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.
Karatepe B, Babür C, Karatepe M, Kiliç S.The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii specific antibodies in local horses from four districts of Niğde in the middle of Turkey, between April-June 2004. Serum samples were obtained a total of 125 horses which consisted of 81 (50 female, 31 male) 1-10 years old and 44 (25 female, 19 male) 11-20 years old and tested for antibodies to T. gondii using the Sabin Feldman Dye Test (SFDT). According to the results of the SFDT, antibodies to T. gondii were found by the SFDT in 9 (7.2%) of 125 sera with the titers of 1:16 (8 horses) and 1:64 (1 horse). Antib...
Sampson SN, Schneider RK, Gavin PR, Ho CP, Tucker RL, Charles EM.Seventy-two horses with recent onset of navicular syndrome and normal radiographs were assessed. Horses underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of both front feet. All abnormalities were characterized and the most severe abnormality identified, if possible. Abnormal signal intensity in the navicular bone was the most severe abnormality in 24 (33%) horses. Pathologic change in the deep digital flexor tendon was the most severe abnormality in 13 (18%) horses. Pathologic change in the collateral sesamoidean ligament was the most severe abnormality in 11 (15%) horses. Pathologic change in the di...
Brenner S, Whitcomb MB.The clinical and ultrasonographic features of seven horses with coxofemoral subluxation are presented. Affected horses included five adult geldings (11-20 years), one large pony (6 years) and a 3-month-old filly. All were lame at the walk except for the pony with grade 3/5 lameness. Lameness was acute in all horses, but three horses progressed after initial improvement. Crepitus, muscle atrophy, and pelvic asymmetry were inconsistent findings. Ultrasonographic diagnosis of subluxation required dynamic visualization of femoral head displacement from the acetabulum while placing weight on the af...
Bacigalupo MA, Meroni G, Secundo F, Scalera C, Quici S.Highly luminescent Eu(3+) and Tb(3+) complexes of 10-[4-(3-isothiocyanatopropoxy)benzoylmethyl]-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7 triacetic acid Eu(3+) is a subset of 1 and Tb(3+) is a subset of 1 were conjugated with a goat anti-rabbit IgG and a rabbit anti-mouse IgG, respectively, and applied as markers in a time resolved immunoassay for simultaneous quantitative determination of anabolic compounds clenbuterol (CL) and hydrocortisone (HC). The assay was performed in horse urine, using a monoclonal antibody specific to CL and a rabbit polyclonal antibody specific to the free HC. These lant...
McWilliam HE, Nisbet AJ, Dowdall SM, Hodgkinson JE, Matthews JB.Parasitic nematodes of the group Cyathostominae are an important cause of disease in horses. This group consists of approximately 50 species, all of which have similar life cycles that involve encystment of larval stages in the large intestinal wall. Encysted larvae can persist for months to years and, occasionally, large numbers can accumulate and emerge synchronously to cause severe pathology, resulting in diarrhoea, weight loss, colic and/or oedema. This syndrome, known as larval cyathostominosis, can be fatal in up to 50% of cases, despite treatment. There is no diagnostic method that enab...
Dallap Schaer BL, Epstein K.To review the hemostasis literature relevant to development of coagulopathy in the critically ill equine patient. Methods: Original scientific and review articles. Results: Inflammation plays a critical role in the activation and amplification of clot formation, as well as the impairment of physiologic anticoagulant mechanisms, and fibrinolysis. Earlier identification of coagulopathy in patients at risk and restoration of physiologic hemostasis may result in better outcome. Development of scoring systems based on information other than coagulation markers alone may better identify patients wit...
Wilsterman S, Hackett ES, Rao S, Hackett TB.To investigate a technique of central venous pressure (CVP) measurement using a newly developed catheter in healthy adult horses. Methods: Prospective experimental study. Methods: University research facility. Methods: Twenty healthy adult horses. Methods: An equine central venous catheter was inserted into the jugular vein to a length of approximately 80 cm from the mid-cervical region in an attempt to catheterize the pulmonary artery. Pulmonary arterial catheterization was confirmed by echocardiography. Insertion distance and pressure were measured at this location with a disposable manomete...
