Disease diagnosis in horses involves the identification and characterization of illnesses through various diagnostic methods and tools. This process is essential for effective veterinary care and management of equine health. Techniques used in diagnosing diseases in horses include clinical examinations, laboratory tests, imaging modalities such as ultrasonography and radiography, and molecular diagnostics. Blood tests are frequently utilized to assess parameters such as complete blood count and biochemical profiles, which can indicate underlying health issues. Additionally, advancements in genetic testing and biomarker identification have enhanced the ability to detect specific diseases early. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore diagnostic methodologies, their applications, and their impact on equine health management.
Aleman M, Pickles KJ, Simonek G, Madigan JE.Trigeminal neuralgia or neuropathic pain has been regarded as a putative cause of idiopathic headshaking in horses. Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection and resultant postherpetic pain have been suggested as a possible cause of such neuropathic pain. Objective: To determine the presence of EHV-1 in the trigeminal ganglia of horses with idiopathic headshaking. Methods: Nineteen horses: control (n = 11, 9 geldings, 2 mares, median age 11 years) and headshaking (n = 8, all geldings, median age 11.5 years) horses were sourced from the equine research herd and caseload at the Veterinary Medical T...
Matthijnssens J, Miño S, Papp H, Potgieter C, Novo L, Heylen E, Zeller M, Garaicoechea L, Badaracco A, Lengyel G, Kisfali P, Cullinane A, Collins PJ....In this study, the complete genome sequences of seven equine group A rotavirus (RVA) strains (RVA/Horse-tc/GBR/L338/1991/G13P[18], RVA/Horse-wt/IRL/03V04954/2003/G3P[12] and RVA/Horse-wt/IRL/04V2024/2004/G14P[12] from Europe; RVA/Horse-wt/ARG/E30/1993/G3P[12], RVA/Horse-wt/ARG/E403/2006/G14P[12] and RVA/Horse-wt/ARG/E4040/2008/G14P[12] from Argentina; and RVA/Horse-wt/ZAF/EqRV-SA1/2006/G14P[12] from South Africa) were determined. Multiple novel genotypes were identified and genotype numbers were assigned by the Rotavirus Classification Working Group: R9 (VP1), C9 (VP2), N9 (NSP2), T12 (NSP3), ...
Tennent-Brown BS.Blood lactate concentration can be easily measured by practitioners using inexpensive point-of-care meters. Anaerobic tissue metabolism resulting from inadequate oxygen delivery (DO2) is the most important cause of an increase in blood lactate concentration in equine patients. However,hyperlactatemia also occurs under conditions of apparently adequate DO2, usually in association with sepsis and an intense inflammatory reaction. Numerous mechanisms have been proposed for aerobic hyperlactatemia, including increased Na+/K+-ATPase activity in response to inflammatory mediators; inhibition of pyru...
García-Bocanegra I, Jaén-Téllez JA, Napp S, Arenas-Montes A, Fernández-Morente M, Fernández-Molera V, Arenas A.TO THE EDITOR: West Nile virus (WNV) is a member of the genus Flavivirus within the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex. The enzootic virus cycle involves transmission between avian hosts and ornithophilic mosquitoes, whereas humans and horses are considered dead-end hosts. Given the recent increase of WNV infection in humans and horses in Europe, concern has been raised regarding public and animal health.
Madani H, Casal J, Alba A, Allepuz A, Cêtre-Sossah C, Hafsi L, Kount-Chareb H, Bouayed-Chaouach N, Saadaoui H, Napp S.Antibodies against bluetongue virus were detected in cattle, sheep, goats, and camels in Algeria in 2008. Antibodies against epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus were detected in cattle, but antibodies against African horse sickness virus were not detected in horses and mules. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease in northern Africa poses a major risk for the European Union.
