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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.
Inflammatory mediators induce endothelium-dependent adherence of equine eosinophils to cultured endothelial cells. Accumulation of equine eosinophils at sites of parasite infestation or allergic inflammation depends upon their adherence to vascular endothelial cells and subsequent migration through the endothelium and extracellular matrix. This study has examined whether cytokines, which cause endothelial cell-dependent eosinophil adherence in other species, and histamine and substance P, which increase adherence of equine eosinophils to protein coated plastic, induce equine eosinophil adherence to cultured equine digital vein endothelial cell (EDVEC) monolayers. The EDVEC monolayers were stimulated with r...
[Ataxia and pruritus in a pony due to a cervical vertebral fracture]. A mini-Shetland stallion was referred with bilateral pruritus localized to the anterior neck. More detailed clinical examination also revealed ataxia, and diagnostic imaging, including pre- and post-contrast computed tomography, revealed an old fracture of C2. Spinal cord compression was diagnosed. The probable causal relation between the fracture, the ataxia, and the localized pruritus seems comparable to the 'contusio cervicalis posterior' in humans, in which spinal cord trauma may cause pruritus in the associated dermatome.
Tumor regression induced by intratumoral injection of DNA coding for human interleukin 12 into melanoma metastases in gray horses. Preclinical studies investigating new therapeutic principles against melanoma are presently being carried out in mouse models; however, these are not optimal. Here we describe a novel animal model using gray horses. These animals spontaneously develop metastatic melanoma that resembles human disease and is thus highly relevant for preclinical studies testing new immunotherapy protocols. We found that injection of plasmid DNA coding for the human cytokine interleukin 12 into established metastases induced significant regression in all 12 treated lesions in a total of 7 horses. Complete disappea...
Surgical repair of skull fractures in four horses using cuttable bone plates. Three horses with severely comminuted, open facial bone fractures and one horse with a comminuted, open orbital rim fracture were referred for treatment. Severe facial bone asymmetry and epistaxis were apparent in all cases and subcutaneous emphysema was present in two, however physical and neurological examinations were otherwise normal. Radiography and endoscopy were of some use in assessing the degree of damage, although the true extent of the damage was more apparent at surgery. Surgical reduction of the fractures was recommended to maximise cosmetic and functional outcome. After surgical ...
[The fetlock tunnel syndrome in horses: literature review and retrospective study]. The annular ligament constriction is characterized by a disproportion between the available space and the contents within the fetlock tunnel. The main symptoms are a persisting lameness, distention of the tendon sheath, a typical "notch" when the fetlock is viewed from the side and a hyperflexion pain in the fetlock. The surgical treatment consists of the transection of the fetlock annular ligament. The conservative management can be considered as a independent therapy or as a preparation for a subsequent desmotomy. The medical records of 75 horses suffering from fetlock tunnel syndrome presen...
The effects of pyrantel tartrate on Sarcocystis neurona merozoite viability. Sarcocystis neurona is the etiologic agent of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, a neurologic disease of horses. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that pyrantel tartrate can kill S. neurona merozoites growing in equine dermal cell culture. Sarcocystis neurona merozoites were exposed to a range of concentrations of pyrantel tartrate or sodium tartrate ranging from 0.001 to 0.01 M. Merozoites were then placed onto equine dermal cell cultures and incubated for 2 weeks to check for viability. At 1 and 2 weeks after inoculation, plaque counts were compared between treatments an...
Cerebrospinal fluid and serum concentrations of ponazuril in horses. Ponazuril was administered orally to 10 adult horses at 5 mg/kg body weight, once a day for 28 days. Blood was collected once a week from each horse from Days 0 through 35, daily from Days 35 through 42, and on Day 49. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was also collected once a week from Day 0 through Day 49. Concentrations of ponazuril in the serum and CSF were determined, and pharmacokinetic calculations were performed. Ponazuril was readily absorbed following oral administration; and after 7 days of dosing, the serum concentration was 4.33 +/- 1.10 mg/L, and the mean CSF concentration was 0.162 +/-...
Role of prostaglandins in intrauterine migration of the equine conceptus. Between at least day 9 and day 16 after ovulation the spherical equine conceptus migrates continuously throughout the uterine lumen, propelled by peristaltic myometrial contractions. This unusually long period of intrauterine movement ensures that the conceptus delivers its anti-luteolytic signal to the entire endometrium to achieve luteostasis. The present experiment tested the hypothesis that prostaglandins stimulate the myometrial contractions that result in the migration of the conceptus. Serial ultrasonographic examinations of the uteri of eight mares performed during 2 h periods between ...
