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.
BMC research notesNovember 8, 2012
Volume 5 626 doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-5-626
Boudko SP, Ishikawa Y, Lerch TF, Nix J, Chapman MS, Bächinger HP.Hyperelastosis cutis is an inherited autosomal recessive connective tissue disorder. Affected horses are characterized by hyperextensible skin, scarring, and severe lesions along the back. The disorder is caused by a mutation in cyclophilin B. Results: The crystal structures of both wild-type and mutated (Gly6->Arg) horse cyclophilin B are presented. The mutation neither affects the overall fold of the enzyme nor impairs the catalytic site structure. Instead, it locally rearranges the flexible N-terminal end of the polypeptide chain and also makes it more rigid. Conclusions: Interactions of th...
BMC research notesNovember 8, 2012
Volume 5 626 doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-5-626
Boudko SP, Ishikawa Y, Lerch TF, Nix J, Chapman MS, Bächinger HP.Hyperelastosis cutis is an inherited autosomal recessive connective tissue disorder. Affected horses are characterized by hyperextensible skin, scarring, and severe lesions along the back. The disorder is caused by a mutation in cyclophilin B. Results: The crystal structures of both wild-type and mutated (Gly6->Arg) horse cyclophilin B are presented. The mutation neither affects the overall fold of the enzyme nor impairs the catalytic site structure. Instead, it locally rearranges the flexible N-terminal end of the polypeptide chain and also makes it more rigid. Conclusions: Interactions of th...
Sutton GA, Dahan R, Turner D, Paltiel O.A validated tool for assessing the severity of acute abdominal pain is needed for the effective management of colic in horses. Two behaviour-based colic pain scales were constructed by combining together mathematical and judgemental approaches. The mathematical approach identified easily-recognised pain behaviours to select as items. The judgemental approach further modified the items and weighted them based on expert-opinion. Thirty equine practitioners assessed the level of pain demonstrated in 23 film clips of clinical cases exhibiting signs of acute abdominal pain prospectively using a 10c...
Peters LM, Demmel S, Pusch G, Buters JT, Thormann W, Zielinski J, Leeb T, Mevissen M, Schmitz A.Ketamine is an anesthetic and analgesic regularly used in veterinary patients. As ketamine is almost always administered in combination with other drugs, interactions between ketamine and other drugs bear the risk of either adverse effects or diminished efficacy. Since cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) play a pivotal role in the phase I metabolism of the majority of all marketed drugs, drug-drug interactions often occur at the active site of these enzymes. CYPs have been thoroughly examined in humans and laboratory animals, but little is known about equine CYPs. The characterization of equine CYP...
Nemoto M, Tsunemitsu H, Murase H, Nambo Y, Sato S, Orita Y, Imagawa H, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Matsumura T, Kondo T.Both the G3P[12] and the G14P[12] type of equine group A rotavirus (RVA) have recently become predominant in many countries, including Japan. G3 types are classified further into G3A and G3B. The G3A viruses have been circulating in Europe, Australia, and Argentina, and the G3B viruses have been circulating in Japan. However, only an inactivated vaccine containing a single G3BP[12] strain is commercially available in Japan. To assess the efficacy of the current vaccine against recently circulating equine RVA strains, we examined antibody responses in pregnant mares to recent G3BP[12] and G14P[...
McGowan KT, Elfenbein JR, Robertson SA, Sanchez LC.Pain management is an important component of foal nursing care, and no objective data currently exist regarding the analgesic efficacy of opioids in foals. Objective: To evaluate the somatic antinociceptive effects of 2 commonly used doses of intravenous (i.v.) butorphanol in healthy foals. Our hypothesis was that thermal nociceptive threshold would increase following i.v. butorphanol in a dose-dependent manner in both neonatal and older pony foals. Methods: Seven healthy neonatal pony foals (age 1-2 weeks), and 11 healthy older pony foals (age 4-8 weeks). Five foals were used during both age ...