Marsh GA, Haining J, Hancock TJ, Robinson R, Foord AJ, Barr JA, Riddell S, Heine HG, White JR, Crameri G, Field HE, Wang LF, Middleton D.Hendra virus (HeV) is a highly pathogenic zoonotic paramyxovirus harbored by Australian flying foxes with sporadic spillovers directly to horses. Although the mode and critical control points of HeV spillover to horses from flying foxes, and the risk for transmission from infected horses to other horses and humans, are poorly understood, we successfully established systemic HeV disease in 3 horses exposed to Hendra virus/Australia/Horse/2008/Redlands by the oronasal route, a plausible route for natural infection. In 2 of the 3 animals, HeV RNA was detected continually in nasal swabs from as ea...
Emmerich IU.In 2010, three new active pharmaceutical ingredients were released on the German market for horses and food-producing animals. These were gamithromycin (Zactran®), a new macrolide antibiotic, Monepantel (Zolvix®), a broad spectrum anthelmintic with a novel mechanism, and Pergolide (Prascend®), the first dopamine receptor agonist for animals. Two substances have been approved for additional species. The tetracycline antibiotic doxycycline is now also authorized for turkeys and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug firocoxib from the group of cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors is now avai...
Walter J, Klein C, Wehrend A.Exfoliative endometrial cytology is an easy and valuable diagnostic tool for the detection of inflammatory processes of the uterus that correlates well to culture results. The practical use of this procedure is limited due to the time-consuming Papanicolaou-Shorr staining technique. In this study the suitability of the rapid eosin-thiazin staining for endometrial smears was investigated. Methods: Sample collection was carried out with a guarded culture swab (Knudsen-catheter) in 27 broodmares during routine gynaecological examination. Two smears were prepared from each collection. One was stai...
Allen WR, Wilsher S.Although considerable variation in per cycle pregnancy rates exists between Thoroughbred (TB) stallions, there is little information on factors that may influence this figure. Objective: To assess the influence of month, mare numbers and mating frequency on the fertility of TB stallions standing on studfarms in East Anglia, England. Methods: The daily breeding records of 31 TB stallions mating 3034 mares on 4851 occasions during the 2010 season were surveyed and related to first scan pregnancy rates. The influences of mare book size, month, number of matings per day and mating frequency or abs...
Oura CA, Batten CA, Ivens PA, Balcha M, Alhassan A, Gizaw D, Elharrak M, Jallow DB, Sahle M, Maan N, Mertens PC, Maan S.Prior to the recent outbreak of equine encephalosis in Israel in 2009, equine encephalosis virus (EEV) had only been isolated from equids in South Africa. In this study we show the first evidence for the circulation of EEV beyond South Africa in Ethiopia, Ghana and The Gambia, indicating that EEV is likely to be freely circulating and endemic in East and West Africa. Sequence analysis revealed that the EEV isolate circulating in The Gambia was closely related to an EEV isolate that was isolated from a horse from Israel during the EEV outbreak in 2009, indicating that the two viruses have a com...
Peters J, Eggers K, Oswald S, Block W, Lütjohann D, Lämmer M, Venner M, Siegmund W.Pulmonary penetration of clarithromycin (CLR) in epithelial lining fluid (ELF) and bronchoalveolar lavage cells (BALCs) can be influenced by CYP3A4, by P-glycoprotein, and, according to our hypothesis, by a member of the organic anion-transporting protein (OATP) family, for which rifampicin (RIF) is inhibiting in single doses but inducing after long-term coadministration. To assess the partial inhibitory effect, we measured absorption and pulmonary distribution of CLR after short-term (2.5-day) coadministration of RIF, after which up-regulation is not expected. The drug interaction study was p...
Lacombe VA, Mayes M, Mosseri S, Reed SM, Fenner WR, Ou HT.In contrast with reports in man and small animals, a systematic classification of seizures in horses is lacking. Objective: The purpose of this study was to classify seizures based on their aetiology and to characterise epilepsy in 104 horses presented for seizures at the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center between 1988 and 2009. Methods: In a retrospective observational study, seizures were classified by aetiology based on history, clinical observations, diagnostic investigations (e.g. electroencephalograms, cerebrospinal fluid and computed tomography imaging of the head) and post...
