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.
Paltrinieri S, Giordano A, Villani M, Manfrin M, Panzani S, Veronesi MC.A field study was undertaken to investigate plasma protein electrophoresis (PPE) and serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations at 1, 3 and 7 days of age in foals born by oxytocin-induced (group A, n =17) or spontaneous (group B, n =12) parturition. The putative diagnostic role of PPE and SAA in four septicaemic foals was also examined. At birth, beta-gamma-globulins were higher in group B, and then increased in both groups, probably due to colostrum intake. At day 3, no significant differences between the groups were detectable. In both groups, SAA values increased from day 0 to day 3, then decreas...
Penell JC, Egenvall A, Bonnett BN, Pringle J.The aim was to evaluate the agreement between computerized insurance data in a large Swedish horse insurance database and the information in the corresponding clinical records (CR). A random sample of 400 veterinary care and 140 life claims was included. Information on name of the horse, breed and gender, year of birth, specific diagnosis and system diagnosis (e.g. joints, digestive and skeletal) was compared between sources. The concordance for demographic variables was categorized as agreement, disagreement or data missing. For diagnostic information, the categories were agreement, minor dis...
Bigley RF, Gibeling JC, Stover SM, Hazelwood SJ, Fyhrie DP, Martin RB.Materials, including bone, often fail due to loading in the presence of critical flaws. The relative amount, location, and interaction of these flaws within a stressed volume of material play a role in determining the failure properties of the structure. As materials are generally imperfect, larger volumes of material have higher probabilities of containing a flaw of critical size than do smaller volumes. Thus, larger volumes tend to fail at fewer cycles compared with smaller volumes when fatigue loaded to similar stress levels. A material is said to exhibit a volume effect if its failure prop...
Bedenice D.One of the fundamental skills required for practicing evidence-based medicine is the development of a well-built clinical question, which specifies the patient group or problem, intervention, and outcome of interest. For this purpose, various "levels of evidence" have been developed in the human literature, which rank the validity of evidence. Our established conclusions and advice are thus supported by specific "grades of recommendations," which are intended to give an indication of the "strength" of a clinical recommendation. This article was compiled with these principles in mind.
Messer NT, Johnson PJ.The evidence-based literature pertaining to thyroid dysfunction and Cushing's syndrome is discussed in this article. Summaries of and recommendations for the treatment of these conditions are made. There is a need for reliable diagnostic tests for these conditions in horses.
Bertone JJ.The nature of the equine industry and equine veterinary medicine often requires veterinarians to prescribe drugs with little evidence for a drug's formulation safety or efficacy, or even assurance of the chemistry of the drug used. This means that equine veterinarians must remain skeptics and understand the limitations in their ability to attribute safety and efficacy to a particular drug or treatment. An evidence-based approach to pharmacology demands rigorous testing and an unbiased analysis of results.
Caston SS, Reinertson EL.Musculoskeletal disorders comprise a large portion of the conditions treated by equine veterinarians. Surgical intervention is the treatment of choice in many cases. The body of literature describing and exploring surgical correction of musculoskeletal disorders in horses is steadily growing but still lacking. At this juncture, we can use what information we have with the understanding that as the quality of research advances, we should apply stricter standards to the evidence we use to answer our clinical questions.
Eliashar E.The first aim of this article is to review the progress made in the field of distal limb biomechanics. By understanding limb biomechanics, it is then possible to review the rationale behind a few of the more common techniques that veterinarians routinely use when treating their patients and to evaluate the evidence in support of them.
Brinsko SP.Many procedures performed as part of routine broodmare practice are based on sound clinical judgment and experience or scientific evidence; however, others are based on perceived problems and needs to address them. This article presents four procedures commonly used in broodmare practice, for which there is questionable evidence to substantiate their use.
Keegan KG.Kinematic and kinetic gait analysis potentially offers veterinarians an objective method of determining equine limb lameness. Subjective analyses have been shown to be somewhat flawed, and there does not seem to be a high degree of intraobserver agreement when evaluating individual horses. In addition, recognition of the compensatory effects of primary lameness may be helpful for the practicing equine veterinarian.
