Shaw DJ, Fordyce FM, Lilly A, Pirie RS, McGorum BC.We hypothesised that the apparent geographical distribution of equine grass sickness (EGS) is partly attributable to suboptimal levels of soil macro- and trace elements in fields where EGS occurs. If proven, altering levels of particular elements could be used to reduce the risk of EGS. Objective: To determine whether the geographical distribution of EGS cases in eastern Scotland is associated with the presence or absence of particular environmental chemical elements. Methods: Retrospective time-matched case-control study. Methods: This study used data for 455 geo-referenced EGS cases and 910 ...
Kaczmarek A, Nowak A, Leszczynski P.An increased occurrence of lifestyle-related diseases such as osteoporosis indicates the necessity for taking preventive action, including regularly engaging in physical activity. The aim of the study was to assess the areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and bone turnover markers levels in young adult women engaging in recreational horseback riding and to determine the relationship between training characteristics and bone metabolism indices. The study involved 43 women: 23 equestrians and 20 age- and body mass index-matched controls. The hip and spine aBMD and serum levels of the bone turnover ...
Brudvig JM, Swenson CL.Rapid and precise measurement of total and differential nucleated cell counts is a crucial diagnostic component of cavitary and synovial fluid analyses. Objective: The objectives of this study included (1) evaluation of reliability and precision of canine and equine fluid total nucleated cell count (TNCC) determined by the benchtop Abaxis VetScan HM5, in comparison with the automated reference instruments ADVIA 120 and the scil Vet abc, respectively, and (2) comparison of automated with manual canine differential nucleated cell counts. Methods: The TNCC and differential counts in canine pleura...
Bamford NJ, Baskerville CL, Harris PA, Bailey SR.The enteroinsular axis is a complex system that includes the release of incretin hormones from the gut to promote the absorption and utilization of glucose after a meal. The insulinogenic effect of incretin hormones such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) remains poorly characterized in the horse. The aim of this study was to compare postprandial glucose, insulin, and GLP-1 responses of different equine breeds adapted to twice-daily meals containing micronized maize. Four Standardbred horses, 4 mixed-breed ponies, and 4 Andalusian cross horses in moderate BCS (5.5 ± 0.2 out of 9) were fed mea...
Casella S, Vazzana I, Giudice E, Fazio F, Piccione G.The changes of cortisol, red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and rectal temperature (RT) were evaluated after a reining training session in eight Quarter Horses. All parameters were measured before exercise (T0), immediately after exercise (T1), 1 h after exercise (T2), 2 h after exercise (T3) and 24 h after exercise (T4). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures, followed Bonferroni's post hoc test, showed a significant effect of the reining training session (P < 0.0001) on cortisol, RBC, Hb, Hct, HR, RR and RT. Si...
Cooley SD, Scrivani PV, Thompson MS, Irby NL, Divers TJ, Erb HN.Early diagnosis of high intracranial pressure (ICP) is critical for minimizing progressive brain injury due to reduced cerebral perfusion. In people, detecting enlargement of the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) by transpalpebral ultrasonography has been found to be an accurate test for high ICP. Aims of this prospective, observational, cross-sectional study were to test hypotheses that (1) ultrasonographic measurement of ONSD would be repeatable in horses, (2) have acceptable interobserver agreement, and (3) would be correlated with age and body weight. The sample population included 48 hor...
Tucker R, Jacklin BD, Gillespie S, Vaughan L, Fiske-Jackson AR, Smith RK.Injury to the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) is common in equids, with a high risk of re-injury associated with changes in tendon stiffness. In vivo measurement of limb stiffness has been shown to correlate with tendon stiffness after injury [1] but requires kinematic analysis which is impractical in a clinical setting. We have developed a simple system for measuring limb stiffness statically, which could be used as a tool for monitoring SDFT healing. Objective: To validate a goniometric measurement of limb stiffness. Methods: Cross sectional study. Methods: Initially, forelimb stiff...
Colborne GR, Routh JE, Weir KR, McKendry JE, Busschers E.To determine the frontal plane position of the ground reaction force vector at its centre of pressure under the hoof of walking horses, and its projection through the distal limb joints, and to relate this to hoof geometric measurements. Methods: Reflective markers were glued to the forelimb hooves and skin of 26 horses, over palpable landmarks representing centres of the coffin, fetlock and carpal joints, and the dorsal toe at its most distal point. A 4-camera kinematic system recorded the position of these markers as the horse walked in hand across a force platform, to generate a frontal pla...
