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Topic:Equine Diseases
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.
Intestinal bacterial overgrowth includes potential pathogens in the carbohydrate overload models of equine acute laminitis. Carbohydrate overload models of equine acute laminitis are used to study the development of lameness. It is hypothesized that a diet-induced shift in cecal bacterial communities contributes to the development of the pro-inflammatory state that progresses to laminar failure. It is proposed that vasoactive amines, protease activators and endotoxin, all bacterial derived bioactive metabolites, play a role in disease development. Questions regarding the oral bioavailability of many of the bacterial derived bioactive metabolites remain. This study evaluates the possibility that a carbohydrate-induc...
Lactobacillus equigenerosi strain Le1 invades equine epithelial cells. Lactobacillus equigenerosi strain Le1, a natural inhabitant of the equine gastrointestinal tract, survived pH 3.0 and incubation in the presence of 1.5% (wt/vol) bile salts for at least 2 h. Strain Le1 showed 8% cell surface hydrophobicity, 60% auto-aggregation, and 47% coaggregation with Clostridium difficile C6. Only 1% of the cells adhered to viable buccal epithelial cells and invaded the cells within 20 min after contact. Preincubation of strain Le1 in a buffer containing pronase prevented adhesion to viable epithelial cells. Preincubation in a pepsin buffer delayed invasion from 20 min to...
Efficacy of omeprazole paste in the prevention of gastric ulcers in 2 years old Thoroughbreds. Prevalence of equine gastric ulcer syndrome in 85 young Thoroughbreds was investigated. The presence of gastric ulcers was confirmed in 27.1% (23/85) of the horses by endoscopic examination. Sixty-two horses without gastric ulcers were allocated randomly to either the treated group (31 horses) or sham-dosed control group (31 horses) in order to investigate the efficacy of omeprazole oral paste in the prevention of gastric ulcers. At the second endoscopic examination conducted after 28 days of administration, only 1 horse in the treated group developed gastric ulcers, while 12 horses developed ...
Mutations in MITF and PAX3 cause “splashed white” and other white spotting phenotypes in horses. During fetal development neural-crest-derived melanoblasts migrate across the entire body surface and differentiate into melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells. Alterations in this precisely regulated process can lead to white spotting patterns. White spotting patterns in horses are a complex trait with a large phenotypic variance ranging from minimal white markings up to completely white horses. The "splashed white" pattern is primarily characterized by an extremely large blaze, often accompanied by extended white markings at the distal limbs and blue eyes. Some, but not all, splashed white...
Complete genomic sequence of an equine herpesvirus type 8 Wh strain isolated from China. A new strain of equine herpesvirus type 8 (EHV-8), Wh, has been isolated from horses in China, and its complete genome has been sequenced and analyzed. The result indicates that the new strain has the same constitution and arrangement of open read frames as EHV-1 and EHV-9. This work is the first announced complete genome sequence of EHV-8.
Comparison between magnetic resonance imaging and histological findings in the navicular bone of horses with foot pain. There is limited knowledge about both histological features in early navicular disease and what histological features are represented by increased signal intensity in fat-suppressed magnetic resonance (MR) images of the navicular bone. Objective: To characterise increased signal intensity in the spongiosa of the navicular bone in fat-suppressed MR images and to compare this with histopathology; and to compare objective grading of all aspects of the navicular bone on MR images with histological findings. Methods: One or both front feet of 22 horses with foot pain and a median lameness duration ...
Freezing or adding trypsin inhibitor to equine intestinal contents extends the lifespan of Clostridium perfringens beta toxin for diagnostic purposes. Clostridium perfringens type C causes necrotizing enteritis mostly in neonatal animals of several species, including horses. The virulence of C. perfringens type C is mostly mediated by beta toxin (CPB). This toxin is highly sensitive to the action of trypsin and other proteases, which explains the increased susceptibility of neonatal animals to type C infections. Final confirmation of type C disease diagnosis should be based on detection of CPB in the intestinal content of affected animals. However, because CPB is so sensitive to the action of proteases, it is believed that this toxin persist...
Equine laparoscopy: equipment and basic principles. Laparoscopic techniques for veterinary surgery are growing in popularity for the same reason the use of minimally invasive procedures has increased tremendously in human surgery. Compared with open surgery, the benefits of laparoscopic surgery include smaller incisions, reduced postoperative morbidity and pain, shorter hospitalization, a more rapid return to normal activities, and, in some instances, superior access. Laparoscopic surgery is different from open surgery in equipment/instrumentation and psychomotor skills. This first article in a series on equine laparoscopic surgery introduces t...
Musculoskeletal disease and injury, now and in the future. Part 2: Tendon and ligament injuries. Tendon and ligament injuries continue to be one of the most frequent causes of orthopaedic injury and early retirement in the Thoroughbred racehorse. In the UK, the Horserace Betting Levy Board has invested considerable research funding in the last decade in order to investigate aspects of tendon epidemiology, biology and therapy, in order to decrease both the welfare and economic consequence of such injuries. This review summarises key aspects of this research effort and identifies specific research directions for the future.
