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.
Fujimiya Y, Perryman LE, Crawford TB.Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and direct cytotoxicity assays were performed with equine infectious anemia virus-infected target cells, equine leukocytes, and equine anti-equine infectious anemia virus antibody to determine whether these mechanisms play a role in controlling viral replication in equine infectious anemia. Direct cytotoxicity was observed by using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 7 of 10 infected horses. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity was not observed. The antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity reaction in horses was then studied by using sheep eryth...
Valdez H, Taylor TS, McLaughlin SA, Martin MT.Removal of abdominal testes was accomplished in 32 horses ranging in age from 6 to 72 months. Twenty were unilateral and 12 were bilateral abdominal cryptorchids. An incision was made over the superficial inguinal ring, and the extension of the gubernaculum testis was identified and grasped with forceps. Traction was applied to this structure until the vaginal process was everted beyond the superficial inguinal ring. The vaginal process was incised and the protruding structure, usually the epididymis, was grasped. The testis was drawn out by gentle traction on the epididymis, and castration wa...
Liberatori J, Morisio Guidetti L, Conti A.By double diffusion in agarose gel, in well defined experimental conditions, cross reactions were observed between porcine beta-lactoglobulins and anti-bovine beta-lactoglobulin antisera. The immunological reactivity between these beta-lactoglobulins from a monogastric and the ruminant anti beta-lactoglobulin antiserum thus implies a certain degree of similarity between the monomeric beta-lactoglobulins examined and the dimeric of the ruminants. With the same antisera it also proved possible to demonstrate the presence of beta-lactoglobulins in the mammary secretions of another monogastric, na...
Moore JN, Garner HE, Berg JN, Sprouse RF.Cecal fluid from two adult horses was assayed by the limulus amebocyte lysate system for endotoxin before and after carbohydrate overload of the gastrointestinal tract. There were increases in cecal fluid endotoxin concentrations at the 3-, 6-, and 12-hour samplings when compared with base-line values. Concomitant cecal fluid lactate concentrations and pH values increased and decreased, respectively. Both horses subsequently developed clinical signs of acute laminitis.
Willett K, Blackmore DJ.A method is described for the measurement of haptoglobin in equine serum using the peroxidase activity of the haemoglobin-haptoglobin complex. The problems of interference with Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions are described. Normal values for haptoglobin in 629 blood samples from thoroughbreds in training are presented showing a log normal distribution with a 5 per cent to 95 per cent range of 0.42 to 1.7 g/litre. There was no consistent alteration in haptoglobin concentration throughout the season in spite of a change in red cell size and total bilirubin concentration. It is concluded that the measurement ...
Leid RW.The investigation of the mast cell-basophil products has progressed from studies directed solely at implicating histamine or serotonin in allergic diseases to molecular definitions of pathways to target cell activation and mediator release. In addition, within the last several years the detection and molecular characterization of the many other mediators of immediate hypersensitivity have begun. This area should continue to prove a fruitful arena in the future. Identification of the physiologic importance of these mediators in the heaves syndrome or other potential equine allergic syndromes ma...
Woolcock JB, Farmer AM, Mutimer MD.The development of a selective medium for the isolation of Corynebacterium equi is described. The medium has been used to examine fecal samples from 127 horses of which 90 have been found to carry the organism.
Willoughby RA, McDonell WN.Pulmonary function tests in horses are in the early stages of development and there will be a limit in the range of tests available since those requiring patient cooperation cannot be conducted in animals. Some tests such as blood gas analysis, A-aDo2 and delta Ppl measurements could presently be used to a greater extent under field conditions. Others that require expensive equipment and considerable technical assistance will be limited to the larger referral type veterinary clinics until the time is reached when there is adequate information to select those procedures that give a reasonable c...
Slocombe JO.A study was initiated to determine the prevalence of tapeworms in horses in Southern Ontario and to investigate the efficacy of pyrantel pamoate, niclosamide and mebendazole. Fecal samples were taken from 580 horses of various breeds, ages and sexes in 24 locations and Anoplocephala perfoliata was found in 13.6%. This was regarded as a minimum, the true rate being probably significantly higher and the reasons for this are discussed. A brief review of the life cycle and effects of tapeworms in horses and a comparison of two flotation techniques for the diagnosis of A. perfoliata eggs in feces i...
de Boer GF, Osterhaus AD, van Oirschot JT, Wemmenhove R.The prevalence of antibodies to various viruses was investigated in a series of serum samples collected from horses in the Netherlands between 1963 and 1966 and from 1972 onwards. Neutralizing antibodies to equine rhinopneumonitis virus, equine arteritis virus and to equine rhinovirus types 1 and 2 were detected in respectively 76%, 14%, 66% and 59% of the equine serum samples tested. The observed incidence of serum samples positive to equine adenovirus in the complement fixation test was 39%. Precipitating antibodies to equine infectious anaemia virus were detected only in serum samples from ...