Stachurska A, Robovský J, Bocian K, Janczarek I.Changes in the coat cover are important for mammalian thermoregulation. This is especially true where variable environmental conditions exist throughout the seasons. Coat cover shedding is the replacement of old coat hair with new hair. The process differs in various equids. The aim of the study was to examine the changes in the coat of primitive Polish Konik horses living on a reserve in southeast Poland (50.6319° N). The reserve is located in a temperate climate. The mean temperature is below 0°C in winter (December 8 to March 9) and over 15°C in summer (June 8 to September 8). Five adult...
Rovere G, Madsen P, Norberg E, van Arendonk JA, Ducro BJ.Recent studies on data from the Dutch Warmblood Studbook (KWPN) have shown that the ongoing specialization of horses for either dressage (DH) or show jumping (JH) has led to a decreasing genetic relationship between the two subpopulations. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the specialization process on the genetic parameters of traits measured in the studbook-entry inspection of KWPN during the last fifteen years. Data from 18,125 DH and 23,800 JH recorded from 1998 until 2013 were used to analyse 13 traits scored in both DH and JH. Analyses were performed in a Bayesian framew...
Lin X, Zhou S, Wen L, Davie A, Yao X, Liu W, Zhang Y.Many studies have focused on identifying the genes or single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the athletic ability of thoroughbreds, but few have considered differences in maternal and paternal heritability of athletic ability. Herein, we report on our association study of career race performances of 675 Australian thoroughbreds with their pedigrees. Racing performance data (prize money per start) were collected from the Bloodhound database. The performance of all horses was categorised as either poor or elite athletic achievement. Then, 675 foals were divided by their parents' perform...
Briganti A, Portela DA, Grasso S, Sgorbini M, Tayari H, Bassini JR, Vitale V, Romano MS, Crovace A, Breghi G, Staffieri F.The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation of commonly used oxygenation indices with venous admixture (Qs/Qt) in anaesthetised horses under different infusion rates of dobutamine. Six female horses were anaesthetised with acepromazine, xylazine, diazepam, ketamine, and isoflurane, and then intubated and mechanically ventilated with 100% O2. A Swan-Ganz catheter was introduced into the left jugular vein and its tip advanced into the pulmonary artery. Horses received different standardised rates of dobutamine. For each horse, eight samples of arterial and mixed venous blood were simul...
Giraldo CE, Álvarez ME, Carmona JU.There is a lack information on the effects of the most commonly used anticoagulants for equine platelet rich plasmas (PRPs) elaboration on cell counts and growth factor release from platelet rich gels (PRGs). The aims of this study were 1) to compare the effects of the anticoagulants sodium citrate (SC), acid citrate dextrose solution A (ACD-A) and ACD-B on platelet (PLT), leukocyte (WBC) and on some parameters associated to platelet activation including mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) between whole blood, pure PRP (P-PRP) and platelet-poor plasma (PPP); 2) to ...
Maliye S, Voute LC, Marshall JF.This study aimed to quantify the compensatory response to naturally-occurring forelimb lameness on load redistribution. Data from lameness investigations using an inertial sensor based system to monitor the response to forelimb diagnostic anaesthesia were reviewed. Horses with primary forelimb lameness were grouped for analysis as (1) all horses combined (n= 28), (2) forelimb-only lameness (n= 8/28), (3) forelimb-contralateral hindlimb lameness (n= 14/28), (4) forelimb-ipsilateral hindlimb lameness (n= 6/28). The effect of diagnostic anaesthesia on measures of head and pelvic movement ...
de Zani D, Polidori C, di Giancamillo M, Zani DD.There are few studies on the correlations between radiographic measurements of the foot and abnormalities of specific structures found with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Objective: To document the relationship between radiographic measurements of the equine foot and the presence of lesions in the foot on MRI. We hypothesised that different radiographic measurements would be associated with specific lesions detected by MRI. Methods: Retrospective analysis of radiographs and MRI studies. Methods: Seventy-four feet from 52 lame horses were included. Twenty parameters were measured on radiogra...