Azoospermia in stallions: determining the cause. Determining the cause of failure to ejaculate sperm can be a diagnostic dilemma. The first diagnostic step is to ascertain whether the stallion is ejaculating. If the stallion appears to ejaculate, but there is azoospermia (absence of sperm in the seminal fluid), testing alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in seminal plasma can determine whether testicular and epididymal fluids are present. If ALP activity is low, the possibility of either blockage to sperm outflow in the excurrent duct system or retrograde ejaculation should be pursued diagnostically. If ALP activity is high, the possibility ...
Susceptibility to persistent breeding-induced endometritis in the mare: relationship to endometrial biopsy score and age, and variations between seasons. The objectives were to: (1) investigate the associations of age and endometrial biopsy score with uterine fluid retention after insemination; and (2) determine if a strict classification of susceptibility to persistent breeding-induced endometritis (PBIE) based on biopsy score, endometrial cytology, and fluid retention after inseminations, is consistent over subsequent breeding seasons. In Experiment 1, 57 mares were inseminated with 10(9) freeze-killed sperm during estrus and evaluated for uterine fluid retention 48 h and 96 h after insemination. Comparisons were made between fluid retention ...
A surface roughness comparison of cartilage in different types of synovial joints. The naturally occurring structure of articular cartilage has proven to be an effective means for the facilitation of motion and load support in equine and other animal joints. For this reason, cartilage has been extensively studied for many years. Although the roughness of cartilage has been determined from atomic force microscopy (AFM) and other methods in multiple studies, a comparison of roughness to joint function has not be completed. It is hypothesized that various joint types with different motions and regimes of lubrication have altered demands on the articular surface that may affect ...
Gluten-dependent antibodies in horses with inflammatory small bowel disease (ISBD). Equine inflammatory small bowel disease (ISBD) is an idiopathic pathologic condition seeming to increase in prevalence. Objective: To investigate the potential role of gluten in equine ISBD. Methods: Antibodies known to be important in the diagnosis of human coeliac disease (CD): IgA antibodies to human recombinant and guinea pig tissue-transglutaminase (TGA), native gliadin (AGA), deamidated-gliadin-peptides (DGPA), and primate and equine endomysium (EMA) were assessed in blood samples from three different groups of horses: ISBD affected (n = 12) on a gluten-rich diet and controls either ...
Methiocarb poisoning of a horse in Australia. Snail bait poisoning is rare in horses. Cases have been reported, but clinical signs and subsequent prognostic indicators have been poorly documented and must be extrapolated from cases in companion animals. We describe in detail the poisoning of a horse that consumed a lethal dose of the carbamate, methiocarb. There are currently no guidelines for treating equine methiocarb toxicoses, but the principles of management are based on supportive therapy.
Refractive state of the Spanish Thoroughbred horse: a comparison with the Crossbred horse. To assess the refractive state of the equine eye utilizing retinoscopy. To compare the refractive state of Spanish Thoroughbred horses with the refractive state of Crossbred horses. Methods: The refractive state of 135 horses (264 eyes) was assessed utilizing streak retinoscopy. Two perpendicular meridians were examined in order to assess astigmatism at a working distance of approximately 67 cm. A group of 81 Spanish Thoroughbred horses was compared with a group of 54 Crossbred horses. Cyclopentolate ophthalmic solution was instilled in the eyes of a group of 18 horses to determine if accommod...
Effect of strenuous exercise and ex vivo TLR3 and TLR4 stimulation on inflammatory gene expression in equine pulmonary leukocytes. The effects of strenuous exercise and ex vivo stimulation of TLR3 and TLR4 pathways on the expression of six inflammatory genes in equine pulmonary leukocytes were investigated. The genes tested were interferon-beta (IFN-β), interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10), chemokine (c-c motif) ligand 5 (RANTES) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). We hypothesized that strenuous exercise would modulate basal gene expression on one hand and modulate the response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and to polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (Pol...
Endometrial phospholipase A2 activity during the oestrous cycle and early pregnancy in mares. The aim of this study was to determine phospholipase A2 (PLA2) kinetics and activity in the mare's endometrium during the oestrous cycle and early pregnancy. Phospholipase A2 is responsible for the liberation of arachidonic acid from phospholipids, which is the first limiting step in prostaglandins synthesis. Phospholipase A2 activity was measured using an assay based on the liberation of oleic acid from 1-palmitoyl-2-[(14) C] oleoyl phosphatidylcholine. The enzyme was shown to be calcium dependent, to have an optimum pH of 8 and an apparent Michaelis constant of 127 μM. Enzyme activity was l...
