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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.
Vacuum phenomenon in equine carpal, metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints. In order to establish the incidence of vacuum phenomenon in horses' carpal, metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints, stress-flexed radiographs were made of normal joints, joints with known pathology and in anaesthetised horses with joints under traction. Focal intra-articular radiolucencies were identified in normal stress-flexed carpal, metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints. These radiolucencies can be confused with those associated with pathological conditions.
Could treatment of pregnant mares prevent abortions due to equine piroplasmosis? Treatment of pregnant mares to prevent abortions due to equine piroplasmosis is a novel idea practised empirically at some Thoroughbred studs in South Africa. This paper presents the results of an investigation to ascertain whether imidocarb dipropionate crosses the equine placenta. Three pregnant mares were injected intramuscularly with imidocarb and their foetuses were mechanically aborted at varying time intervals thereafter. Imidocarb was found in foetal blood at a level similar to that in the dam's blood, suggesting that imidocarb administered to the dam would be available for anti-parasi...
Twin reduction in the mare: current options. Twin pregnancy in the mare causes economic loss. Early transrectal ultrasonographic detection of twins and manual crush of one embryonic vesicle is the method of choice for managing equine twins (90% success rate). Transcutaneous and transvaginal ultrasound-guided twin reduction techniques are described for twin pregnancies that advance beyond 25 days of gestation. Reported success rates for the ultrasound-guided procedures are 50% and 20%, respectively.
Seasonality in mares. In this review, we have attempted to summarize, based on recent data obtained in our laboratory and elsewhere, our current understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of seasonality and discuss the implications with regard to treatment strategies to advance the onset of cyclic reproductive activity in the early spring.
The early fetal life of the equine conceptus. This paper will discuss development of the equine conceptus, especially from the perspective of the maternal environment in which it develops and to which it has considerable influence.
Post-breeding endometritis in the mare. Post-breeding endometritis is a major cause of subfertility in the mare. Endometritis is a normal event in the immediate period after mating, but the presence of ultransonographically visible uterine fluid more than 12 h later is thought to be evidence of uterine pathology. In mares that are free of venerally transmitted endometritis, treatment is aimed at removing the intraluminal fluid. If the endometritis persists past day 5, when the embryo enters the uterine lumen, the cytotoxic environment will not be compatible with pregnancy. Reproductive anatomy, defective myometrial contractility, lo...
Reproductive behavior of stallions and mares: comparison of free-running and domestic in-hand breeding. Based on observational studies comparing social organization and reproductive behavior of equids breeding under feral, semi-feral, and domestic conditions, a series of comparisons and findings on reproductive physiology and behavior are presented. Simple changes in management and handling of mares and stallions that can improve reproductive efficiency and fertility or that can overcome specific breeding problems are discussed.
Bluetongue and equine viral arteritis viruses as models of virus-induced fetal injury and abortion. A number of viruses have the capacity to cross the placenta and infect the fetus to cause, among other potential outcomes, developmental defects (teratogenesis), fetal death and abortion. Bluetongue virus (BTV) infection of fetal ruminants provides an excellent model for the study of virus-induced teratogenesis. This model has shown that only viruses modified by passage in cell culture, such as modified live virus vaccine strains, readily cross the ruminant placenta, and that the timing of fetal infection determines the outcome. Thus, cerebral malformations only occur after fetal infection at ...
Immune responses and viral replication in long-term inapparent carrier ponies inoculated with equine infectious anemia virus. Persistent infection of equids by equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is typically characterized by a progression during the first year postinfection from chronic disease with recurring disease cycles to a long-term asymptomatic infection that is maintained indefinitely. The goal of the current study was to perform a comprehensive longitudinal analysis of the course of virus infection and development of host immunity in experimentally infected horses as they progressed from chronic disease to long-term inapparent carriage. We previously described the evolution of EIAV genomic quasispecies (C...
Use of repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction for molecular epidemiologic analysis of Streptococcus equi subspecies equi. To determine whether repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) could be used to differentiate Streptococcus equi isolates, to examine S equi isolates from throughout the world, and to determine whether a horse had > 1 subtype of S equi during an outbreak of disease. Methods: An initial group of 32 S equi isolates, 63 S equi isolates from various geographic areas, and 17 S equi isolates obtained during outbreaks of disease. Methods: An aliquot of S equi genomic DNA was amplified, using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus primers. Gel electrophoresis was perfor...