Verheyen T, Decloedt A, De Clercq D, Sys S, Van Loon G.In human medicine, oesophageal electrocardiography (ECG) is a well-established technique that magnifies P waves with respect to the QRS complex. Objective: To investigate the feasibility of oesophageal ECG recording in horses and its ability to produce larger P waves compared with base-apex and unipolar recordings. Methods: Bipolar and unipolar ECG were performed using oesophageal and surface electrodes. Oesophageal ECG was obtained from 6 different recording configurations at different oesophageal depths. Amplitudes of P, Q, R, S and T waves were measured from 3 different cardiac cycles for e...
Lyons ET, Tolliver SC, Kuzmina TA.A parasite study was done in 1,300 horse mares on 26 farms in Central Kentucky over a 5-month period in 2010 and 2011. The mares included 1,114 Thoroughbreds (TB) on 24 farms, 64 Standardbreds (SB) on 1 farm, and 122 mixed light horse types (MLH) on 1 farm. The objective of this research was to determine strongyle eggs per gram of feces (EPG) counts for evaluation by known age, number positive, and level of egg shedding by the mares. This was done to establish strongyle EPG profiles for the mares to aid in determining whether antiparasitic treatment was necessary. Eggs found were considered th...
Michau TM, Davidson MG, Gilger BC. To determine the complications and nonrecurrence rates following superficial lamellar keratectomy, bulbar conjunctivectomy, and adjunctive carbon dioxide (CO(2)) photoablation for corneolimbal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in the horse. Methods: Retrospective study. Sample population Twenty-four horses with corneolimbal SCC. Methods: Medical records of horses diagnosed with corneolimbal SCC that was surgically excised and where CO(2) photoablation was used as an adjunctive therapy from 2000 to 2007 were reviewed. Signalment, prior therapy, tumor location and size, complications,...
Strand E, Skjerve E.Many horses demonstrate dynamic collapse of more than one upper respiratory tract (URT) structure during high-speed treadmill videoendoscopy (HSTV). Objective: To report the frequency of complex dynamic URT collapse in harness racehorses and determine if an association exists between occurrence of certain disorders. Methods: Retrospective study of 99 Standardbreds and Coldblooded trotters that had one or more dynamic URT disorders identified during HSTV between 1998 and 2006. The horses underwent HSTV using a protocol that included periods of free head carriage and poll flexion until fully fat...
Smrkovski OA, Koo Y, Kazemi R, Lembcke LM, Fathy A, Liu Q, Phillips JC.Performance and clinical characteristics of a novel hyperthermia antenna operating at 434 MHz were evaluated for the adjuvant treatment of locally advanced superficial tumours in cats, dogs and horses. Electromagnetic simulations were performed to determine electric field characteristics and compared to simulations for a flat microwave antenna with similar dimensions. Simulation results show a reduced skin surface and backfield irradiation and improved directional irradiation (at broadside) compared to a flat antenna. Radiated power and penetration is notably increased with a penetration depth...
Strand E, Fjordbakk CT, Sundberg K, Spangen L, Lunde H, Hanche-Olsen S.Two genetically and phenotypically distinct horse breeds are used for harness racing in Scandinavia: the Standardbred (SB) and Coldblooded Trotter. These racehorses have identical environmental, management and racing conditions. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify and compare the relative prevalence of upper respiratory tract (URT) obstructive disorders in these 2 breeds. Objective: To determine whether these 2 phenotypically different breeds of harness racehorses have different predispositions for URT disorders. Methods: Retrospective study of 88 Norwegian Coldblooded Trotters (N...
Freeman KD, Southwood LL, Lane J, Lindborg S, Aceto HW.Infections are common complications in post operative colic patients. It is the impression of some surgeons that pyrexia in the early post operative period is a sign of infection and appropriate timing of perioperative antimicrobials will decrease the incidence of post operative infection. Objective: To determine the association between 1) post operative pyrexia and development of infection and 2) perioperative antimicrobial drug use and infection rate in post operative colic patients. Methods: Medical records of patients undergoing surgical treatment for colic were reviewed. Horses recovering...