Viklund Å, Furre S, Eriksson S, Vangen O, Philipsson J.Breeding programmes for warmblood sport horses are similar in the Nordic countries Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, and stallions of same origin are used. The aim was to investigate whether a joint Nordic genetic evaluation based on lifetime competition performance is feasible and beneficial for breeding competitive sport horses in the Nordic countries. Results for almost 45,000 horses in show jumping and 30,000 horses in dressage were available. The larger populations in Sweden and Denmark contributed with 85% of the results. Heritabilities and genetic correlations between performances in...
Sprackman L, Dakin SG, May SA, Weller R.Osteoarthritis (OA) of the low motion joints of the tarsus, commonly termed 'bone spavin', is common in horses. Whilst the aetiology of this condition is multifactorial, it has been suggested that dorsal wedging of the central tarsal bone (CTB) and third tarsal bone (TTB) may predispose to the development of this disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between tarsal bone conformation and osteoarthritis of the proximal intertarsal (PIT), distal intertarsal (DIT) and tarsometatarsal (TMT) joints. It was hypothesised that wedging of the CTB and TTB would be associated ...
Oldenhof H, Heutelbeck A, Blässe AK, Bollwein H, Martinsson G, Wolkers WF, Sieme H.The aim of this study was to evaluate inter-individual variability in osmotic properties of stallion spermatozoa and its correlation with cryosurvival. In addition, temperature dependency of hypo-osmotic tolerance and membrane fluidity were studied. Stallion sperm membranes exhibited good resistance towards hypotonic stress in the 15-30 °C temperature range, whereas membrane stability was found to be decreased at 4 and 37 °C. Bull spermatozoa showed greater hypo-osmotic tolerance compared with stallion spermatozoa, especially at temperatures above 30 °C, which coincided with decreased membr...
Janczarek I, Wilk I, Zalewska E, Bocian K.The aim of this paper was to select atmospheric factors and their values, which may disrupt the correct behavior and physiological condition of recreational horses. The studies were carried out from 1 July until 1 September on 16 Anglo-Arabian geldings. Each day, from 09.00 to 10.00 hours, the horses worked under saddle. The riders and the authors gave a qualitative behavioral assessment for each horse. Mood and willingness to work were evaluated. The quantitative assessment was called 'incorrect behavior of the horse while riding' (IBHR). The percentage time of duration and the number of occu...
Claes A, Ball BA, Scoggin KE, Esteller-Vico A, Kalmar JJ, Conley AJ, Squires EL, Troedsson MH.Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a granulosa-cell-derived glycoprotein, which plays an important inhibitory role during folliculogenesis. Concentrations of AMH are highly correlated with antral follicle counts (AFCs) in other species, which in turn are related to follicular reserve. Relatively little is known about AMH and AFC in the mare. Objective: To determine plasma AMH concentrations and AFCs in mares of different ages, to measure the repeatability of AMH concentrations and AFCs within and across oestrous cycles and to assess the relationship between plasma AMH concentrations and AFCs wit...
Schork IG, Young RJ.The welfare of an individual depends on its capacity to overcome suboptimal conditions in its environment; otherwise, its physical and psychological health becomes compromised. A situation that clearly indicates lack of control of the environment is the expression of abnormal behaviours, such as stereotypies. This study aimed to verify the well-being of police horses using a new rapid form of welfare assessment: an archaeological approach. To this end, we sampled and quantified marks found on the stables, deposited as a result of abnormal behaviour. We cross-referenced these physical marks wit...
Burd MA, Craig JJ, Craig MF.Digital radiographs are often used to subjectively assess the equine digit. Recently, quantitative and objective radiographic measurements have been reported that give new insight into the form and function of the equine digit. We investigated a radio-dense curvilinear profile along the distal phalanx on lateral radiographs we term the Palmar Curve (PC) that we believe provides a measurement of the concavity of the distal phalanx of the horse. A second quantitative measurement, the Palmar Metric (PM) was defined as the percent area under the PC. We correlated the PM and age from 544 radiograph...