Zipplies JK, Hauck SM, Schoeffmann S, Amann B, van der Meijden CH, Stangassinger M, Ueffing M, Deeg CA.Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is an incurable disease affecting the inner eye that leads to blindness, through activated T cells that pass the blood-retinal barrier and destroy the retina. Serum markers are a desirable choice for monitoring development of disease, as serum is easy accessible and the markers could serve to predict the beginning of disease or an imminent relapse. Methods: In this study, serum proteomes (depleted of high-abundance serum proteins) of horses with ERU and healthy controls were compared with the 2-D DIGE (two-dimensional gel electrophoresis) technique to identify di...
Newquist JM, Baxter GM.To determine whether high plasma fibrinogen concentration (> or = 900 mg/dL) is a valid indicator of physeal or epiphyseal osteomyelitis in foals. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: 17 foals with physeal or epiphyseal osteomyelitis with or without septic arthritis, 17 foals with septic arthritis alone, 20 foals with non-Rhodococcus equi pneumonia, and 22 healthy foals. Methods: Medical records were reviewed for information regarding signalment and total WBC count, segmented neutrophil count, and plasma fibrinogen concentration measured when foals were initially evaluated at the ho...
Lampe V, Dierks C, Komm K, Distl O.In this study we present a newly detected QTL associated with osteochondrosis in Hanoverian warmblood horses on equine chromosome 18 (ECA18). We developed a highly polymorphic and evenly distributed marker set on ECA18 employing the horse genome assembly EquCab2. The marker set included 11 newly developed microsatellites. Average polymorphism information content was 62.1% at an average spacing of 3 Mb. For genotyping of this marker set comprising a total of 27 highly polymorphic microsatellites, we used the same 14 paternal half-sib families as in the previous whole genome scan. The chromosome...
Jacobsen S, Nielsen JV, Kjelgaard-Hansen M, Toelboell T, Fjeldborg J, Halling-Thomsen M, Martinussen T, Thoefner MB.To evaluate the postoperative inflammatory response of horses to elective surgery of varying intensity. Methods: Prospective longitudinal study. Methods: Horses referred to 2 hospitals for either arthroscopic removal of a unilateral osteochondritic lesion in the tibiotarsal joint (minimal surgical trauma, n=11), correction of recurrent laryngeal neuropathy by laryngoplasty and ventriculectomy (intermediate surgical trauma, n=10) or removal of an ovarian tumor by laparotomy (major surgical trauma, n=5). Methods: Horses had a thorough clinical examination every day. White blood cell (WBC) counts...
Casasola A, Ramos-Cerrillo B, de Roodt AR, Carbajal Saucedo A, Chippaux JP, Alagón A, Stock RP.Venoms of snakes belonging to the same Genera tend to share biochemical, toxinological and antigenic characteristics. Accordingly, paraspecific neutralization of venom lethality by experimental antisera and commercial antivenoms has been reported. We studied the spectrum of neutralization of lethality of an experimental monovalent equine antiserum against the strongly neurotoxic African forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca) when tested against venoms of most species of African Naja, both neuro and cytotoxic as described by some authors. We report a comparison of the median lethal doses (LD50) of the...
Jesty SA, Kraus MS, Gelzer AR, Rishniw M, Moise NS.Whether electrical cardioversion of cardiac arrhythmias results in cardiomyocyte damage is unknown. Objective: To describe effect of transvenous electrical cardioversion (TVEC) on plasma cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentration in horses. Methods: All horses presented to the Cornell University Hospital for Animals for cardioversion of atrial fibrillation between May 2006 and October 2008 were eligible for inclusion in the study. Owners of 14 horses elected for TVEC and each horse was then enrolled (16 procedures). Methods: Prospective observational study measuring concentrations of plasma cTnI ...
