Equine diseases encompass a wide range of health conditions that can affect horses, including infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and genetic conditions. These diseases can impact the overall health, performance, and well-being of horses. Common equine diseases include equine influenza, equine herpesvirus, laminitis, and equine metabolic syndrome. Diagnosis and management of these diseases often require a combination of clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and appropriate treatment strategies. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment options for various equine diseases, providing valuable insights for veterinarians and researchers in the field.
Anderson SL, Duke-Novakovski T, Robinson AR, Townsend HGG, Singh B.The objective of this study was to determine the effect of pulmonary intravascular macrophage depletion on systemic inflammation and ex vivo neutrophil apoptosis using an experimental model of intestinal ischemia and reperfusion injury in horses. Neutrophils were isolated before and after surgery from horses that were randomized to three treatment groups, namely, sham celiotomy (CEL, = 4), intestinal ischemia and reperfusion (IR, = 6), and intestinal ischemia and reperfusion with gadolinium chloride treatment to deplete pulmonary intravascular macrophages (PIMs, IRGC, = 6). Neutrophil apopt...
Neustroev MP, Petrova SG.An inactivated vaccine based on the BN-12 strain with the TNP-3 strain filtrate used as immunomodulator has been developed in order to prevent salmonella-induced equine abortion. Preclinical and clinical trials with the white mice and the horses, respectively, are carried out. The lack of toxicity is proven. The vaccine immunogenicity for mouse and mare models comprised 90 and 100%, respectively. The industrial vaccine tests showed that the industrial output of foals increased by 13.8% after immunization. Cost-effectiveness of the vaccine used with the TNP-3 strain filtrate comprised 14.1 r...
Barba M, Martínez-Boví R, Quereda JJ, Mocé ML, Plaza-Dávila M, Jiménez-Trigos E, Gómez-Martín Á, González-Torres P, Carbonetto B....Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) dominate human vaginal microbiota and inhibit pathogen proliferation. In other mammals, LAB do not dominate vaginal microbiota, however shifts of dominant microorganisms occur during ovarian cycle. The study objectives were to characterize equine vaginal microbiota in mares by culture-dependent and independent methods and to describe its variation in estrus and diestrus. Vaginal swabs from 8 healthy adult Arabian mares were obtained in estrus and diestrus. For culture-dependent processing, bacteria were isolated on Columbia blood agar (BA) and Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS)...
Gugliandolo E, Crupi R, Biondi V, Licata P, Cuzzocrea S, Passantino A.Although inflammation is an important physiological response, it plays a prominent role in several diseases across the mammalian species. In horses, in particular, inflammation secondary to bacterial infection or translocation is one of the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality. Research in new molecules with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory proprieties and safe use profile is constantly an active field; natural compounds are an important source of molecules with peculiar properties such as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and immune modulating. Silibinin, a natural polyphenolic...
Detilleux J.Frequentism dominates scientific practice although Bayesianism may provide an alternative, especially when analysing data from complex, high-dimensional models. The key differences between Bayesianism and Frequentism are highlighted in the introduction. Next, I review the different stages of Bayesian statistical reasoning in a research setting, explain the key concepts and illustrate them with toy examples taken in equine veterinary medicine. An extension to more complex models (Bayes network) is introduced and guidelines are offered as a conclusion.
Rizzo M, du Preez N, Ducheyne KD, Deelen C, Beitsma MM, Stout TAE, de Ruijter-Villani M.Aneuploidy of meiotic origin is a major contributor to age-related subfertility and an increased risk of miscarriage in women. Although age-related aneuploidy has been studied in rodents, the mare may be a more appropriate animal model to study reproductive aging. Similar to women, aged mares show reduced fertility and an increased incidence of early pregnancy loss; however, it is not known whether aging predisposes to aneuploidy in equine oocytes. We evaluated the effect of advanced mare age on (1) gene expression for cohesin components, (2) incidence of aneuploidy and (3) chromosome centrome...
Liu Y, Bailey KE, Dyall-Smith M, Marenda MS, Hardefeldt LY, Browning GF, Gilkerson JR, Billman-Jacobe H.The human and domestic animal faecal microbiota can carry various antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), especially if they have been exposed to antimicrobials. However, little is known about the ARG profile of the faecal microbiota of healthy foals. A high-throughput qPCR array was used to detect ARGs in the faecal microbiota of healthy foals. Objective: To characterise the faecal microbiota and ARG profiles in healthy Australian foals aged less than 1 month. Methods: Observational study. Methods: The faecal microbiota and ARG profiles of 37 Thoroughbred foals with no known gastrointestinal ...