Spaas J, Helsen WF, Adriaenssens M, Broeckx S, Duchateau L, Spaas JH.There is general agreement that horses have dichromatic colour vision with similar capabilities to human beings with red-green colour deficiencies. However, whether colour perception has an impact on equine jumping performance and how pronounced the colour stimulus might be for a horse is unknown. The present study investigated the relationship between the colour of the fences (blue or green) and the show jumping performance of 20 horses ridden by two riders using an indoor and outdoor set of green and blue fences. In the indoor arena, significantly more touches and faults were made on blue fe...
Wnuk M, Lewinska A, Oklejewicz B, Bartosz G, Tischner M, Bugno-Poniewierska M.Antioxidant status of seminal plasma from 23 stallions was evaluated. We found a negative correlation between total antioxidant capacity (ABTS(•+) decolorization assay) and thiol content of seminal plasma, and sperm DNA damage (8-oxoG immunostaining, TUNEL reaction, comet assay). Low seminal redox status was the strongest correlated with 8-oxoG level which may indicate that seminal total antioxidant capacity influences mainly the formation of single strand DNA breaks in sperm cells. Since inter-individual differences in seminal antioxidant status were reported, we postulated that the redox s...
Casella S, Vazzana I, Giudice E, Fazio F, Piccione G.The changes of cortisol, red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and rectal temperature (RT) were evaluated after a reining training session in eight Quarter Horses. All parameters were measured before exercise (T0), immediately after exercise (T1), 1 h after exercise (T2), 2 h after exercise (T3) and 24 h after exercise (T4). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures, followed Bonferroni's post hoc test, showed a significant effect of the reining training session (P < 0.0001) on cortisol, RBC, Hb, Hct, HR, RR and RT. Si...
Sgorbini M, Bonelli F, Percacini G, Pasquini A, Rota A.Our aim was to measure the concentrations of derived reactive oxygen metabolite (d-ROMs) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) of donkey mares and foals at delivery and to verify the protective role of the placenta against fetal oxidative stress. A total of 15 Amiata jennies with a physiological gestation length and delivery were included together with 17 foals (two twin foalings). After delivery, maternal and foal venous blood samples were collected along with blood from the artery. Circulating lactate and plasma d-ROMs and BAP were evaluated. The Wilcoxon test for paired data was applie...
Collins N, Milne E, Hahn C, Dixon P.The establishment of a single validated endoscopic laryngeal grading system for assessing recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) is desirable to facilitate direct comparisons between the findings of different clinical and research groups worldwide. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between the Havemeyer endoscopic laryngeal grading system and histopathological changes consistent with RLN in the left cricoarytenoideus dorsalis (CAD) muscle of horses of different breeds with a full range of clinical severities of RLN, i.e., from normal endoscopic laryngeal function to comp...
Davidson AJ, Hodgkinson JE, Proudman CJ, Matthews JB.To investigate cytokine responses in cyathostomin infection, we quantified mucosal interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-10 (IL-10), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interferon (IFN)-gamma by reverse transcriptase-competitive polymerase chain reaction. The analysis was performed on large intestinal wall samples obtained from six anatomical sites spanning the caecum and colon of 17 naturally exposed horses. The numbers of developing larvae (DL) and early third stage larvae (EL3) were ascertained using transmural illumination and pepsin digestion techniques, respectively. Levels of each cytoki...
Allen BV.The influence of plasma proteins on erythrocyte aggregation was studied in a population of young thoroughbred racehorses, using the 60 minute erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) with and without haematocrit standardisation. The ESR was correlated inversely with the haematocrit, but directly with fibrinogen, plasma viscosity and serum total globulins. When ESR values were standardised to a common haematocrit the correlation coefficients for the same plasma protein factors were increased. Albumin levels showed a strong direct relationship with haematocrit which accounted for the inverse correla...
Al-Kass Z, Ntallaris T, Morrell JM, Johannisson A.Although previous studies have examined the relationship between the sperm DNA fragmentation index and fertility in stallions, other aspects of chromatin structure or packaging and fertility have not been explored. In the present study, relationships between fertility and DNA fragmentation index, protamine deficiency, total thiols, free thiols and disulfide bonds in stallion spermatozoa were investigated. Ejaculates (n = 36) were collected from 12 stallions and extended to prepare semen doses for insemination. One dose from each ejaculate was sent to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sc...