Smith KL, Allen GP, Branscum AJ, Frank Cook R, Vickers ML, Timoney PJ, Balasuriya UB.A panel of 426 archived EHV-1 isolates collected (1951-2006) from equine abortions was analyzed using a real-time Taq-Man((R)) allelic discrimination PCR assay. Based on previous findings, isolates possessing adenine at nucleotide position 2254 (A(2254)) in ORF30 were classified as having a non-neuropathogenic genotype and those with guanine at 2254 (G(2254)) were designated as the neuropathogenic genotype. The resultant data demonstrated that viruses with the neuropathogenic genotype existed in the 1950s and isolates with this genotype increased from 3.3% in the 1960s to 14.4% in the 1990s. T...
Crothers SL, White SD, Ihrke PJ, Affolter VK.Sporotrichosis is an uncommon to rare cutaneous and subcutaneous mycosis of animals and humans caused by the dimorphic fungus Sporothrix schenckii. Twenty-three mammalian cases of sporotrichosis examined between 1987 and 2007 at the University of California, Davis - Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, were retrospectively evaluated with regard to the historical, clinical, diagnostic and treatment findings. Cats were the most common species affected (n = 14). In addition, sporotrichosis was diagnosed in four dogs, four horses and a donkey. Six of 23 cases were diagnosed with the localized cut...
van Duijkeren E, Moleman M, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, Multem J, Troelstra A, Fluit AC, van Wamel WJ, Houwers DJ, de Neeling AJ....At the Veterinary Microbiological Diagnostic Center, the Netherlands, the percentage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates found in equine clinical samples increased from 0% in 2002 to 37% in 2008. MRSA of spa-type t064, belonging to MLST ST8 and spa-types t011 and t2123, both belonging to the livestock-associated MLST ST398, predominated. During an outbreak of post-surgical MRSA infections in horses at a veterinary teaching hospital in 2006/2007, MRSA isolates of spa-type t2123 were cultured from 7 horses and 4/61 personnel which indicated zoonotic transmission. After...
Hulting G, Flock M, Frykberg L, Lannergård J, Flock JI, Guss B.Streptococcus equi ssp. equi causes strangles, a highly contagious and serious disease in the upper respiratory tract of horses. Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus, another subspecies of this genus, is regarded as an opportunistic commensal in horses. The present study describes the characterization of two novel immunoglobulin G (IgG) endopeptidases of these subspecies, IdeE2 and IdeZ2. Both enzymes display sequence similarities with two previously characterized IgG endopeptidases, IdeE of S. equi ssp. equi and IdeZ of S. equi ssp. zooepidemicus. IdeE2 and IdeZ2 display high substrate-speci...
Frampton AR, Uchida H, von Einem J, Goins WF, Grandi P, Cohen JB, Osterrieder N, Glorioso JC.To initiate infection, equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) attaches to heparan sulfate on cell surfaces and then interacts with a putative glycoprotein D receptor(s). After attachment, virus entry occurs either by direct fusion of the virus envelope with the plasma membrane or via endocytosis followed by fusion between the virus envelope and an endosomal membrane. Upon fusion, de-enveloped virus particles are deposited into the cytoplasm and travel to the nucleus for viral replication. In this report, we examined the mechanism of EHV-1 intracellular trafficking and investigated the ability of EH...
Langley R, Morris T.Millions of individuals are in contact with horses through occupational or recreational activities. Injuries from horses are responsible for over 100,000 emergency room visits each year in the United States. Although various types of traumatic injuries related to direct contact with horses are well described, roughly 3% to 4.5% of all reported injuries are due to bites by equines. The immediate injuries are commonly either blunt or penetrating trauma to local tissue; however, the bite exposure may also transmit a microbial agent of equine origin that can lead to a zoonotic infection. In almost...
Lin M, Zhang C, Gibson K, Rikihisa Y.Neorickettsia risticii is an obligate intracellular bacterium of the trematodes and mammals. Horses develop Potomac horse fever (PHF) when they ingest aquatic insects containing encysted N. risticii-infected trematodes. The complete genome sequence of N. risticii Illinois consists of a single circular chromosome of 879 977 bp and encodes 38 RNA species and 898 proteins. Although N. risticii has limited ability to synthesize amino acids and lacks many metabolic pathways, it is capable of making major vitamins, cofactors and nucleotides. Comparison with its closely related human pathogen N. senn...