Ayala I, Rodríguez MJ, Martos N, Zilberschtein J, Ruíz I, Motas M.Fatal brodifacoum poisoning in a pony is described; this condition has not previously been reported in ponies. Discussion of what factors in the pony's history and treatment may have predisposed to the severity and ultimate death is provided. Cet article décrit un empoisonnement mortel au brodifacoum chez un poney, condition jamais rapportée auparavant. La discussion porte sur les liens entre les divers éléments de l’anamnèse et les traitements reçus par rapport à la sévérité de la condition et ultimement à la mort de l’animal. (Traduit par Docteur André Blouin)
Nolen-Walston R, Paxson J, Ramey DW.The use of an evidence-based approach allows veterinary clinicians to assess questions that are clinically relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of equine gastrointestinal tract disease. This approach involves formulating a clinical question, searching the literature, and answering the question with the best available evidence, with the results summarized as a clinical "bottom line." This article is organized to reinforce the principle that the cornerstone of evidence-based medicine is the clinical question. Specific questions are further categorized as to topic, with epidemiologic risk fact...
Uhlinger CA.This article focuses on what has been established concerning the interaction of equine parasites and their hosts, highlighting those issues for which convincing data are still lacking. There is a compelling need for the participation of the veterinarian in the design of appropriate anthelmintic treatments and prevention strategies.
Mair TS, Smith LJ, Sherlock CE.Colic surgery is now performed at many equine hospitals around the world. Despite the tremendous improvements in survival rates over the past 30 years, the morbidity and mortality rates remain relatively high. This fact, coupled with the high cost of treatment, makes it important to apply evidence-based medicine principles to establish the best possible treatment plans and surgical techniques whereby the outcomes can be optimized. Factors affecting survival rates and rates of major complications (incisional complications and postoperative ileus) are discussed. Preoperative assessment and posto...
Beard WL, Waxman S.The purpose of this article is to review the veterinary literature for various surgical procedures of the equine upper respiratory tract in an effort to evaluate the evidence supporting various therapies. This article focuses on the therapeutic benefit from more widely occurring conditions, such as laryngeal hemiplegia, dorsal displacement of the soft palate, arytenoid chondritis, and epiglottic entrapment.
Van Biervliet J.The practice of equine neurology has special challenges posed by the size of the animal being examined. Many diagnostic procedures routinely used in small animal practice are unsafe when applied to the equine patient or unavailable to the equine practitioner. Therefore, astute observation is the mainstay of making a neuroanatomic diagnosis, and detailed evidence on the deficits present may be difficult to obtain. Because clinical observation can sometimes be ambiguous and somewhat subjective, it is even more important to approach equine neurology from an evidence-based point of view. Here, suc...
Williamson KK, Davis MS.It is clear from a review of the current scientific literature that an evidence-based approach to medical treatment of equine respiratory disease can be applied, at least in the instance of common lower respiratory diseases. In particular, there is clear evidence for efficacious treatments for recurrent airway obstruction and exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, and with the recognition of this evidence, these treatments should be the first to be considered by a practitioner when treating these conditions. The purpose of this article is not only to identify the existence of relevant high-qua...
Gillingwater K, Büscher P, Brun R.The animal pathogenic protozoan, Trypanosoma evansi, leads to a wasting disease in equines, cattle and camels, commonly known as Surra. It is extensively distributed geographically with a wide range of mammalian hosts and causes great economical loss. Trypanosoma equiperdum causes a venereal disease called Dourine in horses and donkeys. Chemotherapy appears to be the most effective form of control for T. evansi, whereas infections caused by T. equiperdum are considered incurable. Due to emerging drug resistance, efficient control of T. evansi is severely threatened, emphasising the urgent need...