Field H, de Jong C, Melville D, Smith C, Smith I, Broos A, Kung YH, McLaughlin A, Zeddeman A.Hendra virus is a recently emerged zoonotic agent in Australia. Since first described in 1994, the virus has spilled from its wildlife reservoir (pteropid fruit bats, or 'flying foxes') on multiple occasions causing equine and human fatalities. We undertook a three-year longitudinal study to detect virus in the urine of free-living flying foxes (a putative route of excretion) to investigate Hendra virus infection dynamics. Pooled urine samples collected off plastic sheets placed beneath roosting flying foxes were screened for Hendra virus genome by quantitative RT-PCR, using a set of primers a...
Page AE, Stills HF, Chander Y, Gebhart CJ, Horohov DW.Lawsonia intracellularis is the causative agent of equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE), a disease for which no large-scale seroprevalence studies have been conducted. Objective: To validate and use an equine-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for L. intracellularis to determine the seroprevalence of L. intracellularis on numerous farms. Methods: An ELISA, in which purified antigen was used, was adapted from previous work in swine. A total of 337 Thoroughbreds from 25 central Kentucky farms were enrolled and monthly serum samples collected from August 2010 to January/February...
Hertsch B, Teschner D.Objective of the study was to investigate whether a correlation between rotation and/or sinking of the third phalanx (P3) and changes of horn growth on the hoof wall exists. Methods: In 117 hooves of euthanatized or slaughtered horses with chronic laminitis the rotating angle to palmar/plantar and medial/lateral and a sinking of P3 were assessed on radiographs. Defined distances were measured on the dorsal hoof wall as well as in the heel to assess the horn growth of a hoof. On the basis of saw cuts of the hooves, the course of the horn tubes was judged. Results: A rotation angle of approximat...
Ayala-Valdovinos MA, Lemus-Flores C, Galindo-García J, Bañuelos-Pineda J, Rodríguez-Carpena JG, Sánchez-Chiprés D, Duifhuis-Rivera T.Theileria equi infection prevalence was calculated from 1000 blood samples obtained from apparently healthy horses in western Mexico. Samples were sent to the Animal Biotechnology Laboratory of the University of Guadalajara (Mexico) for T. equi diagnosis. Nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) was used as a diagnostic method to detect pathogen DNA. Using primers for the merozoite antigen-1 (EMA-1) gene, 19.70±2.47% of the horses (95% CI, 17.23-22.17%) tested positive for T. equi. There was no significant association between gender and T. equi infection. However, prevalence was higher among s...
Hurcombe SD, Fox JG, Kohn CW.A 2-year-old quarterhorse was evaluated for chronic diarrhea and weight loss of 5 weeks duration after numerous diagnostic tests failed to identify an underlying cause. Historically, the horse was housed at pasture where human household waste vehicles were routinely cleaned and the effluent could run onto the field. Physical examination revealed poor body condition and frequent high-volume diarrhea. Diagnostic testing for Salmonella spp., endoparasites, Cryptosporidium spp., Clostridium spp., and diffuse infiltrative bowel disease were negative. Rectal tissue histopathology failed to identify ...
Elbrønd VS, Thomsen MB, Isaksen JL, Lunde ED, Vincenti S, Wang T, Tranum-Jensen J, Calloe K.The Purkinje fibers convey the electrical impulses at much higher speed than the working myocardial cells. Thus, the distribution of the Purkinje network is of paramount importance for the timing and coordination of ventricular activation. The Purkinje fibers are found in the subendocardium of all species of mammals, but some mammals also possess an intramural Purkinje fiber network that provides for relatively instantaneous, burst-like activation of the entire ventricular wall, and gives rise to an rS configuration in lead II of the ECG. To relate the topography of the horse heart and the dis...