Phutthachalee S, Mählmann K, Seesupa S, Lischer C.Compensatory lameness is common in horses and evaluation can be challenging. Objective: To investigate patterns of compensatory movements in clinical cases with fore- or hindlimb lameness before and after diagnostic analgesia. Methods: Retrospective clinical study. Methods: Multiple limb lameness of 367 horses was characterised by type (push-off, impact or mixed), limb (fore- or hindlimb in predominant lameness) and side (ipsi- or contralateral in concurrent lameness) using a body-mounted inertial sensor (BMIS). Diagnostic analgesia was performed until the percentage improvement of the vector ...
Borges-Silva W, de Jesus RF, Ferreira R, Gondim LFP. and are protozoan parasites endemic to the Americas. The former is the major cause of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, and the latter is associated with pulmonary sarcocystosis in birds. The opossum is the definitive host of these parasites in North America. Four species are found in Brazil, and in most reports in this country, species shed by opossums have been classified as -like. It is unknown whether reports on -seropositive horses in Brazil are also derived from exposure of horses to -like. The aim of this study was to test the sera reactivity of 409 horses in Brazil using antigen...
Kilcoyne I, Nieto JE, Watson JL, Galuppo LD, Borjesson DL.Endotoxemia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the equine industry, with colic being the most common cause of endotoxemia in horses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and potential efficacy of a single dose of allogeneic equine bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) in horses after the IV administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Six horses were administered an IV infusion of 30 ng/kg LPS (O55:B5 Escherichia coli) in 500 ml saline over 30 min. Immediately after infusion test horses (n = 3) were administered 100 × 10 allogeneic BM-MSCs diluted...
Nelson BB, Mäkelä JTA, Lawson TB, Patwa AN, Snyder BD, McIlwraith CW, Grinstaff MW, Goodrich LR, Kawcak CE.Cationic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) is a quantitative imaging technique that characterizes articular cartilage, though its efficacy in differentiating repair tissue from other disease states is undetermined. We hypothesized that cationic CECT attenuation will distinguish between reparative, degenerative, and healthy equine articular cartilage and will reflect biochemical, mechanical, and histologic properties. Chondral defects were created in vivo on equine femoropatellar joint surfaces. Within defects, calcified cartilage was retained (Repair 1) or removed (Repair 2). At sac...
Müller-Quirin J, Dittmann MT, Roepstorff C, Arpagaus S, Latif SN, Weishaupt MA.Lameness is a symptom indicative of pain or injury of the locomotor apparatus. Lame horses generally should not be ridden. However, owners' ability to assess lameness has been questioned. This study's aim was to use subjective lameness assessments and objective gait analysis to generate a descriptive overview of movement and weight-bearing asymmetries of owner-sound riding horses. 235 horses were subjectively assessed in a field study, and the owner's perception of their horse's orthopedic health was recorded through an online survey. 69 horses were re-evaluated by gait analysis at an equine h...
Joó K, Povázsai Á, Nyerges-Bohák Z, Szenci O, Kutasi O.It is important to treat the upper and lower respiratory tracts as a single unit, as lower respiratory tract diseases can often cause upper respiratory functional disorders, whereas upper respiratory obstructions could be a factor in lower respiratory problems. The present study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that asthmatic diseases may be an underlying cause of dorsal displacement of the soft palate in horses. Pleasure or sport horses (n = 57) with a history of asthmatic disease were incorporated in the study. All horses were examined in the exacerbation phase of the asthmatic disease. ...
Ben Hamouda S, Vargas A, Boivin R, Miglino MA, da Palma RK, Lavoie JP.Severe asthma is associated with an increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass and altered composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Studies have indicated that ECM-ASM cell interactions contribute to this remodeling and its limited reversibility with current therapy. Three-dimensional matrices allow the study of complex cellular responses to different stimuli in an almost natural environment. Our goal was to obtain acellular bronchial matrices and then develop a recellularization protocol with ASM cells. We studied equine bronchi as horses spontaneously develop a human asthma-like disease...