Activation of cumulus-free equine oocytes: effect of maturation medium, calcium ionophore concentration and duration of cycloheximide exposure. Two different culture media (TCM-199 and follicular fluid), two activation treatments (10 and 50 micromol calcium ionophore l(-1)) and three culture periods with cycloheximide were evaluated to find effective culture conditions for activation of cumulus-free equine oocytes. Oocytes were collected by scraping the follicle walls of ovaries obtained from an abattoir. Oocytes with expanded cumuli were matured at 38.2 degrees C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO(2) in air, in either TCM-199 with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 5 microU FSH ml(-1), or in 100% follicular fluid derived from a preovu...
Detection of antibodies to the nonstructural protein (NS1) of influenza A virus allows distinction between vaccinated and infected horses. Antibodies to the nonstructural protein (NS1) of A/equine/Miami/1/63 (H3N8) influenza virus were detected exclusively in the sera of mice experimentally infected with A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2) and horses infected with A/equine/Kentucky/1/81 (H3N8) or A/equine/La Plata/1/93 (H3N8), but not in those of the animals immunized with the inactivated viruses, by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a recombinant NS1 as antigen. The results indicate that the present method is useful for serological diagnosis to distinguish horses infected with equine H3 influenza viruses from those immunized with ...
Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and the enteroinsular axis in equines (Equus caballus). To investigate the enteroinsular axis (EIA) in equines oral (oGTT) and intravenous (i.v.GTT) glucose tolerance tests (5.6 and 1 mmol glucose/kg BW, respectively) were performed with healthy, normal weight large horses and Shetland ponies. Plasma was analysed for concentrations of glucose, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and insulin. In all equines plasma GIP concentrations only increased significantly when glucose was administered orally. The insulin glucose ratio (IGR) was significantly higher during the oGTT than during the i.v.GTT in both races. Basal plasma glucose level...
Polymorphism identification within 50 equine gene-specific sequence tagged sites. The continued discovery of polymorphisms in the equine genome will be important for future studies using genomic screens and fine mapping for the identification of disease genes. Segments of 50 equine genes were examined for variability in 10 different horse breeds using a pool-and-sequence method. We identified 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 9380 bp of sequenced exon, and 25 SNPs, six microsatellites, and one insertion/deletion in 16961 bp of sequenced intron. Of all genes studied 52% contained at least one polymorphism, and polymorphisms were found at an overall rate of 1/613 b...
Re-evaluation of ivermectin efficacy against equine gastrointestinal parasites. Two trials were conducted to confirm the efficacy of ivermectin paste against endoparasites of horses. In these trials, 20 ponies were treated with ivermectin oral paste at 200 mcg x kg body weight once on Day 0, and 20 ponies served as unmedicated controls. The animals carried naturally acquired parasite infections as confirmed by pretrial fecal examination. The animals were necropsied for worm recovery on Days 14, 15 or 16. Parasites recovered were identified to species. Horses treated with ivermectin had significantly (P99.0% reduction) adult small strongyles (Coronocyclus spp including C. ...
Epidermal growth factor regulation of equine glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit expression in trophoblast cells. Primates and equids are the only species known to express the placental glycoprotein hormone, chorionic gonadotropin (CG), a heterodimeric glycoprotein composed of an alpha subunit linked to a hormone-specific beta subunit. The regulatory mechanisms involved in the induction of equine glycoprotein alpha subunit gene expression have not been identified. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor is known to transduce signals that alter a number of different cellular functions (cell proliferation, differentiation, hormone secretion, and gene regulation). In the present study, we investigated the reg...
Physical anchorage and orientation of equine linkage groups by FISH mapping BAC clones containing microsatellite markers. A horse bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library was screened for 19 microsatellite markers from unassigned or non-oriented linkage groups. Clones containing 11 (AHT20, EB2E8, HMS45, LEX005, LEX014, LEX023, LEX044, TKY111, UCDEQ425, UCDEQ464 and VIASH21) of these were found, which were from eight different linkage groups. The BAC clones were used as probes in dual colour FISH to identify their precise chromosomal origin. The microsatellite markers are located on nine different horse chromosomes, four of which (ECA6, ECA25, ECA27 and ECA28) had no previously in situ assigned markers.
Neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser ablation of a urethral web to relieve urinary outflow obstruction in a horse. An 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding was examined because of urine dribbling and urethral obstruction. Mild proprioceptive deficits of the left hind limb were evident during neurologic examination. Ultrasonography per rectum revealed dilatation of the pelvic portion of the urethra. Endoscopy of the urethra revealed 2 webs of tissue: 1 was located 10 cm proximal to the external urethral opening; the other was located 65 cm proximal to the external urethral opening and prevented passage of the endoscope into the urinary bladder. The mass was ablated with a neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser, us...