Vander Kelen PT, Downs JA, Stark LM, Loraamm RW, Anderson JH, Unnasch TR.Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV) is an alphavirus with high pathogenicity in both humans and horses. Florida continues to have the highest occurrence of human cases in the USA, with four fatalities recorded in 2010. Unlike other states, Florida supports year-round EEEV transmission. This research uses GIS to examine spatial patterns of documented horse cases during 2005-2010 in order to understand the relationships between habitat and transmission intensity of EEEV in Florida. Methods: Cumulative incidence rates of EEE in horses were calculated for each county. Two cluster analyses wer...
Parkes RS, Richard Newton J, Dyson SJ.Lameness relating to the foot of the horse is common, but the majority of information concerning risk factors for injury is anecdotal. The objectives of this study were to investigate risk factors for foot-related pain in a referral population of horses, with particular reference to injury/disease of the podotrochlear apparatus (PTA), by comparison with the remainder of the clinic population. It was hypothesised that there would be an increased risk of foot pain associated with breed, work discipline, age, height and bodyweight (BW). A retrospective study of all horses examined at a referral c...
Charles EM, Rantanen NW.Tremendous growth and advancement in equine diagnostic imaging necessitates a systematic approach to the application of these modalities to lameness diagnosis. This systematic approach must include attention to the history, physical and clinical examinations, and parameters set forth by the client. It also must include an understanding of which imaging modality is most appropriate given the details of the case. This article presents a basic framework with an underlying algorithmic foundation that can be applied when selecting imaging modalities during lameness evaluation and includes case exam...
Saveraid TC, Judy CE.The use of intravenous gadolinium contrast during equine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a new technique that has been infrequently used in clinical imaging. This article describes the development of an effective contrast dose and the use of gadolinium contrast in clinical equine MRI. Gadolinium contrast improves lesion conspicuity across a broad range of lesion types. Contrast-enhanced MRI is potentially a valuable imaging tool in the assessment of the equine athlete.
Kuwano A, Yamauchi Y, Sasagawa T, Sasaki N, Hamano H.In October 2001, a survey was conducted about cavities formed within the hoof wall (called GIDOH in Japanese) of racehorses at the Ritto and Miho Training Centres, which are managed by the Japan Racing Association (JRA). Gidoh is defined as a progressive cavity within the deep layers between the stratum medium and stratum internum. A total of 148 out of 5386 surveyed horses (2.75 per cent) were affected. Out of 244 affected feet, fore hooves (84.02 per cent) were more susceptible than hind hooves, and the site most affected was midline dead centre of the toe (59.62 per cent) which tends to pla...
Vander Heyden L, Lejeune JP, Caudron I, Detilleux J, Sandersen C, Chavatte P, Paris J, Deliège B, Serteyn D.Osteochondrosis (OC) is the most common developmental orthopaedic disease in horses and represents a major problem to the horse industry. The complete mechanism of this multifactorial disease is not yet elucidated, but it is accepted that OC lesions are the result of intrinsic genetic and external factors. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the relationship between breeding management and OC. Breeding conditions were recorded, and a radiological examination was performed in 223 foals. Feeding practice and housing management were analysed in a multivariate model to determine risk facto...
Beckelmann J, Budik S, Helmreich M, Palm F, Walter I, Aurich C.An adjustment of sex ratio of offspring to the conditions present at conception is seen in many mammals including horses. This depends on preferential survival of male embryos under conditions of high energy intake. In several species, growth factors including insulin like growth factor (IGF)-1 have been shown to promote embryonic development by decreasing apoptosis and increasing cell proliferation. We hypothesized that sex-related differences in IGF-1 expression in equine embryos during the phase of maternal recognition of pregnancy might exist and thus contribute to preferential survival of...
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...
Adams AP, Navarro-Lopez R, Ramirez-Aguilar FJ, Lopez-Gonzalez I, Leal G, Flores-Mayorga JM, Travassos da Rosa AP, Saxton-Shaw KD, Singh AJ....Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) has been the causative agent for sporadic epidemics and equine epizootics throughout the Americas since the 1930s. In 1969, an outbreak of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) spread rapidly from Guatemala and through the Gulf Coast region of Mexico, reaching Texas in 1971. Since this outbreak, there have been very few studies to determine the northward extent of endemic VEEV in this region. This study reports the findings of serologic surveillance in the Gulf Coast region of Mexico from 2003-2010. Phylogenetic analysis was also performed on viral is...