Jackson K, Kelty E, Tennant M.Equine peripheral caries can be a significant welfare issue in affected horses. Recent work has shown that complete reversal of the condition may be possible if the primary risk factor can be identified and corrected. Determining whether caries are active (deteriorating) or inactive (improving) is of vital importance when formulating a management and treatment plan. A new grading system is proposed that looks at whether caries are likely active or inactive to assist clinicians deciding whether intervention is required. Objective: To examine the reliability of an alternative grading method for ...
Wernery U, Rodriguez M, Raghavan R, Syriac G, Miriam Thomas M S, Elizabeth SK, Federico Ronchi G, Muhammed R, Patteril NA, Joseph S.African horse sickness (AHS) is a devastating viral disease of equids that was first recorded in 1327. Currently, prevention and control of the disease are based on attenuated vaccines and midge control. It has been shown that attenuated Orbivirus vaccines are not always safe as they may reverse to virulence. Objective: In the Emirate of Dubai, a vaccination experiment was carried out with an inactivated AHS vaccine produced at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL), Dubai, UAE to investigate the humoral antibody response of AHS-naïve horses to this vaccine. Our vaccination experim...
Dell A, Curry M, Yarnell K, Starbuck G, Wilson PB.The Cleveland Bay horse is one of the oldest equines in the United Kingdom, with pedigree data going back almost 300 years. The studbook is essentially closed and because of this, there are concerns about loss of genetic variation across generations. The breed is one of five equine breeds listed as "critical" (<300 registered adult breeding females) by the UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust in their annual Watchlist. Due to their critically endangered status, the current breadth of their genetic diversity is of concern, and assessment of this can lead to improved breed management strategies. Herein...
Marr CM, Franklin S, Garrod G, Wylie C, Smith L, Dukes-McEwan J, Bright J, Allen K.Exercise-associated cardiac rhythm disturbances are common, but there is a lack of evidence-based criteria on which to distinguish clinically relevant rhythm disturbances from those that are not. Objective: To describe and characterise rhythm disturbances during clinical exercise testing; to explore potential risk factors for these rhythm disturbances and to determine whether they influenced future racing. Methods: Retrospective cohort using a convenience sample. Methods: Medical records were reviewed from two clinical services to identify horses with poor performance and/or respiratory noise ...
Jarosinski SK, Sampson SN, Russell L.Injection of the centrodistal (CD) joint in the horse is a commonly performed procedure for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This procedure can be technically challenging, and while radiographic guidance has been previously used, ultrasound localised injection of the CD joint has not been described. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of using ultrasound localisation to increase the accuracy of CD joint injection. Methods: Experimental method assessment. Methods: One operator performed the ultrasound and injection of 24 CD joints in 12 sedated horses. T...
Cymerys J, Słońska A, Chodkowski M, Golke A, Krzyżowska M, Bańbura MW.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) causes respiratory disease, abortion and neurological disorders in horses. Similarly, to other alphaherpesviruses, EHV-1 is neurotropic and establishes latency in the neurons of its natural host. Despite the fact that many studies have been devoted to the pathogenesis of various clinical forms of EHV-1 infection, mechanisms of the neuronal damage are still not fully understood. The aim of this study was to define the phosphorylation status of tau protein in neuronal cell culture infected with EHV-1. Phosphorylation of tau was tested at tau-ser199/ser202, tau-ser404,...
Thompson RE, Johnson AK, Dini P, Turco MY, Prado TM, Premanandan C, Burton GJ, Ball BA, Whitlock BK, Pukazhenthi BS.The endometrium, the inner uterine lining, is composed of cell layers that come in direct contact with an embryo during early pregnancy and later with the fetal placenta. The endometrium is responsible for signals associated with normal reproductive cyclicity as well as maintenance of pregnancy. In the mare, functionally competent in vitro models of the endometrium have not been successful. Furthermore, the ability to study various reproductive processes in vitro may allow critical evaluation of signaling pathways involved in the reproductive diseases of animals that cannot be handled frequent...
Valberg SJ, Finno CJ, Henry ML, Schott M, Velez-Irizarry D, Peng S, McKenzie EC, Petersen JL.Commercial genetic tests for type 2 polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM2) and myofibrillar myopathy (MFM) have not been validated by peer-review, and formal regulation of veterinary genetic testing is lacking. Objective: To compare genotype and allele frequencies of commercial test variants (P variants) in MYOT (P2; rs1138656462), FLNC (P3a; rs1139799323), FLNC (P3b; rs1142918816) and MYOZ3 (P4; rs1142544043) between Warmblood (WB) and Arabian (AR) horses diagnosed with PSSM2/MFM by muscle histopathology, and phenotyped breed-matched controls. To quantify variant frequency in public reposi...