Kramer J, Coates JR, Hoffman AG, Frappier BL.To describe surgical approaches to the equine cranium and brain for limited craniectomy. Methods: Descriptive anatomic study. Methods: Equine cadavers (n=7). Methods: Head and neck sections from cadavers were used to establish techniques for exposing areas of the equine brain. Three basic approaches were used: rostrotentorial, suboccipital, and transfrontal. Techniques were adapted from small animal descriptions and modified to account for anatomic differences. Results: Descriptions of the rostrotentorial, suboccipital, and transfrontal approaches to the equine cranium and brain were defined. ...
Nomura M, Hosaka Y, Kasashima Y, Ueda H, Takehana K, Kuwano A, Arai K.The DNA microarray analysis for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-related mRNA expression in equine superficial digital flexor tendinitis indicated that mRNA level of MMP-13 was apparently up-regulated in the tendinitis as compared to normal tendon. In situ hybridization also revealed that fibroblastic cells proliferated in the granulation tissue generated in the tendinitis actively expressed MMP-13 mRNA. On the other hand, in normal tendon, a few fibroblastic cells and vascular components lied in the endotenon barely expressed its mRNA, but other cellular components in the tendon bundle were not...
DePuy T, Howard R, Keegan K, Wilson D, Kramer J, Cook JL, Childers MK.To test the hypothesis that botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) can attenuate lameness associated with acute synovitis in an equine model. Methods: Four horses 2-6 yrs of age with clinically normal carpi were studied for 15 days. Kinematic gait analysis and clinical measures of lameness were conducted before and after experimental interventions. Horses were randomly assigned to either placebo (saline) or treatment (BoNT-A) groups. On day 0 of the intervention, 50 units of BoNT-A or an equivalent volume of saline (0.09%) was given into the middle carpal joints. On day 14, acute synovitis was induce...
Roasa LM, Choi YH, Love CC, Romo S, Varner DD, Hinrichs K.In vitro fertilization (IVF) was performed on in vitro-matured equine oocytes in three experiments. Frozen-thawed sperm were prepared using swim-up separation and heparin treatment. In Experiment 1, fertilization was achieved with sperm from only one frozen ejaculate of four obtained from the same stallion. Within this ejaculate, fertilization rates were higher with fresh media, as compared to media held for 6-8 days before use (39.6% versus 7.3%, respectively; P<0.001). The type of bovine serum albumin used affected fertilization rates (4% versus 39.6%; P<0.001). To determine if IVF rates wer...
Kligler EB, Shkap V, Baneth G, Mildenberg Z, Steinman A.Sera from 800 asymptomatic horses were examined for the presence of antibodies to Neospora caninum by immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT). The presence of antibodies to N. caninum was also tested in sera from 52 mares that had aborted and 40 horses exhibiting neurological signs. A total of 95 (11.9%) of the 800 sera had antibodies for Neospora. Significantly higher seropositivity was obtained from horses that had neurological signs (21.2%) and from aborted mares (37.5%). There was significant linear-by-linear association between age and seropositivity. This is the first serologic survey fo...
Naem S.Drashia megastoma Rudolphi, 1819, Habronema muscae Carter, 1861 and Habronema microstoma Schneider, 1866 are found in the stomach of equine definitive hosts and are known to cause pathogenic effects in the stomach wall, skin, eye and occasionally other sites. These nematodes utilise either house flies or stable flies as their intermediate hosts. Apart from molecular findings that have demonstrated some of the differences between H. muscae and H. microstoma, no detailed morphological description of equine habronematid nematodes has been presented. This article describes most surface features of...
Peroni JF, Moore JN, Noschka E, Lewis TH, Lewis SJ, Robertson TP.To characterize the relative contributions of voltage-gated and capacitative Ca(2+) entry to agonist-induced contractions of equine laminar arteries and veins. Methods: 16 adult mixed-breed horses. Methods: Laminar arteries and veins were isolated and mounted on small vessel myographs for the measurement of isometric tension. Concentration-response curves were obtained for the vasoconstrictor agonists phenylephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), prostaglandin F(2) (PGF(2)), and endothelin-1 (ET-1) either in the absence of extracellular Ca(2+) or in the presence of the voltage-gated Ca(2+) channe...