Katz LM, Bailey SR.With the increasing number of studies being published on the different experimental models used to induce and study acute laminitis, the pathophysiological events associated with these various models (i.e. starch overload, oligofructose overload, black walnut extract and hyperinsulinaemia) can be compared more realistically. Within this review, the mechanisms for metabolic vs. inflammatory laminitis are discussed, and the question of how pasture laminitis may fit into any of the proposed mechanisms is addressed.
Schulman ML, Kass PH, Becker A, Van der Merwe B.Pregnancy losses include early embryonic death (EED) and later (postimplantation) abortion. Abortions, particularly Equid herpesvirus (EHV-1) abortion epizootics, cause severe economic and production losses. The long-term effects of EHV-1 and other abortions on subsequent reproductive performance in broodmare populations, however, remain undefined. This study described the relationships of EED and abortion with the following reproductive outcomes in Thoroughbred systems: breeding efficiency, month of last breeding, subsequent pregnancy and live foal rates. A prospective cohort study in broodma...
Szober CM, Hauck SM, Euler KN, Fröhlich KJ, Alge-Priglinger C, Ueffing M, Deeg CA.The purpose of this study was to characterize the cell surface proteome of native compared to cultured equine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. The RPE plays an essential role in visual function and represents the outer blood-retinal barrier. We are investigating immunopathomechanisms of equine recurrent uveitis, an autoimmune inflammatory disease in horses leading to breakdown of the outer blood-retinal barrier and influx of autoreactive T-cells into affected horses' vitrei. Cell surface proteins of native and cultured RPE cells from eye-healthy horses were captured by biotinylation, an...
Symons JE, Entwistle RC, Arens AM, Garcia TC, Christiansen BA, Fyhrie DP, Stover SM.To determine morphological and mechanical properties of trabecular bone of horses with a bone fragility syndrome (BFS; including silicate-associated osteoporosis). Methods: Cylindrical trabecular bone samples from the distal aspects of cadaveric third metacarpal bones of 39 horses (19 horses with a BFS [BFS bone samples] and 20 horses without a BFS [control bone samples]). Methods: Bone samples were imaged via micro-CT for determination of bone volume fraction; apparent and mean mineralized bone densities; and trabecular number, thickness, and separation. Bone samples were compressed to failur...
Sugimoto M, Kuwano A, Ikeda S, Kume S, Yoshihara E, Wada S.To examine the distribution of water in hoof wall specimens of horses via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microscopy and determine changes in water distribution during hydration. Methods: 4 hoof wall specimens (2 obtained from the dorsum and 1 each obtained from the lateral quarter and lateral heel regions) of the stratum medium of healthy hooves of 1 horse. Methods: Equine hoof wall specimens were examined via NMR microscopy. Proton density-weighted 3-D images were acquired. Changes during water absorption were assessed on sequential images. Results: The inner zone of the stratum medium had ...
Rendle DI, Hughes KJ, Farish C, Kessell A.A 6-year-old Standardbred mare that presented with bilateral palpebral swelling and a left corneal ulcer was diagnosed with a multicentric T-cell lymphoma. Other clinical findings included submandibular lymphadenopathy and oedema, pharyngeal oedema and rhinitis. Prior to euthanasia the horse developed keratomalacia, the onset of which was coincidental with the use of high doses of topical and systemic corticosteroids. Although an unusual presentation, palpebral swelling should be considered as a clinical sign of lymphoma.
McCue ME, Davis EG, Rush BR, Cox JH, Wilkerson MJ.A 4-year-old Paint mare was examined because of respiratory tract infection, dermatitis, and weight loss of 2 months' duration. Initial examination revealed generalized pruritic dermatitis, ocular and nasal discharges, and stranguria. Laboratory abnormalities included leukopenia and hypoalbuminemia. Further examination of the respiratory tract revealed grade III of IV pharyngitis and pyogranulomatous pneumonia. Endoscopic examination of the bladder revealed a prolific mass at the junction of the bladder and urethra. Hypoproteinemia was suspected to be caused by protein-losing enteropathy. On h...