Kunz JR, Granella MCS, Mendes RP, Müller TR, Kau S, Fonteque JH.In developing and emerging countries, many people make a living from picking municipal solid waste to sell for reuse or recycling. These people depend on cost-effective transport vehicles like horse-drawn carts. It is indisputable that the general health of these horses not only plays a major economic role but is a welfare issue as well. Orodental disorders are likely to be of particular importance as they directly impair health, performance, and therefore influence animal welfare and income. However, studies investigating prevalence and distribution of orodental disorders in working horses ar...
Rodrigues JB, Sullivan RJE, Judge A, Norris SL, Burden FA.Across Asia the brick-kiln industry is expanding. In Nepal, urban dwelling has increased in recent years, raising requirement for low-cost, mass produced bricks to meet the population needs. Working equids (WEs) play a key role in non-mechanised kilns. Assessing the welfare of these equids is the starting point to addressing concerns. In line with One Welfare principles, the health and welfare of animals, people and the kiln environment are interlinked. In December 2019, 119 WEs were assessed in seven brick kilns in three districts of Nepal, using the Equid Assessment Research and Scoping tool...
Flash ML, Renwick M, Gilkerson JR, Stevenson MA.The reasons for Thoroughbred (TB) horses not entering training or exiting the racing industry, are of interest to regulators, welfare groups and the broader community. Speculation about the outcomes of these horses threatens the community acceptance, or social license, of the TB breeding and racing industries. A representative survey of the 2010 Victorian born TB foal crop was used to determine the outcomes and reasons for exit for horses that had not entered training, or had exited training and racing by eight years of age. Horses exported for racing or breeding (4%), or that were still activ...
Dixon PM, Barnett TP, Morgan RE, Reardon RJM. Computed tomographic (CT) imaging has allowed new anatomical studies and detailed clinical imaging of the complex, overlapping equine sinonasal structures. Despite the widespread use of CT, no study has specifically identified which compartments are most commonly affected with sinus disorders. CT has also shown the presence of intercurrent, ipsilateral nasal disorders, especially infection of the nasal conchal bullae (NCB) in many cases of sinus disease, but the frequency of intercurrent NCB infections has not been reported. To identify which sinus compartments are most commonly affected in ...
Steel CM, Walmsley EA, Anderson GA, Coles CA, Ahern B, White JD.As myosin heavy chain (MyHC) profile of muscle fibres is heavily influenced by neural input, changes in MyHC expression are expected in horses clinically affected with recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) yet, this has not been thoroughly investigated. Objective: To describe the changes in MyHC and fibre diameter in left cricoarytenoideus dorsalis (L-CAD) muscle of horses with clinical signs of RLN. Methods: Observational cohort study. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the MyHC-based fibre-type proportion, size and grouping in the L-CAD of 10 Thoroughbred horses, five clinically...
Martinez-Lopez J, Brown JA, Werre SR.To compare the prevalence of incisional complications after skin closure with n-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBC) or stainless-steel skin staples (SS) after ventral midline celiotomy for colic surgery in the horse. Methods: Retrospective study (2014-2018). Methods: Two hundred eighteen horses. Methods: Medical records of horses that underwent exploratory celiotomy for colic were included when the skin was closed with NBC or SS and the horse survived ≥15 days after surgery. Records and a follow-up questionnaire were used to determine in-hospital and posthospital discharge incisional complications. ...
Marin F.Motion is key to health and wellbeing, something we are particularly aware of in times of lockdowns and restrictions on movement. Considering the motion of humans and animals as a biomarker of the performance of the neuro-musculoskeletal system, its analysis covers a large array of research fields, such as sports, equine science and clinical applications, but also innovative methods and workplace analysis. In this Special Issue of Sensors, we focused on human and animal motion-tracking using inertial sensors. Ten research and two review papers, mainly on human movement, but also on the locomot...