Ibrahim S, Saunders K, Kydd JH, Lunn DP, Steinbach F.Three hundred and seventy-nine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against various human CD molecules supplied to the HLDA8 animal homologues section (including four isotype controls) were analysed for cross-reactivity with equine leukocytes. First, flow cytometric identification of positively reacting mAbs was performed in one laboratory. Thereafter, a second round of flow cytometric evaluation was performed, involving three laboratories participating in the study. The first test-round indicated 17 mAbs as potentially positive. After the second round of flow cytometric analysis, 14 mAbs remained (di...
Ibrahim S, Steinbach F.In addition to the 379 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) tested in the animal homologues section of HLDA8, another 155 mAbs were screened at the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin for cross-reactivity with equine leukocytes. For this purpose, one colour flow-cytometric analysis was performed as screening test. This additional screening indicated further 16 mAbs as positive with staining homologous to human pattern, 1 mAb with weak (positive) reactivity, 11 mAbs with positive, but likely not valuable staining, 12 mAbs with alternate expression pattern from that expected from human immun...
Mohammed HO, Divers TJ, Summers BA, de Lahunta A.Equine motor neuron disease (EMND) is a spontaneous neurologic disorder of adult horses which results from the degeneration of motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain stem. Clinical manifestations, pathological findings, and epidemiologic attributes resemble those of human motor neuron disease (MND). As in MND the etiology of the disease is not known. We evaluated the predisposition role of vitamin E deficiency on the risk of EMND. Methods: Eleven horses at risk of EMND were identified and enrolled in a field trial at different times. The horses were maintained on a diet deficient in vitami...
Cheetham J, Nixon AJ.To identify sites for arthroscopic access to the palmar aspects of the antebrachiocarpal (AC) and middle carpal (MC) joints, and describe visible carpal bone surfaces for each approach. Methods: Prospective experimental study. Methods: Equine carpi: 16 cadavers, 8 live horses. Methods: A latex model was used to identify possible sites for arthroscopic access to the palmar aspects of the AC and MC joints. Carpi (n = 24) were examined arthroscopically and arthroscopic access sites and visible carpal bone surfaces were described. Results: Arthroscopic approaches and instrument portals were develo...
Loganathan D, Yi R, Patel B, Zhang J, Kong N.Resolution of cathinone enantiomers in equine anti-doping analysis is becoming more important to distinguish the inadvertent ingestion of plant-based products from those of deliberate administration of designer synthetic analogs. With this in mind, a rapid and sensitive method was developed and validated for the detection, resolution and quantitative determination of cathinone enantiomers in horse blood plasma and urine. The analytes were recovered from the blood plasma and urine matrices by using a liquid-liquid extraction after adjusting the pH to 9. The recovered analytes were derivatized w...
Pouwels HG, Van de Zande SM, Horspool LJ, Hoeijmakers MJ.Assessing the ability of current equine influenza vaccines to provide cross-protection against emerging strains is important. Horses not vaccinated previously and seronegative for equine influenza based on haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay were assigned at random to vaccinated (n=7) or non-vaccinated (control, n=5) groups. Vaccination was performed twice four weeks apart with a 1 ml influenza subunit (A/eq/Prague/1/56, A/eq/Newmarket/1/93, A/eq/Newmarket/2/93), tetanus toxoid vaccine with Matrix-C adjuvant (EquilisPrequenza Te). All the horses were challenged individually by aerosol wi...
Riggs CM, Thompson SL, So YM, Wong JKY, Wan TSM, Robinson P, Stewart BD, Ho ENM.Administration of bisphosphonates, including tiludronic acid, to Thoroughbred racehorses below 3 and a half years of age is prohibited in most racing jurisdictions. Objective: To determine if evidence of administration of tiludronic acid could be obtained from analysis of blood and urine samples beyond 40 days after administration. Methods: Retrospective cohort. Methods: Horses maintained in a highly controlled environment and treated with Tildren®a were selected from clinical records. Twenty-four horses were identified, 21 of which were still in race training. Blood and urine samples were c...