Silver M, Fowden AL, Knox J, Ousey J, Cash R, Rossdale PD.Pre- and post partum changes in plasma T3 have been examined in relation to plasma cortisol in 23 newborn foals (12 full term, 6 premature and 5 'twilight'), and in 5 fetuses catheterized in late gestation. Blood samples were collected daily from the fetuses and from the neonates at 30-min intervals for 2 h after birth; the plasma was assayed for T3 and cortisol by standard radioimmunoassay methods. In the full-term foals, plasma cortisol and T3 concentrations were high at birth (67.4 +/- 6.1 and 4.3 +/- 0.3 ng/ml respectively) and rose to a maximum during the following 2-h period to 141.0 +/-...
Dhakal P, Tsunoda N, Nakai R, Nagaoka K, Nambo Y, Sato F, Taniyama H, Taya K.The aim of present study was to clarify the post-natal profile of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), immunoreactive (ir)-inhibin, progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol-17β, and their relationships in Thoroughbred colts. Six hundred and thirty-six colts were used for the study. Single plasma samples from each animal were harvested from the blood drawn through jugular venipuncture. The subjects were born with high amounts of progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol-17β, all of which dropped significantly and remained at lower levels till the end of 6 months. FSH...
Portier KG, Séna A, Senior M, Clutton RE.To examine the association between objective and subjective descriptors used for assessing recovery quality in horses after anaesthesia. Methods: Prospective clinical study. Methods: Two hundred and seventy-six equids (110 mares, 85 entire males and 81 geldings), ASA 1-5, weighing 50-850 kg and aged 1 month - 25 years. Methods: Recoveries after general anaesthesia were assisted with head and tail ropes by two anaesthetists. One scored dichotomous objective descriptors (DOD) of recovery. Two dichotomous objective scales (DOS) were then generated from those descriptors. The same individual also ...
Schipke J, Mayhew TM, Mühlfeld C.Body mass (BM) of terrestrial mammalian species ranges from a few grams in the case of the Etruscan shrew to a few tonnes for an elephant. The mass-specific metabolic rate, as well as heart rate, decrease with increasing BM, whereas heart mass is proportional to BM. In the present study, we investigated the scaling behaviour of several compartments of the left ventricular myocardium, notably its innervation, capillaries and cardiomyocytes. Myocardial samples were taken from 10 mammalian species with BM between approximately 2 g and 900 kg. Samples were analysed by design-based stereology and e...
Perdomo-González DI, García de Paredes RLA, Valera M, Bartolomé E, Gómez MD.The studbook of Pura Raza Menorquina horses only permits the use of black-coated animals with a small quantity of white marks as breeding stock. Its breeding program uses linear morpho-functional traits as selection criteria. Our aim was to estimate the genetic parameters of linear morpho-functional traits, and reveal relationship of quality of black coat color (QB) and percentage of white marks (WM) with the other morphological and functional linear traits in this breed. A total of 46 linear traits were scored by four appraisers using seven classes, with a total of 772 records from 333 animal...
Bailey MT, Troedsson MH, Wheato JE.The hormone-producing equine granulosa cell tumor (GCT) may secrete high levels of inhibin. Measurement of inhibin concentrations may be useful in the diagnosis and conformation of mares with GCT. Inhibin may be measured using RIA, which recognizes dimeric alphabetaA-inhibin as well as the monomeric (free) inhibin alpha-subunit, or using a two-site immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) specific for alphabetaA-inhibin. The objective of this study was to examine concurrent relationships among alpha-inhibin (as measured using RIA), alphabetaA-inhibin (as measured using IRMA), and other hormones (testost...
Dunkel B, Mason CJ, Chang YM.A recent study described increased l-lactate concentrations in ponies with gastrointestinal disease compared to horses, but blood glucose (BG) concentrations were not considered. The study tested the hypothesis that BG and l-lactate concentrations are correlated in horses and ponies with gastrointestinal disease and that BG concentrations, not equid type (pony vs horse), are an independent predictor of L-lactate concentrations. It was further hypothesized that equid type was an independent predictor of BG concentrations. Methods: Retrospective study 2008-2016. Methods: University teaching hosp...