Effects of interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha on expression of matrix-related genes by cultured equine articular chondrocytes. To determine the effects of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) on expression and regulation of several matrix-related genes by equine articular chondrocytes. Methods: Articular cartilage harvested from grossly normal joints of 8 foals, 6 yearling horses, and 8 adult horses. Methods: Chondrocytes maintained in suspension cultures were treated with various doses of human recombinant IL-1beta or TNF-alpha. Northern blots of total RNA from untreated and treated chondrocytes were probed with equine complementary DNA (cDNA) probes for cartilage matrix-related ge...
Gait and speed as exercise components of risk factors associated with onset of fatigue injury of the third metacarpal bone in 2-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses. To determine the degree to which components of the training program of 2-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses influence their susceptibility to fatigue injury of the third metacarpal bone (bucked shins). Methods: 226 two-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: Daily training information and health reports on 2-year-old Thoroughbreds were compiled from records provided from 5 commercial stables. For each horse, data (exercise variables) were collected that comprised distance jogged (approx speed of 5 m/s), galloped (approx 11 m/s), and breezed (approx 15 to 16 m/s) until a single instance of buc...
Changes in kinematic variables observed during pressure-induced forelimb lameness in adult horses trotting on a treadmill. To determine whether kinematic changes induced by heel pressure in horses differ from those induced by toe pressure. Methods: 10 adult Quarter Horses. Methods: A shoe that applied pressure on the cuneus ungulae (frog) or on the toe was used. Kinematic analyses were performed before and after 2 levels of frog pressure and after 1 level of toe pressure. Values for stride displacement and time and joint angles were determined from horses trotting on a treadmill. Results: The first level of frog pressure caused decreases in metacarpophalangeal (fetlock) joint extension during stance and increases ...
Influence of interleukin-1beta and hyaluronan on proteoglycan release from equine navicular hyaline cartilage and fibrocartilage. Proteoglycan (PG) release, in response to recombinant human interleukin-1beta (rh-IL-1beta), was measured in cartilage explants obtained from the equine distal sesamoid bone (navicular bone). Fibrocartilage from the surface of the navicular bone apposing the deep digital flexor tendon and hyaline cartilage from the surface of the navicular bone articulating with the middle phalanx were labelled with 35SO4. Hyaline cartilage from the distal metacarpus was used as a control tissue. Following radiolabel incorporation, the three cartilage types were treated with rh-IL-1beta (100 U/mL) in the prese...
Mushroom toxicity in a horse with meningioangiomatosis. We describe a fatal case of mushroom intoxication in an 18-y-o horse presumably due to Amanita verna. Horses are normally regarded as too fastidious to eat the ill-flavored toadstools. In this case, the horse had a rare benign brain tumor, meningioangiomatosis, which may have altered the horse's normal eating behavior resulting in consumption of the mushrooms.
Headshaking in horses: possible aetiopathogenesis suggested by the results of diagnostic tests and several treatment regimes used in 20 cases. Twenty mature horses with typical headshaking of 2 week-7 year duration were studied. Clinical examinations included radiography of the head and nasopharyngeal endoscopy. All were assessed at rest and at exercise, both before and after fitting an occlusive nasal mask, application of tinted contact lenses and the perineural anaesthesia of the infraorbital and posterior ethmoidal branches of the trigeminal nerve. Infraorbital anaesthesia had no effect in 6/7 cases but 11/17 (65%) cases showed a 90-100% improvement following posterior ethmoidal nerve anaesthesia. Tinted contact lenses had no appa...
Cyclical endometrial steroid hormone receptor expression and proliferation intensity in the mare. The aims of this study were to investigate the steroid hormone receptor expression and the proliferation intensity during the equine endometrial cycle by immunohistological methods, established for routine examination of formalin-fixed, paraplast-embedded specimens. Endometrial biopsy specimens were obtained during one cycle from 7 mares. In comparison with the blood steroid hormone levels the quantity and distribution of oestrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) and the proliferation marker Ki-67 antigen expression were investigated. Rising 17beta-oestradiol concentrations in preoestrus ...