Kawakami V, Rietberg K, Lipton B, Eckmann K, Watkins M, Oltean H, Kay M, Rothschild C, Kobayashi M, Van Beneden C, Duchin J.On March 17, 2016, Public Health-Seattle & King County in Washington was notified of two persons who received a diagnosis of Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) infections. S. zooepidemicus is a zoonotic pathogen that rarely causes human illness and is usually associated with consuming unpasteurized dairy products or with direct horse contact (1). In horses, S. zooepidemicus is a commensal bacterium that can cause respiratory, wound, and uterine infections (2). The health department investigated to determine the magnitude of the outbreak, identify risk factors, and o...
Spehar AM, Hill MR, Mayhew IG, Hendeles L.Pharmacokinetic characteristics of the anticonvulsant phenobarbital were studied in seven pony and two Thoroughbred foals aged between four and 10 days. A single, 20 mg/kg bodyweight (bwt) dose of phenobarbital was given intravenously over 25 mins and the serum concentrations of the drug were measured using an EMIT AED assay (coefficient of variation 1.37 per cent at 30 micrograms/ml, n = 7). Phenobarbital elimination was found to follow first order kinetics. The mean (+/- sd) peak phenobarbital serum concentration was 18.6 +/- 2.1 micrograms/ml at 1 h after initiation of infusion with a mean ...
Palfi V, Christensen LS.Twenty-five strains of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) and one strain of equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4) isolated from material from various clinical cases in Denmark, together with reference EHV-1 and EHV-4 strains, were compared by restriction fragment pattern (RFP) analysis and inoculation of baby mice. The RFP analyses revealed that all EHV-1 strains belonged to genome type Ip. Four fetal isolates exhibited genomic characteristics that have been suggested as specific markers of the attenuated strain Rac H, widely used as a live vaccine. As the use of five vaccines against EHV-1 and EHV-4 has nev...
Ackerman N, Johnson JH, Dorn CR.In a retrospective study, 74 horses met defined historical and clinical features indicative of navicular disease. Most of the affected horses were 4 to 9 years old. Males had a greater risk of navicular disease than females, geldings had a greater risk than stallions, and Quarter Horses had a greater risk than other breeds. Diagnostic radiographic changes were found in 42 of 70 horses examined. The distribution of diagnostic radiographic changes between the right and left fron feet was equal. There was no correlation between the finding of diagnostic radiographic changes and the horse's respon...
Dippel M, Zsoldos RR, Licka TF.Pressure in the atlanto-axial region due to hyperflexion ('rollkur') may influence the development of a nuchal bursa, as adventitious bursae may be caused by pressure. Investigating the pressure between the nuchal ligament and atlas/axis in a flexed position may provide information on the pathogenesis of nuchal bursitis. In this study, ten equine head and neck specimens with one side of the soft tissues over the cervical vertebral spine removed were placed in lateral recumbency on a table in neutral, mildly flexed, and hyperflexed head and neck positions. Angulations of the neck were measured ...
Giaretta E, Mislei B, Martínez-Pastor F, Nesci S, Spinaci M, Galeati G, Nerozzi C, Mari G, Tamanini C, Bucci D.Equine spermatozoa highly rely on oxidative phosphorylation for their energy management. The present work aimed to characterize the role of mitochondria on horse sperm motility and ROS production by incubating spermatozoa with specific inhibitors of the different mitochondrial complexes. Equine spermatozoa were incubated 1 h and 3 h at 37 °C with: complex I inhibitor rotenone (5 μM, ROT), complex II inhibitor dimethyl-malonate (10 mM, DMM), complex III inhibitor antimycin A (1.8 μM, ANTI), the uncoupling agent carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazine (5 μM, CCCP), ATP synthase inhi...