Pearson W, Wood K, Stanley S, MacNicol J.Obesity is associated with inflammatory disorders in humans, including degenerative joint disease. While obesity is endemic in horses, its relationship to equine degenerative joint disease has not been explored. The current study sought to describe relationships between: body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), lameness grade (AAEP), total body fat mass (kg; FM) and fat per cent (FP) [multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (mfBIA)], age, gender, activity level (AL), synovial fluid (SF) and plasma (PL) PGE and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) in horses. During this field investigation, the...
Kellon EM, Gustafson KM.Hyperinsulinemia associated with equine metabolic syndrome and pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction is a risk factor for laminitis. Research in other species has shown elevated body iron levels as both a predictor and consequence of insulin resistance. In humans, this is known as dysmetabolic hyperferritinemia. To explore the relationship between equine hyperinsulinemia and body iron levels. We reviewed case histories and laboratory results from an open access database maintained by the Equine Cushing's and Insulin Resistance Group Inc. (ECIR). We identified 33 horses with confirmed hyperinsu...
Rovere G, Madsen P, Norberg E, van Arendonk JA, Ducro BJ.Recent studies on data from the Dutch Warmblood Studbook (KWPN) have shown that the ongoing specialization of horses for either dressage (DH) or show jumping (JH) has led to a decreasing genetic relationship between the two subpopulations. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the specialization process on the genetic parameters of traits measured in the studbook-entry inspection of KWPN during the last fifteen years. Data from 18,125 DH and 23,800 JH recorded from 1998 until 2013 were used to analyse 13 traits scored in both DH and JH. Analyses were performed in a Bayesian framew...
Bienzle D, Jacobs RM, Lumsden JH.A retrospective study was performed in order to assess the relationship between serum calcium and serum albumin concentrations in domestic animals. Results of 9041 canine, 1564 feline, 2917 equine, and 613 bovine serum samples from hospitalized patients were examined by regression analysis. Subpopulations of cases with concurrent elevations in creatinine or that were less than six months of age were evaluated separately. Statistically significant linear relationships between calcium and albumin concentrations were established for each species (p <0.05). The coefficients of determination (r(...
Jacob JC, Gastal EL, Gastal MO, Carvalho GR, Beg MA, Ginther OJ.Data were collected daily from 23 mares during two consecutive interovulatory intervals (IOIs). Several significant (p < 0.05) new observations on temporal relationships were made. The FSH increase that begins before ovulation temporarily plateaued on the day of discharge of follicular fluid into the peritoneal cavity in association with ovulation. During the declining portion of the pre-ovulatory oestradiol surge, an abrupt reduction in the rate of decrease occurred in synchrony with the peak of the LH surge and is consistent with a negative effect of LH on oestradiol. Repeatability within...
Momozawa Y, Terada M, Sato F, Kikusui T, Takeuchi Y, Kusunose R, Mori Y.The aim of the study was to determine parameters reflecting equine anxiety trait by comparing results obtained in a behavior test and an anxiety score assessed by familiar caretakers in response to a questionnaire. In the behavior test, horses were individually led into a novel room by their caretakers and loosely tethered to decrease excessive movement using the common cross-tying technique with two leads and breakable plastic cords. The horses initially remained with their caretaker for 2 min; the caretaker then left and the subject animal was left alone for 2 min. The latency to break the p...
Huang L, Palmieri C, Bertin FR.Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) is an endocrinopathy commonly affecting old horses. It is a spontaneously occurring, progressive disease that is still poorly understood. Previous studies have observed neurodegeneration of the dopaminergic inhibition of melanotrophs, which leads to decreased dopamine (DA) in the pars intermedia (PI) and increased pro-opiomelanocortin-derived peptides circulating in plasma. However, rats knockout for the dopamine D2 receptor (D2r) similarly develop PI hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Thus, based on the current pathophysiological theory of PPID, whether ...
Thompson DL, Garza F, St George RL, Rabb MH, Barry BE, French DD.Thirty-five ovariectomized pony mares were used to study the relationships among luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and prolactin (PRL) concentrations in blood (secretion), in pituitary (storage) and in blood after secretagogue administration, as well as the content of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) in hypothalamic areas, under various conditions of steroidal and nonsteroidal treatment. Five mares each were treated daily for 21 d with vegetable shortening (controls), testosterone (T; 150 micrograms/kg of body weight, BW), dihydrotestosterone (DHT; 150 microgram...