de Boer GF, Osterhaus AD, van Oirschot JT, Wemmenhove R.The prevalence of antibodies to various viruses was investigated in a series of serum samples collected from horses in the Netherlands between 1963 and 1966 and from 1972 onwards. Neutralizing antibodies to equine rhinopneumonitis virus, equine arteritis virus and to equine rhinovirus types 1 and 2 were detected in respectively 76%, 14%, 66% and 59% of the equine serum samples tested. The observed incidence of serum samples positive to equine adenovirus in the complement fixation test was 39%. Precipitating antibodies to equine infectious anaemia virus were detected only in serum samples from ...
Cummings JF, de Lahunta A, Timoney JF.Four cases of neuritis of the cauda equina (NCE) were studied by light and electron microscopy. Examination of sacral intradural rootlets revealed inflammatory cell infiltrates and an array of myelinated fiber changes which included myelin stripping by invading mononuclear cells and macrophages, as well as splitting and vesiculation of myelin lamellae without obvious participation by leukocytes. More distally in the extradural roots, there was marked granulomatous inflammation, and demyelinative changes were overshadowed by widespread evidence of irreversible axon damage. In all cases, unusual...
Cox JE, Edwards GB, Neal PA.The authors analyse data collected over 23 years from 500 cryptorchid horses. They show that left- and right-sided abdominal cases occur with approximately equal frequency in ponies. Approximately half the right-sided unilateral abdominal cases have the epididymal tail descended while only 20 per cent of the left-sided cases do. These findings are briefly discussed. From their analysis of inguinal cryptorchidism the authors conclude that it is a relatively more complex phenomenon with incidence changing with age as well as breed. Right-sided retention predominates in young ponies, probably bei...
Mayhew IG, Brewer BD, Reinhard MK, Greiner EC.A fifth stage Strongylus vulgaris migrated through the spinal cord of a 2-year-old, male donkey resulting in progressive paraparesis and then tetraplegia. A profound neutrophilic pleocytosis was detected on analysis of cerebrospinal fluid. The parasite appeared to have entered the mid-lumbar spinal cord, migrated to the cranial thoracic segments, exited, then re-entered the spinal cord a few segments craniad. It then traveled further cranially and was found in the third cervical spinal cord segment. Some parts of the lesion were remarkably free from tissue necrosis, hemorrhage and inflammation...
Yamout SZ, Magdesian KG, Tokarz DA, le Jeune SS.This is a report of a 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding with a ruptured esophageal pulsion diverticulum associated with atypical clinical signs of colic and septic peritonitis on presentation. The location of this diverticulum at the hiatus was unique and was most likely responsible for the unusual presentation of this horse. Diverticule de Zenker intrathoracique chez un cheval. Ceci est un rapport d’un hongre de race Swedish Warmblood âgé de 12 ans présentant un diverticule de Zenker perforé associé à des signes cliniques atypiques de coliques et de péritonite septique à la pré...
Long SE.Nine reproductively normal mares, 25 infertile mares and one set of heterosexual twins were examined cytogenetically using conventional giemsa staining, C-banding and G-banding. It was concluded that G-banding was necessary to identify even gross anomalies. Three (12 per cent) of the infertile mares, but none of the controls, had a chromosomal anomaly. One was 63,XO, one a 63,XO/64,XX mixoploid and one a 64,XY sex reversed male. It is argued that a cytogenetic examination is a useful diagnostic technique but that routine screening of the whole population would be uneconomic.
Cercone M, Brown BN, Stahl EC, Mitchell LM, Fortier LA, Mohammed HO, Ducharme NG.Respiratory function in the horse can be severely compromised by arytenoid chondritis, or arytenoid chondropathy, a pathologic condition leading to deformity and dysfunction of the affected cartilage. Current treatment in cases unresponsive to medical management is removal of the cartilage, which can improve the airway obstruction, but predisposes the patient to other complications like tracheal penetration of oropharyngeal content and dynamic collapse of the now unsupported soft tissue lateral to the cartilage. A tissue engineering approach to reconstructing the arytenoid cartilage would repr...
Lima SB, Verreschi IT, Ribeiro Neto LM.Equine unsaturated estrogens are the main components of brand formulations indicated for hormonal replacement therapy in both hypogonadic and postmenopausal women. These hormones are produced by the fetoplacental unit during equine gestation. A method is described for the quantitative determination of equilenin (EL), equilin (EQ), 17alpha-dihydroequilin (17dEQ), and estrone (El) in the plasma of a pregnant mare. Blood samples are obtained weekly during pregnancy by jugular venipuncture using sodium ethylenediaminetetracetic as the anticoagulant. For the quantitation of these estrogens, plasma ...