Benvegnen J, De Breuyn B, Gerber V, Rottenberg S, Koch C.The aim of the study was to assess the expression of the immune checkpoint inhibitor programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in equine sarcoids (ES). Programmed death-ligand 1 is expressed by various cancer cells to block T cell-mediated elimination of tumor cells. Antibodies targeting human PD-L1 were tested by immunohistochemistry for their cross-reactivity with equine PD-L1 using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. Our results do not support an important role of PD-L1-mediated immune evasion in ES disease and hence do not offer a rationale for anti-PD-1/PD-L1-based immunotherapy against ES...
Roccabianca P, Paltrinieri S, Gallo E, Giuliani A.A 21-year-old Dutch crossbred mare was presented with a 1-month history of weight loss and weakness. Clinical evaluation revealed severe anemia and thrombocytopenia with evidence of hepatic disease and muscular damage. Necropsy findings included diaphragmatic rupture with an extensive retroperitoneal hematoma and severe hepatosplenomegaly. Microscopic findings were characterized by hepatic sinusoidal and splenic red pulp infiltration by atypical CD3-positive lymphocytes. No other nodal or extranodal sites were affected. Hepatosplenic lymphoma with a probable T-cell origin was diagnosed based o...
Crafford JE, Lourens CW, Gardner IA, Maclachlan NJ, Guthrie AJ.African horse sickness is an insect-transmitted, noncontagious disease of equids caused by African horse sickness virus (AHSV). Mortality can exceed 90% in fully susceptible horse populations. A live-attenuated (modified live) cell-culture-adapted (MLV) polyvalent AHSV vaccine is widely used to control African horse sickness in endemic areas in southern Africa. Field studies detailing antibody responses of vaccinated horses are lacking. Objective: To determine antibody titres to the 9 known serotypes of AHSV in a cohort of broodmares that were regularly vaccinated with the MLV AHSV vaccine and...
Meister U, Ohnesorge B, Körner D, Boevé MH.Sonographic ophthalmic examinations have become increasingly important in veterinary medicine. If the velocity of ultrasound in ocular tissues is known, the A-mode ultrasound method may be used to determine the axial intraocular distances, such as anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, axial length of the vitreous and axial globe length, which are required for intraocular lens (IOL) power calculations. To the authors' knowledge, the velocity of ultrasound in the ocular tissues of the horse was not previously determined. In the present study, 33 lenses, 29 samples of aqueous and 31 of vitreous...
Lichtwark GA, Watson JC, Mavrommatis S, Wilson AM.The equine biceps brachii (biceps) initiates rapid limb protraction through a catapult mechanism. Elastic strain energy is slowly stored in an internal tendon and is then rapidly released to protract the forelimb. The muscle fibres are short, have little scope for length change and can therefore only shorten slowly compared with the speed at which the whole muscle must shorten, which makes them poor candidates for driving rapid limb protraction. We suggest that the muscle fibres in the biceps act to modulate the elastic energy output of the muscle-tendon unit (MTU) to meet the demands of locom...
Tantely ML, Guis H, Randriananjantenaina I, Raharinirina MR, Velonirina HJ, Cardinale E, Raveloarijaona N, Cêtre-Sossah C, Garros C, Girod R.In Madagascar, the high West Nile virus (WNV) antibody prevalence reported in horse populations suggests a high level of vector-horse contact. This study aims to characterize the mosquito species usually involved in WNV transmission in horse stables in Madagascar. Five horse stables were investigated in October and November 2016 in five distinct inland areas. Mosquitoes were collected using double net traps baited with human, poultry or horse as well as light traps. Blood meal identification from engorged females was performed using host-specific PCRs. A total of 2898 adult mosquitoes were col...