Shirafuji H, Kanehira K, Kamio T, Kubo M, Shibahara T, Konishi M, Murakami K, Nakamura Y, Yamanaka T, Kondo T, Matsumura T, Muranaka M, Katayama Y.A group of horses immunized with inactivated Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine (JE-Immune Group) and a group of non-immunized horses (Non-Immune Group) were infected with West Nile virus (WNV). After WNV infection, neutralizing (Nt) antibody (Ab) titers to WNV were higher than those to JE virus (JEV) in the Non-Immune Group, but the NtAb titers to JEV were higher than those to WNV during most of the post-challenge observation period in the JE-Immune Group. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) Abs to WNV tested positive in the Non-Immune Group but negative in the JE-Immune Group, except for in one horse. Th...
Carslake HB.Three horses were presented with facial swelling and epiphora. Results: All horses had facial swellings and radiographic findings consistent with exostosis at the lacrimomaxillary suture, and ipsilateral epiphora. Positive contrast dacryocystorhinography demonstrated that the site of obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct was located where the duct traverses the lacrimomaxillary suture. Methods: Lacrimomaxillary suture exostosis. Conclusions: Lacrimomaxillary suture exostosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis in cases of epiphora in horses. Dacryocystorhinography, preferably retro...
White SD, Foley JE, Spiegel IB, Ihrke PJ.Equine sarcoidosis is a rare, multisystemic, noncaseating, granulomatous and lymphoplasmacytic disease of unknown etiology. A recent report described a horse with granulomatous skin disease displaying histologic, electron microscopic, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) findings consistent with equine herpesvirus 2 (EHV-2). Objective: To investigate the presence of EHV-2 and equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) in 8 horses with sarcoidosis. Methods: Eight horses with sarcoidosis, reported previously. Methods: Retrospective study. PCR assays of the tissues were performed to detect DNA associated with E...
Gerber V, Baleri D, Klukowska-Rötzler J, Swinburne JE, Dolf G.Mode of inheritance of equine recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) is unknown. Objective: Major genes are responsible for RAO. Methods: Direct offspring of 2 RAO-affected Warmblood stallions (n = 197; n = 163) and a representative sample of Swiss Warmbloods (n = 401). Methods: One environmental and 4 genetic models (general, mixed inheritance, major gene, and polygene) were tested for Horse Owner Assessed Respiratory Signs Index (1-4, unaffected to severely affected) by segregation analyses of the 2 half-sib sire families, both combined and separately, using prevalences estimated in a representa...
Garré B, Baert K, Nauwynck H, Deprez P, De Backer P, Croubels S.The aim of the current study was to investigate whether multiple oral dosing of valacyclovir could result in plasma concentrations exceeding the EC(50)-value of acyclovir against equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV1) during the majority of the treatment period. Additionally, we wanted to determine the concentration of acyclovir in nasal mucus and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Valacyclovir was administered to four horses and two ponies, three times daily, at a dosage of 40 mg/kg, for four consecutive days. Blood was collected prior to each administration and 1 h after dosing. Nasal mucus samples and CSF wer...
Franzén P, Aspan A, Egenvall A, Gunnarsson A, Karlstam E, Pringle J.Anaplasma phagocytophilum infects several mammalian species, and can persist in sheep, dogs, and calves. However, whether this organism persists in horses or induces long-term clinical abnormalities is not known. Objective: To evaluate whether A. phagocytophilum can persist in horses and to document clinical findings for 3 months after complete recovery from acute disease. Methods: Five clinically normal adult horses that had recovered spontaneously from experimentally induced acute disease caused by a Swedish equine isolate of A. phagocytophilum. Methods: Horses were monitored for up to 129 d...
Kohn CW, Fenner WR.The neurologic form of EHV-1 infection appears to be the result of central nervous system infarction caused by vasculitis, which is initiated in endothelial cells of small blood vessels. The etiologic agent is equine herpesvirus-1, subtype 1. There is some evidence to suggest that the neurologic form of the disease actually results from reactivation of a previous infection. Whether the vasculitis that causes the central nervous system injury is the direct result of the infection or an immune response to the infection has not been determined. The clinical signs are rapid in onset, nonprogressiv...