Bernard WV, Bolin C, Riddle T, Durando M, Smith BJ, Tramontin RR.Leptospirosis was documented as the cause of abortion in a 5-year-old mare. Leptospires were detected in tissue specimens from fetal kidneys and from placenta by histologic evaluation of silver-stained sections. Antibodies against Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona were detected in fetal serum at a titer of 1,600 by use of a microscopic agglutination test. The mare had serum titers of 6,400; 0; 400; 800; 3,200; and 6,400 to L interrogans serovars bratislava, canicola, grippotyphosa, hardjo, icterohaemorrhagiae, and pomona, respectively. A serologic survey identified titers of at least 6,400...
Russell KE, Perkins PC, Hoffman MR, Miller RT, Walker KM, Fuller FJ, Sellon DC.Thrombocytopenia is a consistent finding and one of the earliest hematological abnormalities in horses acutely infected with equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), a lentivirus closely related to human immunodeficiency virus. Multifactorial mechanisms, including immune-mediated platelet destruction and impaired platelet production, are implicated in the pathogenesis of EIAV-associated thrombocytopenia. This study was undertaken to investigate whether regenerative thrombopoiesis and platelet destruction occurred in ponies acutely infected with EIAV. Circulating large, immature platelets were in...
Bouhali O, Bensmail H, Sheharyar A, David F, Johnson JP.Great advances have been made in human health care in the application of radiomics and artificial intelligence (AI) in a variety of areas, ranging from hospital management and virtual assistants to remote patient monitoring and medical diagnostics and imaging. To improve accuracy and reproducibility, there has been a recent move to integrate radiomics and AI as tools to assist clinical decision making and to incorporate it into routine clinical workflows and diagnosis. Although lagging behind human medicine, the use of radiomics and AI in veterinary diagnostic imaging is becoming more frequent...
Semevolos SA, Nixon AJ, Fortier LA, Strassheim ML, Haupt J.The purpose of this study was to determine changes in the expression of regulatory molecules in normal equine articular cartilage throughout development up to 18 months of age. The hypothesis was that expression of these regulatory molecules would decrease from birth to postpubescence. Cartilage was harvested from normal femoropatellar or scapulohumeral joints from 34 fresh horse cadavers. Horses were placed in four age groups [prenatal (n = 5); prepubertal, 0-6 months (n = 11); pubertal, 7-14 months (n = 13); and postpubertal, 15-18 months (n = 5)]. Indian hedgehog (Ihh), Gli1, Gli3, Patched1...
Franz M, Goodman LB, Van de Walle GR, Osterrieder N, Greenwood AD.A point mutation in the DNA polymerase gene in equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) is one determinant for the development of neurological disease in horses. Three recently conducted infection experiments using domestic horses and ponies failed to detect statistically significant differences in viral shedding between the neuropathogenic and non-neuropathogenic variants. These results were interpreted as suggesting the absence of a consistent selective advantage of the neuropathogenic variant and therefore appeared to be inconsistent with a systematic increase in the prevalence of neuropathogenic ...
McCarthy HE, Proudman CJ, French NP.The geographical spread of grass sickness between 1909 and 1999, particularly in England and Wales, is described, and the experimental investigations to identify a causal agent are summarised. The epidemiological techniques used to investigate grass sickness vary from clinical observations, to more advanced methods such as case-control studies using logistic regression analyses. Several risk factors for grass sickness have been reported consistently (age, time of year and recent movement to new pasture or premises) and several others have been reported for which the findings remain inconsisten...
Ziemer EL, Whitlock RH, Palmer JE, Spencer PA.The clinical and hematologic variables of 10 ponies with experimentally induced equine ehrlichial colitis (EEC; syn: Potomac horse fever) were studied for a 30-day period (6 ponies) or until death (4 ponies). The earliest clinical sign indicative of EEC was fever (rectal temperature exceeding 39 C). All ponies became depressed (CNS) at various times during the disease, and 90% of the ponies developed diarrhea between 9 and 15 days after infection was induced. The most significant hematologic change was an increase in plasma protein concentration after the onset of fever (P less than 0.05). The...