Bozorgmanesh R, Thornton J, Snyder J, Fletcher C, Mack R, Coyne M, Murphy R, Hegarty E, Slovis N.Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) is a renal biomarker correlated with glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Objective: Describe changes in SDMA in clinically healthy foals and their mares during the first month postfoaling. Methods: Convenience sampling of healthy periparturient Thoroughbred mares and their full-term foals from a population of client-owned horses. Methods: Serum and EDTA whole blood samples were collected from mares in their last month of pregnancy and then from mares and foals at approximately <12 hours, 48 hours, 7 days, and 30 days postbirth. Samples were processed ...
Bucci D, Spinaci M, Mislei B, Gadani B, Rizzato G, Love CC, Tamanini C, Galeati G, Mari G.Stallion semen storage for artificial insemination is mainly based on liquid cooled storage. In many stallions this technique maintains sperm quality for an extended period of time (24-72 hr) at 7°C. While this technique is commonly used in the horse industry, there can be a decline in fertility in some stallions, due to an inability of their sperm to tolerate the cool storage process. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of two natural antioxidants (epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) at 20, 60 and 120 μm and green tea polyphenols, and p at .001, .01 and .1 mg/ml) on some...
Bauck AG, Vidyasagar S, Freeman DE.To examine bicarbonate (HCO3-) secretion ex vivo in the equine large colon to determine any differences between the right dorsal colon (RDC) and right ventral colon (RVC). The effect of phenylbutazone (PBZ) on HCO3- secretion was examined in the RDC. Methods: 14 healthy horses. Methods: In anesthetized horses (n = 10), segments of mucosa from RDC and RVC were harvested to measure HCO3- secretion ex vivo with the pH Stat method. The effect of PBZ on HCO3- secretion in the RDC was studied in 4 additional horses. Results: Three distinct mechanisms of HCO3- secretion previously described in a muri...
Schumacher J, Mullen J, Shelby R, Lenz S, Ruffin DC, Kemppainen BW.Duodenitis/proximal jejunitis syndrome (DPJ) is a small intestinal disease of horses that is associated with depression and copious gastric reflux. Since an infectious cause for DPJ remains unsubstantiated, these studies were designed to investigate the possible role of Fusarium moniliforme toxins in this disease. Fusarium moniliforme was isolated by culturing 2 samples of feed that had been fed to horses with clinical signs of DPJ. These isolates (AU 2/3) were subsequently grown concurrently on autoclaved corn and their toxicity evaluated in a feeding trial utilizing horses. Isolates of F mon...
Wongaumnuaykul S, Siedler C, Schobesberger H, Stanek C.The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of Doppler ultrasonography to monitor vascular blood flow dynamics in defined diseases of the equine digit in a noninvasive way. Doppler sonography was used to evaluate medial digital artery blood flow in eight horses with septic pododermatitis and four horses with laminitis in comparison with 10 horses of a control group. Doppler sonographic measurement and lameness examinations were performed in lame horses before treatment (day 0) and at 3, 6, and 9 days following treatment. Before treatment, blood flow velocities, arterial diameter, and flow vo...
Marshall R, Shaw DJ, Dixon PM.The presence of cheek tooth loss or defects, with subsequent overgrowth of the opposing teeth, is common in horses. Little is known about the factors that control the deposition of sub-occlusal secondary dentine (SO2D) in normal equine teeth, but these are likely to include stimulation of the occlusal surface. There appears to be no information on the possible alterations to this process when teeth develop overgrowths and, consequently, of the net effect on SO2D thickness caused by reduced stimulation of the occlusal surface and of absent/reduced normal occlusal wear (attrition). Knowledge of ...
The Journal of heredityMarch 1, 1995
Volume 86, Issue 2 129-135 doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111542
Woolf CM.One method of assessing the influence of stochastic events on phenotypic variation is to study morphological differences in paired limbs of the same individual. These limbs have identical genotypes and similar intra-uterine environments and are analogous to monozygotic twins. Common white leg markings have a multifactorial mode of inheritance in the Arabian horse. Asymmetry occurs frequently for these markings. Using computerized registration records obtained from the Arabian Horse Registry of America, Inc., the types of markings were quantified in the left foreleg and left hind leg of bay and...