Bell IG, Drury-Klein C.To analyse horse event and horse movement registration data collected between September 2007 and December 2008 during the outbreak of equine influenza in New South Wales, Australia. Results: A total of 9356 events were registered, involving 504,382 horses and 242,952 riders. Registered horse movements totalled 224,084, involving 349,327 horses (excluding mobs) travelling 34.4 million km with an average of 154 km per journey. The number of recorded events and movements were low while movement controls were most stringent, then increased from December 2007 as restrictions were eased, to peak in ...
Walsh DM, Royal HD.Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was measured in 12 clinically normal horses, using the standard inulin clearance method, and values were compared with values for 2 methods, using a single rapid IV injection of 99mTc-labeled diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (99mTc-DTPA). The first 99mTc-DTPA method used a 2-compartment model to calculate GFR blood clearance of the tracer. The second method used sequential digital gamma camera images of the kidneys to determine fractional accumulation of the total dose of the tracer in the kidneys (percentage of injected dose, gamma camera) from 0 to 10 minut...
Montgomery JB, Husulak ML, Kosolofski H, Dos Santos S, Burgess H, Meachem MD.The objective of this study was to determine if TNF-α protein concentration differs in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) obtained from healthy horses, horses with naturally occurring exacerbations of severe equine asthma and horses in remission from severe equine asthma. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- α) protein concentrations were determined in BALF by commercial equine ELISA. Horses with naturally occurring exacerbation of severe equine asthma were found to have significantly lower BALF TNF-α protein concentrations than healthy horses (p = 0.0026). There was no significant differ...
Smyth JD.The genetics of speciation in the genus Echinococcus are briefly discussed. As the organism is a hermaphrodite and multiplies asexually in the larval stage, the genetic mechanism for the ready production of new strains is inherent in the life-cycle. Some biological, biochemical and nutritional differences between the horse and sheep strains are examined. The sheep strain may be grown to sexual maturity, in vitro, in a diphasic system; the horse strain fails to grow in such a system. Differences have also been demonstrated between the soluble proteins of the two strains. The sheep strain is inf...
Schvartz G, Epp T, Burgess HJ, Chilton NB, Lohmann KL.To investigate the agreement between available serologic tests for the detection of antibodies against Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi, 50 serum samples from horses of unknown clinical status and at low risk for infection were tested. In addition to a point-of-care enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (pocELISA), the evaluated tests included 2 indirect fluorescent antibody tests (IFATs) for antibodies against A. phagocytophilum and an IFAT, an ELISA confirmed with Western blot, and the Lyme multiplex assay for antibodies against B. burgdorferi. For each pair-wise comparison bet...
Tolleson DR, Teel PD, Stuth JW, Strey OF, Welsh TH, Carstens GE.Anti-tick treatments are often applied concurrent to routine livestock management practices with little regard to actual infestation levels. Prescription treatments against ticks on grazing cattle would be facilitated by non-invasive detection methods. One such method is fecal near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Four studies utilizing cattle (Bos spp.) and one with horses (Equus caballus) fed varying diets and infested with either Amblyomma americanum, A. maculatum, A. cajennense or Dermacentor albipictus were conducted to determine the ability of fecal NIRS to identify samples from animals wit...
Svalastoga E, Smith M.The subchondral bone pressure in the navicular bone of horses with navicular disease is compared with corresponding pressures in normal horses. An increased intraosseous pressure and a lengthened pressure drop time was demonstrated in patients with navicular disease, which indicates the existence of a venous stasis. Compared with similar investigations in humans with arthrosis it is concluded that navicular disease is a condition resembling arthrosis. The classical clinical symptoms are explained as an expression of resting pains. Treatments are suggested which theoretically can render the pat...
Macieira S, Lussier J, Bédard C.Glanzmann thrombasthenia (GT) is characterized by a defect of platelet aggregation. This autosomal recessive genetic disorder is caused by an abnormality of the platelet glycoprotein receptors alpha IIb or beta III. Recently, we identified a horse with clinical and pathological features of GT. The aim of this study was to describe this case of GT at the molecular level. A point mutation from G to C in exon 2 of ITGA2B causing a substitution of the expected amino acid arginine 72 (Arg(72)) by a proline (Pro(72)) was encountered. This amino acid change may result in abnormal structural conformat...