Dorado J, Bottrel M, Ortiz I, Díaz-Jiménez M, Pereira B, Consuegra C, Carrasco JJ, Gómez-Arrones V, Domingo A, Hidalgo M.Embryo transfer and the vitrification of embryos could be used for the conservation and recovery of endangered donkey breeds. It is important to develop techniques that optimize recovery rates and the cryotolerance of donkey embryos. This study evaluates factors affecting the recovery rate, quality, and diameter of embryos obtained from donor jennies as a starting point for the use of vitrification and embryo transfer in the conservation of the Andalusian donkey. A total of 100 embryos were recovered out of 124 estrous cycles (80.6%). The donor jenny affected the rates of positive flushings (P...
Anstey S, Lizárraga D, Nyari S, Chalmers G, Carrick J, Chicken C, Jenkins C, Perkins N, Timms P, Jelocnik M.Late-term foal loss due to the traditional avian pathogen Chlamydia psittaci recently emerged as a threat to the Australian Thoroughbred industry. A longitudinal study of 14 stud farms was undertaken to better understand C. psittaci infection in pregnant mares and their foals by evaluating C. psittaci prevalence, equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) co-infection, avian reservoirs, and potential risk factors. Mucosal swabs taken from 228 healthy pregnant mares and their foals were tested for C. psittaci and EHV-1 using species-specific qPCR assays. No foal loss was recorded due to either pathogen, and ...
McBrearty KA, Murray A, Dunowska M.To determine which viruses circulate among selected populations of New Zealand horses and whether or not viral infections were associated with development of respiratory disease. Methods: Nasal swabs were collected from 33 healthy horses and 52 horses with respiratory disease and tested by virus isolation and/or PCR for the presence of equine herpesviruses (EHV) and equine rhinitis viruses. Results: Herpesviruses were the only viruses detected in nasal swab samples. When both the results of nasal swab PCR and virus isolation were considered together, a total of 41/52 (79%) horses with respirat...
McEwan Jenkinson D, Elder HY, Bovell DL.Sweating has a variety of functions in mammals including pheromone action, excretion of waste products and maintenance of the skin surface ecosystem. In a small number of mammalian species, which includes humans and the Equidae, it also has an important role in thermoregulation. This review is focused specifically on the thermoregulatory role of sweat in Equidae and the causes of sweating failure (anhidrosis). The first part describes the glandular appearance, sweat composition, and output rates; and considers the latest theories on the glandular control and secretory mechanisms. It is conclud...
Kaiser-Thom S, Hilty M, Axiak S, Gerber V.Equine pastern dermatitis (EPD), a multifactorial syndrome, manifests as skin lesions of variable severity in the pastern area. Despite the widespread use of antibacterial therapy for treating this condition, little is known about the contributing bacteria. Objective: To investigate the bacterial skin microbiota in EPD-affected and unaffected (control) pasterns. Methods: Case-control study with 80 client-owned horses; each with at least one EPD-affected and one control pastern. Methods: Horses were grouped by the form of EPD (mild, exudative or proliferative), the assigned severity grade and t...
Yuan Z, Gallagher A, Gault EA, Campo MS, Nasir L.Bovine papillomavirus (BPV) type 2 is involved in carcinogenesis of the urinary bladder in cattle, while BPV-1 is commonly associated with equine sarcoid tumours. In both cases the early viral proteins are expressed, but virion is not produced. Given the similarities in BPV biology between the tumours in cattle and horses, bovine bladder cancers and equine sarcoids were compared with respect to physical status, load of viral DNA and variability of the E5 open reading frame (ORF). Rolling circle amplification demonstrated that BPV-1 and BPV-2 genomes exist as double stranded, episomal, circular...
Carossino M, Barrandeguy ME, Erol E, Li Y, Balasuriya UBR.Equine rotavirus A (ERVA) is the leading cause of diarrhea in neonatal foals and has a negative impact on equine breeding enterprises worldwide. Among ERVA strains infecting foals, the genotypes G3P[12] and G14P[12] are the most prevalent, while infections by strains with other genomic arrangements are infrequent. The identification of circulating strains of ERVA is critical for diagnostic and surveillance purposes, as well as to understand their molecular epidemiology. Current genotyping methods available for ERVA and rotaviruses affecting other animal species rely on Sanger sequencing and ar...
Hobson-Peters J, Toye P, Sánchez MD, Bossart KN, Wang LF, Clark DC, Cheah WY, Hall RA.Using a monoclonal antibody directed to domain I of the West Nile virus (WNV) envelope (E) protein, we identified a continuous (linear) epitope that was immunogenic during WNV infection of horses. Using synthetic peptides, this epitope was mapped to a 19 aa sequence (WN19: E147-165) encompassing the WNV NY99 E protein glycosylation site at position 154. The inability of WNV-positive horse and mouse sera to bind the synthetic peptides indicated that glycosylation was required for recognition of peptide WN19 by WNV-specific antibodies in sera. N-linked glycosylation of WN19 was achieved through ...