Brown MP, Kelly RH, Stover SM, Gronwall R.Six healthy adult mares were given a single IV injection of trimethoprim (TMP)-sulfadiazine (SDZ) at a dosage rate of 2.5 mg of TMP/kg of body weight and 12.5 mg of SDZ/kg. Serum, synovial, peritoneal, and urine TMP-SDZ concentrations were measured serially over a 48-hour period. The highest measured mean concentrations of TMP and SDZ were found in the first (0.5 hour) sample of serum, synovial fluid, and peritoneal fluid. The mean peak concentrations of TMP and SDZ averaged 4.37 micrograms/ml and 21.81 micrograms/ml for serum, 2.95 micrograms/ml and 15.31 micrograms/ml for synovial fluid, and...
Botha CJ, Naudé TW.Well-known plant poisonings such as 'dunsiekte' (seneciosis) and 'jaagsiekte' (crotalariosis) of horses in southern Africa are briefly reviewed. Relatively unfamiliar mycotoxicoses such as stachybotryotoxicosis and perennial rye grass staggers and potentially occurring exotic intoxications such as equine nigropallidal encephalomalacia and ergot alkaloid poisoning are also discussed. This article is aimed at informing the southern African equine practitioner about probable poisonings that might occur locally in horses.
Ricard A, Perrocheau M, Couroucé-Malblanc A, Valette JP, Tourtoulou G, Dufosset JM, Robert C, Chaffaux S, Denoix JM, Guérin G.Juvenile osteochondral conditions (JOCC) have been defined as lesions resulting from biomechanical influences (compressive, tensional or shear forces) on the developing and growing musculoskeletal system. They include different types of osteochondrosis, osteochondral fragmentation of the articular surface or of the periarticular margins, juvenile subchondral bone cysts, osteochondral collapse, avulsion fractures of epiphyseal (or metaphyseal) ossifying bone and 'physitis'. The aim of this study was to estimate heritability of JOCC in a sample of 2106 French Trotters from four different sources...
Katz LM, Marr CM, Elliott J.To compare the responses of equine digital arteries (EDAs) and equine digital veins (EDVs) to endothelin-1 (ET-1) and determine the role of the endothelium and type of receptors involved in the modulation and mediation of those responses, respectively. Methods: 5 to 9 palmar digital vessels/experiment from 28 healthy horses. Methods: Rings of dissected vessels were mounted under tension between force transducer wires in organ baths containing Krebs-Henseleit solution at 30 degrees C. Responses of EDAs and EDVs (with intact [+e] or denuded [-e] endothelium) to cumulative concentrations of ET-1 ...
Zhou R, Yang J, Zhang K, Qi Y, Ma W, Wang Z, Ente M, Li K.The absolute dominant species that infests wild population of Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii) is Gasterophilus pecorum, and feces of released Przewalski's horse, a habitat odor, plays an important role in mating and ovipositing locations of G. pecorum. To screen out unique volatiles for attracting G. pecorum, volatiles from fresh feces of released horses at stages of pre-oviposition (PREO), oviposition (OVIP), and post-oviposition (POSO) of G. pecorum, and feces with three different freshness states (i.e., Fresh, Semi-fresh, and Dry) at OVIP were collected by dynamic headspace adsorptio...
McElroy A, Klinge PM, Sledge D, Donahue JE, Glabman RA, Rashmir A.The objectives of this study were to describe the anatomy, histology, and ultrastructure of the equine filum terminale (FT) and to describe the FT in hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA), a model of human Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS). Those humans suffer from tethered cord syndrome (TCS) caused by an abnormally structured FT wherein its attachment at the base of the vertebral column leads to long-term stretch-induced injury to the spinal cord. The pathophysiology of TCS in EDS is poorly understood, and there is a need for an animal model of the condition. Histopathologic and ult...