Müller C, Heidenreich E, Franzreb M, Frankenfeld K.Current purification of the glycoprotein equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) from horse serum includes consecutive precipitation steps beginning with metaphosphoric acid pH fractionation, two ethanol precipitation steps, and dialysis followed by a numerous of fixed-bed chromatography steps up to the specific activity required. A promising procedure for a more economic purification procedure represents a simplified precipitation process requiring only onethird of the solvent, followed by the usage of magnetic ion exchange adsorbents employed together with a newly designed 'rotor-stator' type Hi...
Krueger CR, Ruple-Czerniak A, Hackett ES.In horses undergoing celiotomy for acute gastrointestinal pain, identification of variables correlating with lesion severity and location, and survival provide veterinarians and owners with information that aids in making informed decisions regarding appropriate treatment. Muscle enzyme activity is often increased in horses undergoing celiotomy for acute gastrointestinal pain and it is not known if muscle enzyme activity increase is specific to lesion type or impacts prognosis for survival. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship of pre-operative increase in muscle enzyme ...
Aleman M, Scalco R, Malvick J, Grahn RA, True A, Bellone RR.Deleterious genetic variants are an important cause of skeletal muscle disease. Immunohistochemical evaluation of muscle biopsies is standard for the diagnosis of muscle disorders. The prevalence of alleles causing hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP), malignant hyperthermia (MH), polysaccharide storage myopathy 1 (PSSM1), glycogen branching enzyme deficiency (GBED), myotonia congenita (MC), and myosin heavy chain myopathy (MYHM) in horses with muscle disease is unknown. Archived slides processed for immunohistochemical analysis from 296 horses with muscle disease were reviewed blinded and c...
Bailey E, Albright DG, Henney PJ.Foals with the Ca blood group antigen on their RBC were given colostrum with anti-Ca antibodies (6 foals) or colostrum without anti-Ca antibodies (6 foals). The PCV were determined at birth and 2, 4, and 6 days after birth for the foals in each group. Significant differences were not observed for the PCV between the 2 groups, indicating that foals were not adversely affected by ingesting colostrum with the anti-Ca antibody. Standardbred mares without the Aa blood group antigen were evaluated to determine whether production of anti-Ca antibodies influenced production of anti-Aa antibodies. Of 2...
Pickles K, Pirie RS, Rhind S, Dixon PM, McGorum BC.The aim of this study was to develop a diagnostically useful smear method for preparation of equine bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) for use by practitioners. A smear method for equine BALF preparation which included the addition of serum was developed, and cell morphology, differential cell counts (DCC) and repeatability of counting DCC compared with those of cytocentrifuged BALF preparations. BALF samples (n = 21) were collected from 5 control horses and 5 heaves-susceptible horses. Smear preparations of BALF produced smaller, darker, staining cells, making cytological identification more...
Allen SE, Verheyen KLP, O'Neill DG, Brodbelt DC.Judicious antimicrobial use (AMU) is important for preserving therapeutic effectiveness. Large-scale studies of antimicrobial prescribing can provide clinical benchmarks and help identify opportunities for improved stewardship. Objective: To describe systemic AMU in UK equine practice and identify factors associated with systemic and Category B (third and fourth generation cephalosporins, quinolones and polymixins) AMU. Methods: Retrospective cohort. Methods: Anonymised electronic patient records (EPRs) for all equids attended by 39 UK veterinary practices between 1 January and 31 December 201...
Chiavaccini L, Hassel DM, Shoemaker ML, Charles JB, Belknap JK, Ehrhart EJ.The black walnut extract (BWE) model of equine laminitis is associated with a systemic inflammatory response manifest by increased expression of inflammatory cytokines in the lungs and liver as well as the laminae. The specific role of the gastrointestinal tract in development of this response is unclear and is of utmost importance, as gastrointestinal disease and laminitis are intimately related. We investigated calprotectin expression and epithelial and endothelial apoptosis in the colon of horses exposed to orally administered BWE. Sections of colon from 19 horses including 7 controls not e...