Comparative genomic analyses of the Taylorellae. Contagious equine metritis (CEM) is an important venereal disease of horses that is of concern to the thoroughbred industry. Taylorella equigenitalis is a causative agent of CEM but very little is known about it or its close relative Taylorella asinigenitalis. To reveal novel information about Taylorella biology, comparative genomic analyses were undertaken. Whole genome sequencing was performed for the T. equigenitalis type strain, NCTC11184. Draft genome sequences were produced for a second T. equigenitalis strain and for a strain of T. asinigenitalis. These genome sequences were analysed an...
Voluntary feed intake and leptin sensitivity in ad libitum fed obese ponies following a period of restricted feeding: a pilot study. The relation between plasma leptin and daily ad libitum roughage intake was evaluated during a 14-day period in eight obese Shetland ponies. When the feeding strategy was changed from maintenance feeding to ad libitum feeding, feed intake increased the first day, decreased the second day and increased again during the following days to reach a constant level after 8 days. Plasma leptin concentration increased during the first 2 days, but remained constant afterwards. Although the same pattern was found in all ponies, the magnitude of the increase in leptin on day 1 and the resulting decrease i...
IL-22 is expressed by the invasive trophoblast of the equine (Equus caballus) chorionic girdle. The invasive trophoblast cells of the equine placenta migrate into the endometrium to form endometrial cups, dense accumulations of trophoblast cells that produce equine chorionic gonadotropin between days 40 and 120 of normal pregnancy. The mechanisms by which the trophoblast cells invade the endometrium while evading maternal immune destruction are poorly defined. A gene expression microarray analysis performed on placental tissues obtained at day 34 of gestation revealed a >900-fold upregulation of mRNA encoding the cytokine IL-22 in chorionic girdle relative to noninvasive chorion. Quan...
Equine insect bite hypersensitivity: what do we know? Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is an allergic dermatitis of the horse caused by bites of insects of the genus Culicoides and is currently the best characterized allergic disease of horses. This article reviews knowledge of the immunopathogenesis of IBH, with a particular focus on the causative allergens. Whereas so far hardly any research has been done on the role of antigen presenting cells in the pathogenesis of IBH, recent studies suggest that IBH is characterized by an imbalance between a T helper 2 (Th2) and regulatory T cell (T(reg)) immune response, as shown both locally in the skin...
Efficacy of major anthelmintics against horse cyathostomins in France. This paper reports a survey conducted in France during 2011 to evaluate the efficacy of commonly used anthelmintics against horse cyathostomins. A total of 40 farms and 1089 horses were screened for the presence of cyathostomins. All farms but one were positive, with an overall animal infection rate of 53.7%, ranging from 9% to 83% on individual farms. On 445 horses from 30 of these farms, a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) was performed to evaluate the efficacy of oral formulations of fenbendazole (FBZ), pyrantel embonate (PYR), ivermectin (IVM) and moxidectin (MOX). Calculation of the...
Expression of essential B cell development genes in horses with common variable immunodeficiency. Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a heterogeneous disorder of B cell differentiation or function with inadequate antibody production. Our laboratory studies a natural form of CVID in horses characterized by late-onset B cell lymphopenia due to impaired B cell production in the bone marrow. This study was undertaken to assess the status of B cell differentiation in the bone marrow of CVID-affected horses by measuring the expression of genes essential for early B cell commitment and development. Standard RT-PCR revealed that most of the transcription factors and key signaling molecules ...
Finite element analysis in 3-D models of equine cheek teeth. Periodontal diseases occur frequently in equine dentistry and excessive strain in biological tissues is assumed to be a predisposing factor in their development. Finite element (FE) analysis enables strains and stresses occurring in the periodontium to be calculated and is a useful tool for testing this hypothesis. The current study aimed to establish reliable 3-D models from equine maxillary and mandibular cheek teeth for use in FE simulations, with particular attention to the detailed construction of the periodontal ligament (PDL). Age-related morphological aspects of the teeth and the perio...
Local anesthesia and hydro-distension to facilitate cystic calculus removal in horses. To report a technique for improving surgical access to the bladder for removal of cystic calculi in male horses. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Geldings (8) with cystic calculi. Methods: After catheterization of the bladder through the penis, 100 mL 2% lidocaine hydrochloride solution was instilled. After 10 minutes, the bladder was distended with sterile, warmed Hartmann's solution to a pressure of ≈ 40 cm H(2) O, using gravity feed. This was left in place until abdominal access was gained at surgery, then the fluid siphoned off via the catheter. Results: Calculi were 3-11 cm ...
Lameness and performance evaluation in ambulatory practice. Lameness and performance evaluation can be one of the most rewarding aspects of equine veterinary practice. There is a misconception that it depends on new sophisticated and expensive diagnostic modalities, when the reality is that knowing where and when to use these modalities form the real art of equine lameness practice. The most expensive ultrasound machine in the world is not very diagnostic if applied to the wrong limb. The art of lameness practice is vested in knowledge of horsemanship, an understanding of anatomy and function, and inquiring senses to sort out what the horse and his han...