Palmer JE, Benson CE, Whitlock RH.Fourteen ponies and 3 horses were inoculated with Ehrlichia risticii 2 to 20 months after a similar initial inoculation. Although all 17 had clinical signs of equine ehrlichial colitis after the first inoculation, 16 of 17 remained clinically normal following the second inoculation. The remaining pony had a transient fever and developed signs of depression. Before the initial inoculation, none of the animals had a detectable antibody titer to E risticii. All animals developed titers after the initial infection; however, a significant change of titer did not develop after reinoculation in most ...
Venter GJ, Groenewald D, Venter E, Hermanides KG, Howell PG.Equine encephalosis virus (EEV) is widespread and prevalent in southern Africa. In this study, the oral susceptibility of Culicoides (Avaritia) imicola Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) to EEV was confirmed. In addition, C. (A.) bolitinos Meiswinkel, collected in the high-lying eastern Free State, South Africa, was systemically infected with the Bryanston serotype of EEV after feeding through a membrane on artificially infected equine blood containing 4.7 log10 PFU/mL of EEV. The mean infectivity of Bryanston virus in C. bolitinos increased from 1.2 log10 PFU/midge, in midges assayed for viru...
Gysens L, Vanmechelen B, Maes P, Martens A, Haspeslagh M.Infection with bovine papillomavirus (BPV) types 1 and 2 results in the most common skin tumor of horses, termed equine sarcoid. The persistent and recurrent nature of this tumor stands in contrast to the regressive nature of BPV-1/- 2 induced cutaneous papillomas in cattle. The circulation of horse-specific BPV-1/- 2 variants within equine populations has been suggested as a possible explanation for the difference in clinical presentation of BPV-1/- 2 infection between horses and cattle. In order to investigate this hypothesis, we identified 98 complete BPV-1/- 2 genomes using a Nanopore ...
Trope GD, Anderson GA, Whitton RC.The effect of palmar osteochondral disease lesions on performance of Thoroughbred (TB) racehorses is unclear. There is a need to describe patterns of radiopharmaceutical uptake (IRU) in fetlock joints of TB racehorses and to evaluate post scintigraphy performance. Objective: IRU in the metacarpal (MC) and metatarsal (MT) condyles is more common than IRU in the parasagittal grooves and is associated with poorer post diagnosis performance than controls. Methods: Location of IRU within the fetlock region was identified and graded subjectively in TB racehorses. Performance variables were determine...
Sedlinská M, Kabeš R, Novák M, Kološ F, Melková P.A five-month-old African jenny was presented with a history of exercise intolerance and syncopal episodes. Severe bradycardic arrhythmia due to a high-grade second-degree atrioventricular (AV) block with progression to complete AV block was diagnosed. The jenny underwent a transvenous single-chamber pacemaker implantation. The implantation procedure was performed in a lateral recumbency and the ventricular lead was inserted through the jugular vein. Positioning of the lead was guided by echocardiography. The pacemaker was programmed to VVI mode with a minimal ventricular rate of 40 pulses per ...
Knickelbein KE, Lassaline ME, Bellone RR.To document a case of limbal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in a Rocky Mountain Horse stallion determined to be homozygous for the genetic risk factor (DDB2 c.1013C>T) strongly associated with the disease in Haflinger and Belgian horses, and to determine the frequency of this allele in a larger population of Rocky Mountain Horses. Methods: One privately owned Rocky Mountain Horse and 84 Rocky Mountain Horses screened for allelic frequency. Methods: A complete ophthalmic examination was performed on a Rocky Mountain Horse stallion for assessment of a mass affecting the right eye. A clinical diag...
Hardy J, Minton M, Robertson JT, Beard WL, Beard LA.The clinical findings and outcome of 161 horses diagnosed with 174 episodes of nephrosplenic entrapment (NSE) were reviewed retrospectively. The median age at presentation was 5 years (9 months to 24 years), and duration of colic was 2-92 h. Nasogastric reflux was present in 49 of 113 horses (43.4%) and was significant (> or = 21) in 32 (28.3%) horses. The recurrence rate was 13/161 (8.1%). Thirteen horses (13/174, 7.5%) had other lesions including small intestinal obstruction (4), 360 degrees large colon torsion (5), gastric rupture (2), thromboembolic colic (1) and small colon infarction (1)...