Borromeo V, Berrini A, Gaggioli D, Secchi C.Heterophile antibodies (HAs) present in serum recognize animal immunoglobulins and are one of the most unpredictable causes of false results in immunoassays. However, no study has yet reported their interference on the diagnostic reliability of immunochemical analyses on horse plasma. Recently, we developed a sandwich ELISA for detection of equine growth hormone (eGH) in plasma. In a pilot study to measure basal eGH levels (blood samples were drawn from 13 horses every 10 min for 1h), we noted one horse with abnormally high eGH (>100 ng/mL). We demonstrate here that this plasma eGH level wa...
Luttman AM, Komine M, Thaiwong T, Carpenter T, Ewart SL, Kiupel M, Langohr IM, Venta PJ.Tetranucleotide and pentanucleotide short tandem repeat (hereafter termed tetraSTR and pentaSTR) polymorphisms have properties that make them desirable for DNA profiling and paternity testing. However, certain species, such as the horse, have far fewer tetraSTRs than other species and for this reason dinucleotide STRs (diSTRs) have become the standard for DNA profiling in horses, despite being less desirable for technical reasons. During our testing of a series of candidate genes as potentially underlying a heritable condition characterized by megaesophagus in the Friesian horse breed, we foun...
Boyle A.Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (strangles) is a highly contagious upper respiratory infection in horses. The infection is transmitted by inhalation or direct contact with mucopurulent discharge from an infective animal, resulting in fever, depression, and submandibular and retropharyngeal lymph node enlargement that can lead to respiratory distress. Complications include purpura hemorrhagica and metastatic abscessation. Control of outbreaks requires strict isolation protocols and hygiene measures. Detection of carriers is essential for preventing disease recurrence on a farm.
Anderson JL, Sloss BL, Meece JK.Several studies have shown that Blastomyces dermatitidis, the etiologic agent of blastomycosis, is a genetically diverse pathogen. Blastomycosis is a significant health issue in humans and other mammals. Veterinary and human isolates matched with epidemiological case data from the same geographic area and time period were used to determine: (i) if differences in genetic diversity and structure exist between clinical veterinary and human isolates of B. dermatitidis and (ii) if comparable epidemiologic features differ among veterinary and human blastomycosis cases. Results: Genetic typing of 301...
Mahalingam-Dhingra A, Bedenice D, Mazan MR.Hemosiderophages in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) are commonly ascribed to exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH). Little information exists regarding the presence of these cells in horses that perform light or no work and that are referred for respiratory problems. Objective: Evaluate the presence of hemosiderophages in BALF of horses suspected of respiratory disease without history of or risk factors for EIPH and determine predictors of hemosiderophages in BALF in this population. Methods: Observational retrospective cross-sectional study using STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting...
Mariat D, Oustry-Vaiman A, Cribiu EP, Raudsepp T, Chowdhary BP, Guérin G.In order to increase the number of markers on the horse cytogenetic map and expand the integration with the linkage map, an equine BAC library was screened for genes and for microsatellites. Eighty-nine intra-exon primers were designed from consensus gene sequences in documented species. After PCR screening, 38 clones containing identified genes were isolated and FISH mapped. These data allowed us to refine the available Zoo-FISH results, to define ten new conserved cytogenetic segments and expand two others, thus leading to the identification of a total of 26 conserved segments between horse ...
Kleiboeker SB, Turnquist SE, Johnson PJ, Kreeger JM.In previous studies, novel putative viral pathogens designated that asinine herpesvirus 4 (AsHV4) and asinine herpesvirus 5 (AsHV5) were associated with fatal interstitial pneumonia in donkeys (Equus asinus). Nucleotide sequence analysis of a portion of the DNA polymerase gene identified these putative pathogens as herpesviruses and possibly as members of the Gammaherpesvirinae subfamily. Although similar to equine herpesvirus 2 (EHV2) and equine herpesvirus 5 (EHV5), sequence diversity was observed among the detected viruses. In this study, novel sequence is reported for a DNA-packaging prote...