Respiratory responses of mature horses to intravenous lobeline bolus. The respiratory stimulant lobeline has been used in equine clinical practice to increase inspiratory and expiratory airflow rates at rest in order to facilitate investigation of both lower and upper airway function. Some of the responses to lobeline in the pony have been reported, but the detailed time course, effect of dose, possible side effects and reproducibility associated with lobeline administration have not been described in the horse. Respiratory airflow rates and oesophageal pressure were measured with a Fleisch No. 5 pneumotachometer and lightweight facemask and a microtip pressure ...
An in vitro study to compare 5 different techniques for injection of the navicular bursa in the horse. Numerous different techniques for injection of the navicular bursa have been described but there is little conformity between these descriptions. A literature review was performed and techniques for injection of the navicular bursa were categorised into 5 approaches. This study was performed to evaluate the reproducibility of each technique and to assess which technique was consistently most successful. Five inexperienced operators performed each technique on 5 cadaver forelimbs. Once a needle had been placed, a radiograph was taken to confirm placement was in accordance with the description o...
Study of intragastric administration of doxycycline: pharmacokinetics including body fluid, endometrial and minimum inhibitory concentrations. The objectives of this study were to determine the pharmacokinetics and tissue concentrations of doxycycline after repeated intragastric administration, and to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for equine pathogenic bacteria. In experiment 1, 2 mares received a single intragastric dose of doxycycline hyclate (3 mg/kg bwt). Mean peak serum concentration was 0.22 microg/ml 1 h postadministration. In experiment 2, 5 doses of doxycycline hyclate (10 mg/kg bwt), dissolved in water, were administered to each of 6 mares via nasogastric tube at 12 h intervals. The mean +/- s.e. pea...
Radiographic and clinical survey of degenerative joint disease in the distal tarsal joints in Icelandic horses. The prevalence of degenerative joint disease (DJD) in the distal tarsal joints and the relation between radiographic and clinical signs compatible with the disease were estimated in a population of Icelandic horses used for riding. The material consisted of 614 horses age 6-12 years (mean age = 7.9 years). Radiographs with 3 projections of each tarsus were made and a clinical examination, including palpation of the medial aspect of the distal tarsus and motion evaluation of the hindlimbs before and after a flexion test of the tarsus, was performed. Radiographic signs of DJD in the distal tarsa...
Equine dental disease part 4: a long-term study of 400 cases: apical infections of cheek teeth. Of 400 horses referred because of equine dental disease, 162 suffered from primary apical infections of their cheek teeth (CT), including 92 with maxillary CT infections and 70 with mandibular CT infections. Maxillary swellings and sinus tracts were more common (82 and 26% incidence, respectively) with infections of the rostral 3 maxillary CT, than with infections of the caudal 3 maxillary CT (39 and 5% incidence, respectively). Nasal discharge was more commonly present with caudal (95%) than rostral (23%) maxillary CT infections. Mandibular CT apical infections commonly had mandibular swellin...
Molten globule structure of equine beta-lactoglobulin probed by hydrogen exchange. The molten globule structure of equine beta-lactoglobulin has been inferred from the hydrogen exchange protection of the backbone amide protons. In order to make it possible to measure the hydrogen exchange kinetics of the individual backbone amide protons, the uniformly (15)N-labeled recombinant protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and the NMR peak assignment was obtained for most of the backbone protons. The chemical shift and NOE results obtained under the condition where the protein assumes the native structure are fully consistent with the known secondary structure of bovine beta-lac...
Detection and quantitation of Ehrlichia risticii genomic DNA in infected horses and snails by real-time PCR. A real-time quantitative PCR using the TaqMan fluorogenic detection system (TaqMan PCR) was established for identification of Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever (PHF). The TaqMan PCR identified an 85 base pair section of the 16S rRNA gene by use of a specific fluorogenic probe and two primers. This technique was specific for eight tested E. risticii strains. The TaqMan system identified 10 copies of a cloned section of the 16S rRNA gene of E. risticii. The sensitivity and specificity of the TaqMan PCR were similar to those of conventional nested PCR. The TaqMan PCR was evalua...
[Ultrasound guided surgical reduction of twin pregnancies in the horse up to the 46th day of pregnancy]. Methods for elimination of one of two embryos in twin pregnancies of mares were studied. Transvaginal ultrasound guided punction of yolk sac or allantoic cavity with fluid aspiration was used. Punction was done in 8 mares, pregnant between 22 and 46 days. In six cases, pregnancy did continue normally with one embryo only while in two cases, both embryos died following the procedure.