Dubuc J, Girard C, Richard H, De Lasalle J, Laverty S.There is limited information available concerning normal equine meniscal morphology, its degeneration and role in osteoarthritis (OA). Objective: To characterise normal equine meniscal morphology and lesions and to explore the relationship between equine meniscal degeneration and femorotibial OA. Methods: Ex vivo cadaveric study. Methods: Menisci were harvested from 7 normal joints (n = 14 menisci) and 15 joints with OA (n = 30 menisci). A macroscopic femorotibial OA score (cartilage degeneration and osteophytosis) was employed to measure disease severity in each compartment. The femoral and t...
Deaton CM, Marlin DJ, Deaton L, Smith NC, Harris PA, Schroter RC, Kelly FJ.Following a period of airway inflammation the clearance of inflammatory cells along the mucociliary escalator may impose a considerable oxidant load on the trachea. Objective: To determine the degree of oxidative stress in tracheal epithelial lining fluid (ELF) in comparison to that present in peripheral airways after an acute exposure to organic dust. Methods: Tracheal wash fluid and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected for cytology and antioxidant analyses from 6 recurrent airway obstruction (RAO)-affected horses and 6 healthy control horses before and after stabling on straw b...
Poppie MJ, McGuire TC.Combined immunodeficiency (CID), a defect in both B- and T-lymphocytes, was found to occur in 2.3% of 257 foals of Arabian breeding. All affected foals died by 5 months of age. The belief that CID is transmitted as an autosomal recessive genetic defect was supported by results from matings of dams and sires that had previously produced affected foals. Based on a prevalence of 2.3%, the proportion of carriers of the CID trait among the adult population surveyed was estimated to be 25.7%. Recent descriptions of other immunologic defects in foals emphasized the need for careful differential diagn...
Chirino-Trejo JM, Prescott JF.The antigens extracted from strains belonging to seven capsular serotypes of Rhodococcus equi, as well as from two wild strains isolated from pneumonic foals, were examined. Whole-cell antigens and soluble products present in broth culture supernatants were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, electroblotted onto nitrocellulose, and stained with serum from hyperimmunized rabbits or foals. Foal sera used included sera from pneumonic animals with known titer to equi factors; from animals bled monthly on a farm with enzootic pneumonia, and from animals bled mont...
Brown MP, West LA, Merritt KA, Plaas AH.To determine effects of aging on sulfation of chondroitin sulfate (CS) in articular cartilage and synovial fluid from normal equine middle carpal joints, and to determine whether CS compositional analysis can be used to assess alterations in proteoglycan turnover in degenerative cartilage obtained from horses with carpal osteochondral fractures. Methods: Carpal articular cartilage and synovial fluid from 44 cadavers with normal joints and from 16 Thoroughbred racehorses during routine carpal arthroscopic surgery. Methods: After papain/chondroitinase digestion of cartilage, CS disaccharides (un...
Relave F, David F, Leclère M, Alexander K, Bussières G, Lavoie JP, Marcoux M.To evaluate use of pre-tied ligating loop to perform thoracoscopic, large lung biopsy in normal and heaves-affected horses. Methods: Prospective clinical study. Methods: Normal (n=5) and heaves-affected (n=6) horses. Methods: Lung biopsies, 1 from each hemithorax, were collected thoracoscopically using a pre-tied ligating loop. Horses were either normal (C) or heaves-affected with the latter being in remission (Ha) for the initial biopsy and in exacerbation (Hs) for the 2nd biopsy. Clinical variables, PaO(2), and PaCO(2) were used to determine the effect of surgical biopsy. Postoperative pneum...