Hollis AR, Dallap Schaer BL, Boston RC, Wilkins PA.More information is needed regarding accuracy of commonly used methods of glucose measurement in the critically ill horse. Objective: Glucometry will have good agreement with a laboratory standard. Glucometry with plasma will have better agreement than when performed with whole blood. Methods: Fifty sequentially admitted equine emergency patients, aged >1year. Methods: Venous blood was collected at admission and immediately analyzed by point-of-care glucometry on both whole blood (POC/WB) and plasma (POC/PL), a multielectrode blood gas analyzer with whole blood (BLG), and a standard laborat...
Scorpio DG, Leutenegger C, Berger J, Barat N, Madigan JE, Dumler JS.Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis by inducing immunopathologic responses. Its immunodominant Msp2 protein is encoded by a family of >100 paralogs. Msp2 (msp2) expression modulates in the absence of immune pressure, and prolonged in vitro passage modulates in vivo virulence. Because programmed MSP2 expression occurs in Anaplasma marginale, we hypothesized a similar event in A. phagocytophilum in vivo, with specific Msp2 expression triggering immunopathologic injury or clinical manifestations of disease. We examined msp2 transcripts in 11 B6 mice and 6 horses inocu...
Kindig CA, Gallatin LL, Erickson HH, Fedde MR, Poole DC.To investigate the role of nitric oxide, NO, in facilitating cardiorespiratory function during exercise, five horses ran on a treadmill at speeds that yielded 50, 80 and 100% of peak pulmonary oxygen uptake (V(O(2)) peak) as determined on a maximal incremental test. Each horse underwent one control (C) and one (NO-synthase inhibitor; N(G)-L-nitro-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), 20 mg/kg) trial in randomized order. Pulmonary gas exchange (open flow system), arterial and mixed-venous blood gases, cardiac output (Fick Principle), and pulmonary and systemic conductances were determined. L-NAME red...
von Rechenberg B, Leutenegger C, Zlinsky K, McIlwraith CW, Akens MK, Auer JA.This study investigated the potential association of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in subchondral cystic lesions (SCL) in horses. With the technique of in situ hybridisation in paraffin sections of fibrous tissue of SCL and quantitative real-time PCR in fresh frozen fibrous tissue and undecalcified bone sections of SCL embedded in acrylic resin, upregulation of mRNA of both cytokines could be demonstrated. mRNA of IL-1beta was upregulated at the periphery of the cystic lesion adjacent to normal bone, whereas IL-6 mRNA was upregulated within the fibrous tissue found with...
Jeffcott LB, Henson FM.The importance of osteochondrosis (dyschondroplasia) to the horse industry has been well documented since it was first recorded 50 years ago. The condition is known to be multifactorial in origin, arising from focal failure of endochondral ossification at predilection sites in articular/epiphyseal growth cartilage, but specific information on its aetiopathogenesis is sparse. This paper reviews the current knowledge of growth cartilage metabolism and the process of normal endochondral ossification in the horse. It highlights the localization of various protein products of chondrocytes and the d...
Dakin SG, Jespers K, Warner S, O'Hara LK, Dudhia J, Goodship AE, Wilson AM, Smith RK.Highly prevalent superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) injury results in compromised tendon function through fibrosis and high frequency of re-injury due to altered biomechanical function. This study investigated the consequences of SDF tendinopathy on limb mechanics in relation to the mechanical properties of injured tendon. Objective: To develop and validate a noninvasive in vivo assessment of tendon mechanics to investigate the effect of recent SDFT injury on limb stiffness index, providing an objective method to assess quality of healing. Objective: Limb stiffness index would reduce as ...
Hawkins JA, Adams WV, Wilson BH, Issel CJ, Roth EE.The mechanical transmission of equine infectious anemia (EIA) virus by Tabanus fuscicostatus was investigated. In 1 of 7 transmission trials, a single horsefly transmitted EIA virus from an acutely infected pony to a susceptible pony. Groups of horseflies isolated for 3, 10, or 30 minutes before refeeding transmitted EIA virus, whereas those isolated for 4 or 24 hours did not. Data from field studies indicate that the home range or flight distance of horseflies may exceed 4 miles. That information together with our observations suggest that segregation of infected horses (usually defined as at...