Training affects the collagen framework of subchondral bone in foals. Subchondral bone provides structural support to the overlying articular cartilage and plays an important role in osteochondral diseases. There is growing insight that the mechanical features of bone are related to the biochemistry of the collagen network. In this study the effect of exercise on water, calcium and the collagen network (total collagen, lysyl-hydroxylation, hydroxylysylpyridinoline, and lysylpyridinoline crosslinks) of subchondral bone at two differently loaded sites (site 1: intermittently loaded; site 2: constantly loaded) is investigated in foals. Exercise influenced calcium c...
Liver and biliary system pathology in equine dysautonomia (grass sickness). Hepatocellular and hepatobiliary damage was assessed in equine acute, subacute and chronic grass sickness cases (AGS, SAGS, CGS). Histopathological analysis showed that even in some early AGS cases enlarged hepatocytes, hepatocyte vacuolation indicative of lipid accumulation (steatosis), intrahepatocyte, canalicular and periportal deposition of pigments, frequent leucocyte infiltration and cholangitis occurred. Analysis of serum indicated significantly increased levels of unconjugated bilirubin in all groups and conjugated bilirubin in AGS and SAGS groups, increased levels of bile acids in som...
Cardiovascular, haematological and biochemical responses after large volume blood collection in horses. To determine whether removal of 20 mL/kg of blood (approximately 25% of blood volume) resulted in adverse physiological effects in donor horses, we removed this volume of blood from five horses and selected cardiovascular, haematological and biochemical variables measured during collection and for 31 days thereafter. We found that alteration in most variables occurred, although the changes in values usually remained within published reference ranges. Also, recovery of these alterations to pre-collection values was rapid, occurring within 24--48 h in most instances. We concluded that volumes of...
The effect of sodium heparin on equine articular cartilage. This study compared the effect of sodium heparin and gentamicin sulphate on equine articular cartilage (AC) explants in order to investigate the possible use of sodium heparin in the treatment of infectious arthritis. Six concentrations of sodium heparin and gentamicin sulphate were tested. The supernatant and explant digest were assayed for glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content with the dimethyl-methylene blue assay and the per cent loss of GAG was calculated. A significant (P< 0.001) increase in percentage GAG loss was noted for the sodium heparin groups when compared to the control, whilst no ...
Determination of oral dosage and pharmacokinetic analysis of flecainide in horses. To determine oral dosage and to evaluate the pharmacokinetics in horses of orally administered flecainide, an antiarrhythmic drug, the correlations between its plasma concentration and PR, QRS and QT intervals in equine electrocardiograms (ECG) were investigated. Six healthy horses were administered a randomly ordered dose of 4 or 6 mg/kg of flecainide acetate. The ECG was monitored (heart rate (HR), PR, QRS, and QT intervals) and blood was taken at timed intervals to measure the plasma flecainide concentrations pre- and post-administration. The maximum plasma concentration reached 1014+/-285 ...
Time-related changes of the cardiovascular system during maintenance anesthesia with sevoflurane and isoflurane in horses. To clarify time-related changes in equine cardiovascular system during maintenance anesthesia (180 min, 1.2 minimum alveolar concentration) with sevoflurane (Sev-group) compared to isoflurane (Iso-group) as the basis for clinical use of Sev, horses were examined for the heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), cardiac index (CI), systemic vascular resistance (SVR) and pre-ejection period (PEP)/ejection time (ET) that is an index of the cardiac contractility. The HR was almost 30 beats/min in both groups without significant temporal change. MAP was significantly elevated with time but the...
[Extracorporal shock wave therapy in veterinary medicine]. This article gives a general overview on a new therapy in equine orthopedics. In human medicine extracorporal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is used for lithotripsy of stones of the urologic system and also in orthopedics. In equine medicine the therapy is almost exclusively applied for the treatment of orthopedic problems. The main indications are proximal suspensory desmitis (PSD), lesions of tendons and ligaments, osteoporotic changes and spavin. In this paper the mode of action of shock waves and the different shock wave devices are discussed. Also, some information about an ongoing clinical tr...
The surgical technique and the age of the horse both influence the outcome of mosaicplasty in a cadaver equine stifle model. Six pieces of grafts, 6.5 mm in diameter, 20 mm in length, were taken from each of 170 cadaver hindlimbs, using the cranial surface of the medial femoral trochlea for harvesting. The age of the horses varied between 4 months and 23 years. 30 limbs under the age of 12 years were selected for transplantation. Three of six grafts were transplanted into the medial femoral condyle using different combinations of tunnel depth and dilation. With ageing, a significant decline in transplantability was detected. In general, mosaicplasty cannot be recommended in horses above 11 years. Based on a previous...