Monzón CM, Mancebo OA, Roux JP.In a total of 165 blood samples from horses in the Province of Formosa (Argentina), the diagnosis for equine trypanosomiasis (T. evansi) was made using Giemsa-stained smears (GSS), wet blood films (WBF), Strout's concentration method (SCM), haematocrit centrifuge technique (HCT), buffy coat method (BCM) and mouse inoculation of blood (MBI). Trypanosoma evansi was demonstrated in 52 samples. Mouse inoculation gave a sensitivity of 88.2%; HCT 71.1%; BCM 63.4%; WBF 53.8%; SCM 46.1% and GSS 45.6%. No single method alone was totally effective. The haematocrit centrifuge technique, mouse inoculation...
Gilliam LL, Holbrook TC, Ownby CL, McFarlane D, Sleeper MM, Martin S, Levis K, Payton ME.Cardiac abnormalities are reported in rattlesnake-bitten horses. The prevalence and cause are unknown. Objective: To detect cardiac damage in rattlesnake-bitten horses by measuring cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and evaluating ECG recordings for presence of arrhythmias, and explore causes of this cardiac damage by measuring venom excretion, anti-venom antibodies, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα). Methods: A total of 20 adult horses with a clinical diagnosis of rattlesnake bite and 6 healthy adult horses. Methods: In a prospective clinical study, bite site swabs, blood samples, and urine samp...
Ohnuma K, Yokoo M, Ito K, Nambo Y, Miyake YI, Komatsu M, Takahashi J.Early pregnancy factor (EPF) is an immunosuppressive protein detected in the early pregnancy serum. We have already reported that we developed the rosette inhibition test for mare EPF and detected EPF in thoroughbreds. The aim of this study was to determine whether or not our method could be used clinically. Methods: The rosette inhibition test for equine EPF was carried out on serum from six nonpregnant and six pregnant Shetland ponies, a female and a male Chinese pony, and four nonpregnant and 13 pregnant thoroughbred mares. In the thoroughbreds sera were collected during the pregnancy perio...
Beckers KF, Gomes VCL, Crissman KR, Liu CC, Schulz CJ, Childers GW, Sones JL.Placentitis is the leading cause of infectious abortion in the horse. Additionally, it can result in weak and/or growth restricted offspring. While the etiology of ascending placentitis is well described in mares, less is known regarding the pathogenesis of other types, such as nocardioform placentitis. This study aims to identify the microbial communities in different body sites of the pregnant mare in early gestation to establish a core microbiome that may be perturbed in pathologic pregnancies such as placentitis. We hypothesize that the equine placenta harbors a distinct resident microbiom...
Zuber N, Zuber M, Schwarzwald CC.Assessment of cardiac electromechanical function in horses requires training, experience and specialised equipment and does not allow continuous monitoring over time. Objective: The objective of this study was to establish the use of an acoustic ECG monitor (Audicor ) in healthy horses. It provides noninvasive, examiner-independent, continuous analyses combining ECG and phonocardiography to calculate indices of cardiac mechanical activity and haemodynamics. Device usability was investigated, reference intervals calculated and reproducibility of analyses assessed. Methods: Prospective descripti...
Borges AS, Conceição LG, Alves AL, Fabris VE, Pessoa MA.Hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia belongs to a group of inherited, congenital connective tissue dysplasias usually described as hyperelastosis cutis, cutaneous asthenia, dermatosparaxis, or Ehlers-Danlos-like syndrome. This report presents the clinical and histological features of three related Quarter horses affected with regional dermal asthenia. These horses had bilateral asymmetric lesions of the trunk and lumbar regions, where the skin was hyperextensible. Handling of the skin elicited a painful response and superficial trauma led to skin wounds. The skin was thinner than normal ...
Pellegrini A, Waiblinger S, Von Fellenberg R.Lysozyme from equine neutrophil granulocytes was isolated in a pure form by fast performance liquid chromatography, i.e. ion-exchange chromatography and reversed-phase chromatography. The lysozyme lysed Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus lentus and was also bactericidal against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and Serratia marcescens. Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis were not lysed. The lysozyme was only very slightly bactericidal for S. epidermidis and S. aureus. Equine neutrophil lysozyme ...