Plasenzotti R, Windberger U, Ulberth F, Osterode W, Losert U.The rheologic properties of red blood cells (RBC) are determined by humoral and cellular factors. Fatty acid composition of the RBC phospholipid bilayer is one factor influencing membrane fluidity this could affect RBC aggregation because of a higher bias of RBC deformability. The present investigation was performed to investigate a possible relationship between fatty acid composition and erythrocyte aggregation using animals with high RBC aggregation (horse and pig) and animals with immeasurable RBC aggregation (sheep). Horse and pig showed similar distribution of the four major components pa...
Albrizio M, Lacalandra GM, Volpe S, Nicassio M, Cinone M.Heat Shock Proteins are chaperones primary involved in the repair of cellular damages induced by temperature. The harmful effect of temperature on the male gonad is well known, on the contrary knowledge on the effects of the environment on semen quality are still insufficient. The aim of this paper was to learn more about the role of HSPs and the environment in modulating the physiology of equine male gonads. We showed a detailed analysis of equine semen characteristic and the expression level of three HSPs (60-70-90) over a one-year period analyzing the effects of temperature and humidity and...
May-Davis S, Brown WY, Shorter K, Vermeulen Z, Butler R, Koekkoek M.The Dutch Konik is valued from a genetic conservation perspective and also for its role in preservation of natural landscapes. The primary management objective for the captive breeding of this primitive horse is to maintain its genetic purity, whilst also maintaining the nature reserves on which they graze. Breeding selection has traditionally been based on phenotypic characteristics consistent with the breed description, and the selection of animals for removal from the breeding program is problematic at times due to high uniformity within the breed, particularly in height at the wither, colo...
Wijnberg ID, Franssent H, van der Kolk JH, Breukink HJ.Motor unit action potential (MUP) analysis in human medicine is a valuable and important diagnostic technique enabling discrimination between myogenic and neurogenic problems. This study establishes normative data in subclavian, triceps and lateral vastus muscles for clinical application of MUP analysis in the Warmblood horse, and examines whether muscle differences are present. Electromyographic (EMG) needle examination and MUP analysis were performed of the triceps, lateral vastus and subclavian muscles in 7 awake, nonsedated, Warmblood horses age 4-10 years. The amplitude, duration, number ...
Alghamdi AS, Troedsson MH, Xue JL, Crabo BG.To compare the effect of semen extender and seminal plasma on postthaw motility and filtration through a glass wool-Sephadex (GWS) filter for frozen stallion semen. Methods: 7 stallions from which we collected > or = 3 ejaculates/stallion. Methods: 4 experiments were conducted to evaluate postthaw quality of frozen stallion semen. Kenney extender was compared with glucose-EDTA extender by use of various dilution rates that resulted in differing concentrations of seminal plasma. Stallions known to produce semen with poor postthaw quality were used to investigate whether a particular extender or...
Gilger BC.This review, which is part of the "Currents in One Health" series, describes the importance of the study of immune-mediated ocular disease in the development of innovative therapeutics, such as cell and gene therapy for the eye. Recent examples of cell and gene therapy studies from the author's laboratory are reviewed to emphasize the importance of One Health initiatives in developing innovative therapies for ocular diseases. Spontaneous immune-mediated corneal disease is common in horses, cats, dogs, and humans. Autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) injected subconju...
Osborn ML, Cornille JL, Blas-Machado U, Uhl EW.Navicular syndrome has been traditionally characterized by progressive lameness with chronic degeneration of the navicular bone. Advances in imaging techniques have revealed that its associated soft tissue structures are also affected. This distribution of lesions is explained by conceptualizing the equine navicular apparatus as an enthesis organ that facilitates the dissemination of mechanical stress throughout the tissues of the foot. The navicular apparatus has the same structural adaptations to mechanical stress as the human Achilles tendon complex. These adaptations efficiently dissipate ...