Tornquist SJ, Oaks JL, Crawford TB.Thrombocytopenia is a common finding in infection with equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV), a lentivirus with some homology to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The thrombocytopenia of EIA, like that in some HIV patients, appears to have a multifactorial pathogenesis. To investigate the decreased platelet production seen in experimental EIA, the levels of three potential negative regulators of platelet production--tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha)--were measured in serum and bone marrow of six severe combi...
Tomizawa N, Nishimura R, Sasaki N, Nakayama H, Kadosawa T, Senba H, Takeuchi A.Nineteen wobbling foals (17 males and 2 females) showing lameness of hindlimbs at 6 to 21 months of age were investigated radiographically and histopathologically. Minimum sagittal diameter (MSD), minimum flexion diameter (MFD) and minimum dural sagittal diameter (MDD) were measured on plain radiograms or myelograms taken at neutral and flexed positions as indicators of narrowed vertebral canal. After necropsy, the cervical spines and the spinal cord were examined macroscopically and respectively the relationships between radiographic findings and the corresponding morphological lesions were e...
Reyner CL, Wagner B, Young JC, Ainsworth DM.To examine gene expression of selected cytokines in pulmonary mononuclear cells isolated from healthy horses and horses susceptible to recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), and to determine whether interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-23 were associated with pulmonary inflammation. Methods: 6 RAO-susceptible and 5 healthy horses. Methods: Bronchoalveolar lavage cells were retrieved from horses that were stabled and fed dusty hay for 24 hours. Lavage cells devoid of neutrophils were incubated for 24 hours with solutions of PBS, hay dust, lipopolysaccharide, or B-glucan. Gene expression of IL-17, IL-23 (p19...
Journal of proteomicsMarch 26, 2022
Volume 261 104571 doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2022.104571
Koziy RV, Bracamonte JL, Yoshimura S, Chumala P, Simko E, Katselis GS.Septic arthritis (SA) is a life-threatening condition in horses, and identifying eradication of infection in equine SA is challenging. This study explored the discovery of putative biomarkers for the eradication of joint infection in horses. We performed proteomics analysis of synovial fluid (SF) and plasma from horses with experimental SA, non-septic lipopolysaccharide-induced arthritis, and controls. The point of eradication of infection in horses with SA was determined previously. We compared spectral intensities between groups as well as before and after the eradication of infection. Twent...
Goraya K, Iqbal Z, Sajid M, Muhammad G, Ain QU, Saleem M.Plants have widely been used and documented for their therapeutic potential in many parts of the world. There are, however, few reports on the use of plants for the treatment of diseases of equines. To this end, participatory epidemiology and rapid rural appraisal techniques were used to document the plants having pharmacotherapeutic significance against different ailments of equines in selected population of Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: A survey was conducted to interview a total of 450 respondents (150 from each of the districts of Faisalabad, Lahore and Sargodha of Pakistan) to collect inform...
Kam YN, McKenzie K, Coyle M, Bertin FR.Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) is a common endocrinopathy of horses diagnosed with a thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation test. Objective: Describe the repeatability of TRH stimulation in horses with and without PPID in winter and autumn. Methods: Twenty adult horses; 6 controls and 6 with PPID tested in autumn, 8 controls and 6 with PPID tested in winter with 3 controls and 3 with PPID tested in both seasons. Methods: Thyrotropin-releasing hormone stimulation was performed on 2 consecutive occasions, 1 week before and 1 week after the winter solstice and the autumn ...
Trostle SS, Dubielzig RR, Beck KA.Nine horses with clinical and radiographic findings of cervical vertebral malformation that were necropsied and examined using frozen cervical spinal cord cross sections were reviewed. Only cases with actual distortion of the spinal cord due to compression were selected. The goal of the study was to determine the morphologic features responsible for narrowing of the spinal canal and compression of the spinal cord. In individual cases, bony changes are associated with osteochondrosis and osteomyelitis of the dorsal articular facets and osteosclerosis of the dorsal cervical lamina. Soft tissue p...