Wright JD, Kelly WR, Waddell AH, Hamilton J.Verminous encephalomyelitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis larvae was diagnosed in 2 foals at necropsy. The principal clinical feature was tetraparesis, although history and neurological examination revealed progressive and multifocal neurological disease. At presentation, a tentative diagnosis of parasitic larval migration involving the central nervous system (CNS), presumably due to Strongylus vulgaris, was proposed. Dissection of the spinal cord in one case resulted in recovery of intact larvae of both sexes of A. cantonensis. In both foals, histopathology of the brain and spinal cord r...
Valberg SJ, Perumbakkam S, McKenzie EC, Finno CJ.Equine myofibrillar myopathy (MFM) causes exertional muscle pain and is characterized by myofibrillar disarray and ectopic desmin aggregates of unknown origin. To investigate the pathophysiology of MFM, we compared resting and 3 h postexercise transcriptomes of gluteal muscle and the resting skeletal muscle proteome of MFM and control Arabian horses with RNA sequencing and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation analyses. Three hours after exercise, 191 genes were identified as differentially expressed (DE) in MFM vs. control muscle with >1 log fold change (FC) in genes involve...
Ribeiro MG, Seki I, Yasuoka K, Kakuda T, Sasaki Y, Tsubaki S, Takai S.We investigated the prevalence of virulent Rhodococcus equi in clinical isolates from 41 foals (19 sporadic and seven endemic cases) in Brazil between 1991 and 2003. Of the 41 virulent isolates, six contained an 85-kb type I plasmid, 33 contained an 87-kb type I plasmid, both of which have been found in isolates from the Americas, and the remaining two contained a new variant, which did not display the EcoRI, EcoT22I and BamHI digestion patterns of the 11 representative plasmids already reported (85-kb types I-IV; 87-kb types I and II; 90-kb types I-V). We tentatively designated the new varian...
Muñoz-Prieto A, Contreras-Aguilar MD, Cerón JJ, Ayala I, Martin-Cuervo M, Gonzalez-Sanchez JC, Jacobsen S, Kuleš J, Beletić A, Rubić I, Mrljak V....Changes in the salivary proteome in 12 horses with the two diseases included in equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS), equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) (n = 6) and equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) (n = 6), were evaluated using a high-resolution LC-MS/MS analysis of TMT-labelled peptides and compared to 10 healthy control horses. Serum was also analysed for comparative purposes. The comparison between the horses with EGGD and controls showed significant changes in 10 salivary proteins, whereas 36 salivary proteins were differently abundant between ESGD and control groups. The most u...
Guillaume-Vasselin V, Lemaitre L, Dhondt KP, Tedeschi L, Poulard A, Charreyre C, Horvat B.Hendra virus (HeV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen, which causes severe respiratory illness and encephalitis in humans and horses. Since its first appearance in 1994, spillovers of HeV from its natural reservoir fruit bats occur on almost an annual basis. The high mortality rate in both humans and horses and the wide-ranging reservoir distribution are making HeV a serious public health problem, especially for people exposed to sick horses. This study has aimed to develop an efficient low-cost HeV vaccine for horses based on Canarypox recombinant vector expressing HeV glycoproteins, attachment...
Pollitt CC, Visser MB.In acute laminitis, the suspensory apparatus of the distal phalanx fails at the lamellar dermal/epidermal interface. A grading system for the histopathology of laminitis is based on the consistent pattern of histologic changes to the secondary epidermal lamellae, basal cells, and basement membrane that occur as carbohydrate-induced laminitis develops. The actual trigger factors of carbohydrate-induced laminitis remain unidentified.
de Ruijter-Villani M, van Boxtel PR, Stout TA.Uterine-derived growth factors and cytokines play essential roles in regulating preimplantation conceptus development. In several species, fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) promotes embryogenesis, trophoblast cell migration, and adhesion. This study investigated mRNA expression for FGF2, its receptors (FGFR1-4), the activating factor FGF binding protein (FGF-BP) in equine endometrium and trophectoderm during early pregnancy and the estrous cycle, and localized FGF2 protein in both endometrium and conceptus tissues. FGF2, FGFRs1-4, and FGFBP mRNAs were expressed in endometrium throughout the es...