Al-Obaidi QT, Mohd Mokhtar A, Al-Sultan II, Azlinda AB, Mohd Azam KGK.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is global disease of equids affect the international movement of horses and their industry. This work was conducted on a random collection of blood samples from a total of 306 equids (horses and ponies) comprising both clinically healthy (n=276) and clinically suspected animals (n=30) for EP from 53 stables in eight districts at Kelantan, Malaysia. Competitive-inhibition enzyme linked immunosorbent test (cELISA) was applied to detect the antibodies for Theileria equi and Babesia caballi and their titers in the serum. Hemato-biochemical parameters were analyzed from bl...
Qiu X, Cao X, Shi N, Zhang H, Zhu X, Gao Y, Mai Z, Jin N, Lu H.Getah virus (GETV) disease is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that causes fever, aseptic meningitis, and abortion in a variety of animals. Currently, the epidemic trend of GETV disease increases seriously worldwide, especially in China, posing a potential threat to animal safety and public health. However, there are few reports about the epidemiological investigation of GETV disease in China as well as a lack of commercial diagnostic kit for GETV antibody. Therefore, the establishment of a rapid, sensitive and suitable GETV antibody detection method for large-scale samples is an urgent req...
Mele M, Gerber V, Straub R, Gaillard C, Jallon L, Burger D.The objective of this study was to investigate clinical signs indicating diseases with known or suspected hereditary components like equine sarcoid, insect bite hypersensitivity, osteochondrosis, allergic airway diseases, podotrochleosis, prognatism and wind-sucking in the franches-montagnes horse. We performed a clinical examination on 702 three-year-old, privately owned franches-montagnes horses, which were shown at the Swiss-Field-Tests in 2004. With the help of the owners a questionnaire on health, environment and feeding habits of the animals was completed. In 11.9% of the horses, sarcoid...
Leise BS, Watts M, Tanhoff E, Johnson PJ, Black SJ, Belknap JK.STAT1 and STAT3 are important signaling molecules in disorders of systemic inflammation and are likely to be involved in laminitis, as laminar and systemic inflammation have been well documented in experimental models of laminitis. Objective: The STAT1 and STAT3 activation (via phosphorylation of tyrosine and serine moieties) is occurring in the laminar tissue during the developmental and onset of lameness time points in both the black walnut extract (BWE) and carbohydrate overload (CHO) models of laminitis. Methods: Archived laminar tissue from horses. Methods: Experimental studies of induced...
Baxter GM.Clinical data from 12 cases of equine laminitis characterized by distal displacement of the distal phalanx (P3) were reviewed. Clinical features of horses that survived the syndrome were compared with the nonsurvivors to obtain prognostic indicators. Animals affected included 8 Quarter Horses, 2 Welsh ponies, 1 Thoroughbred, and 1 Arabian. Eight of the animals were females (67%), 2 were stallions, and 2 were geldings. The mean age of affected animals was 8.6 years (2 to 14 years), and the mean body weight was 442 kg. The survivors weighed less than the nonsurvivors (384 kg vs 473 kg, respectiv...
Oliver-Espinosa O.Chronic diarrhea in the horse is defined as diarrhea present for more than several days with little if any improvement. The diagnosis and treatment of horses with chronic diarrhea usually present a great challenge to the clinician. There are many limitations to treatment of these patients given the limited numbers in which a final diagnosis can be achieved. The lack of knowledge of the alterations of horse microbiota during chronic diarrhea and the multiplicity of causes also make treatment challenging. A poor prognosis is often attached to chronic diarrhea, particularly in cases with neoplasi...
Costa VMD, Cursino AE, Franco Luiz APM, Braz GF, Cavalcante PH, Souza CA, Simplício KMMG, Drumond BP, Lima MT, Teixeira BM, Kroon EG.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) is listed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as one of the equine diseases that must be notified. No effective treatment or vaccine is available. EIA control is based on segregation and euthanasia of positive equids. The disease is caused by the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), a member of the genus Lentivirus of the Retroviridae family. Despite the importance of this disease in equids, EIA has been poorly studied in donkeys (Equus asinus). We evaluate the sanitary conditions related to EIAV in donkeys from a shelter of abandoned animals capt...