Fazio F, Aragona F, Piccione G, Arfuso F, Giannetto C.Lithium (Li) represent a substance particularly used for human psychiatric disorders but its therapeutic effect is not well documented for equine specie. For its neurotrophic effect, it may be used as a possible doping substance in horses sports competitions. The purpose of the present study was to determine the different bioaccumulation of lithium concentrations in different biological substrates (blood, serum, mane, and tail), in 30 horses (15 geldings and 15 mares) and hematological parameters as blood biomarkers for lithium bioaccumulation. (RBC, WBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC). The lithium...
Bayless RL, Moore AR, Hassel DM, Byer BJ, Landolt GA, Nout-Lomas YS.Detection of equine acute kidney injury (AKI) is hindered by limited markers of early renal damage in horses. N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), a lysosomal enzyme in renal tubular epithelium released into urine during tubular insult, has shown promise for early identification of AKI in humans and other species. We validated an assay for NAG in equine urine and measured urinary NAG in 7 azotemic and 7 non-azotemic client-owned adult horses. The enzymatic NAG assay was validated using within- and between-run coefficients of variation (CVs), recovery following standard addition, and linearity ...
De Keyser K, Janssens S, Peeters LM, Foqué N, Gasthuys F, Oosterlinck M, Buys N.Genetic parameters for chronic progressive lymphedema (CPL)-associated traits in Belgian Draught Horses were estimated, using a multitrait animal model. Clinical scores of CPL in the four limbs/horse (CPLclin ), skinfold thickness and hair samples (hair diameter) were studied. Due to CPLclin uncertainty in younger horses (progressive CPL character), a restricted data set (D_3+) was formed, excluding records from horses under 3 years from the complete data set (D_full). Age, gender, coat colour and limb hair pigmentation were included as fixed, permanent environment and date of recording as ra...
Lohmann KL, Roussel AJ, Cohen ND, Boothe DM, Rakestraw PC, Walker MA.To evaluate the correlation between halftime of liquid-phase gastric emptying (T50), determined with nuclear scintigraphy using technetium Tc 99m pentetate, and absorption variables of orally administered acetaminophen. Methods: 6 mature horses. Methods: Technetium Tc 99m pentetate (10 mCi) and acetaminophen (20 mg/kg of body weight) were administered simultaneously in 200 ml of water. Serial left and right lateral images of the stomach region were obtained with a gamma camera, and T50 determined separately for counts obtained from the left side, the right side and the geometric mean. Power ex...
Scilimati N, Beccati F, Dall'Aglio C, Di Meo A, Pepe M.To provide a postmortem description of anatomic variations and changes of the lumbosacroiliac region in horses. The authors hypothesized that lesion severity would increase with age and body weight and correlate to anatomic variations. Lumbosacroiliac vertebral specimens from 38 horses (mean age, 16 years; range, 5 to 30 years) that died or were euthanized for reasons unrelated to the study between November 2019 and October 2021. The lumbosacroiliac region of the vertebral column was removed from each cadaver. After dissection, disarticulation, and boiling, the anatomic specimens were examined...
Aragona F, Cicero N, Nava V, Piccione G, Giannetto C, Fazio F.Biological monitoring of trace element horses is a well-known tool for investigating potential bioaccumulation in urbanized and industrialized geographical areas. Some biomaterials such as hoof are considered as an important indicator of environmental pollution. Hooves can store trace elements for a long time compared to blood and this represents a scientific key to long-term monitoring of exposure to environmental pollutants. In the present study, samples of equine hoof and blood were taken from an experimental group of horses living in an industrialized area of Sicily (Italy) and from a cont...
Pineau V, Ter Woort F, Julien F, Vernant M, Lambey S, Hébert C, Hanne-Poujade S, Westergren V, van Erck-Westergren E.Gastric disease is highly prevalent in sport horses and may lead to poor performance, cause behavioral changes and impact welfare. Objective: Assess whether diet affects gastric disease and pain expression during riding, and whether it has an impact on physiological and locomotor variables during an exercise test, including jumps. Methods: Nine healthy show-jumping Warmbloods trained at the same stable. Methods: Prospective observational cohort study. The horses receiving a pelleted diet, high in sugar and starch (>30%), were examined at T0 and after 12 weeks (T12) of changing to a cooked, m...
