Equine health encompasses the study and management of diseases, disorders, and overall well-being of horses. It involves understanding various physiological systems, preventive care, and treatment strategies to maintain optimal health in equine populations. Common areas of focus include nutrition, infectious diseases, orthopedic conditions, and reproductive health. Research in equine health aims to advance knowledge on diagnostic methods, therapeutic interventions, and management practices that improve horse welfare and performance. This page collects peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the diverse aspects of equine health, offering insights into current findings and advancements in the field.
Yanoviak SP, Aguilar PV, Lounibos LP, Weaver SC.Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) complex alphaviruses are serious health threats in the Americas and regularly infect humans living in or near Amazonian rain forests. As part of a larger surveillance program, we placed six hamster-baited mosquito traps in a disturbed white sand forest of northeastern Peru for 3 d. Virus isolations from hamster serum and trapped mosquito pools demonstrated that a VEE subtype IIIC alphavirus was transmitted to a hamster by the mosquito Culex (Melanoconion) gnomatos Sallum, Hutchings & Ferreira. This species, like the other seven proven VEE complex alphavirus...
Gil L, Saura S, Echegaray A, Martinez F, de Blas I, Akourki A, Gonzalez N, Espinosa E, Josa A.The present study evaluated the effect of supplementing the medium used to mature equine oocytes in vitro with oestrous mare serum (EMS) or horse follicular fluid (HFF). To this end, 144 ovaries were obtained from mares aged 16-21 months and transported to the laboratory in Dulbecco's phosphate buffered saline (D-PBS) at 30 degrees C. Oocytes were harvested from the ovaries by slicing, and then selected for in vitro maturation (IVM) according to the number of cumulus cell layers and the characteristics of the cytoplasm. The selected oocytes were washed three times in TCM199 medium plus HEPES (...
Pfau T, Witte TH, Wilson AM.Biomechanical studies often employ optical motion capture systems for the determination of the position of an object in a room-based coordinate system. This is not ideal for many types of study in locomotion since only a few strides may be collected per ;trial', and outdoor experiments are difficult with some systems. Here, we report and evaluate a novel approach that enables the user to determine linear displacements of a proprietary orientation sensor during cyclical movement. This makes experiments outside the constraints of the laboratory possible, for example to measure mechanical energy ...
Pozor M.Although ultrasound evaluation of the reproductive tract of stallions was introduced to veterinary practice long ago, this examination is not always conducted during routine breeding soundness evaluation. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical relevance of routine ultrasound evaluation of the stallion's reproductive tract. Breeding soundness evaluation of 113 stallions was performed, including ultrasonography of external and internal genitalia. Various pathological conditions were detected using this technique, with the most frequent being varicocele, thickened vaginal tun...
Kaşikçi G, Horoz H, Alkan S, Düzgün O, Aktaş M.A modified surgical technique has been developed for repairing third-degree perineal lacerations in mares. Complications of the currently used methods include rectovaginal fistula formation, urine pooling, complete dehiscence of the repair, constipation, tenesmus and difficulty of performance in the practice. The modified method is simpler and more practical. This method was performed on eight Thoroughbred mares with third-degree perineal lacerations after delivery. The rectovestibular septum was reconstructed by three lines of sutures in a transverse direction in relation to the longitudinal ...
Payne RC, Hutchinson JR, Robilliard JJ, Smith NC, Wilson AM.We provide quantitative anatomical data on the muscle-tendon units of the equine pelvic limb. Specifically, we recorded muscle mass, fascicle length, pennation angle, tendon mass and tendon rest length. Physiological cross sectional area was then determined and maximum isometric force estimated. There was proximal-to-distal reduction in muscle volume and fascicle length. Proximal limb tendons were few and, where present, were relatively short. By contrast, distal limb tendons were numerous and long in comparison to mean muscle fascicle length, increasing potential for elastic energy storage. W...
Middleton JR, Fales WH, Luby CD, Oaks JL, Sanchez S, Kinyon JM, Wu CC, Maddox CW, Welsh RD, Hartmann F.Staphylococcus aureus isolates (n = 70) from 65 patients (36 canine, 18 equine, 7 bovine, 2 avian, and 2 feline) at seven veterinary teaching hospitals in the United States were studied. The majority of patients (83%) with an S. aureus infection were canine and equine, but this may have reflected a sample bias based on clinic case loads and diagnostic lab submissions at the participating institutions. Fourteen percent of patients with an S. aureus infection were infected with a methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolate. Six of seven institutions had at least one MRSA infection during the ...
Berg EL, Fu CJ, Porter JH, Kerley MS.Short-chain fructooligosaccharides (FOS) were supplemented to the diets of nine quarter horses ranging in age from 489 to 539 d with initial BW averaging 400.6 +/- 21.2 kg. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of dietary FOS on the fecal responses in terms of pH, the microbial population, and VFA concentrations. The horses were used in a 3 x 3 replicated Latin square design, fed according to NRC requirements, and their individual diets were supplemented with no FOS (CON), 8 g of FOS/d (LOW), or 24 g of FOS/d (HIGH) over three 10-d feeding periods. On the last 3 d of each ...
Parbhakar OP, Duke T, Townsend HG, Singh B.Horses are unique in their extreme sensitivity to endotoxin-induced cardio-pulmonary shock and mortality. The mechanisms behind increased sensitivity of the horse to endotoxin remain unknown. Pulmonary intravascular macrophages (PIMs) are pro-inflammatory cells occurring in horses. Because the functions of equine PIMs in endotoxemia remain unknown, we studied the role played by equine PIMs in endotoxin-induced pulmonary pathophysiology. We achieved this by using a recently developed protocol to deplete PIMs in order to compare lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pulmonary responses in horses with...
Quinlivan M, Zamarin D, García-Sastre A, Cullinane A, Chambers T, Palese P.Equine influenza is a common disease of the horse, causing significant morbidity worldwide. Here we describe the establishment of a plasmid-based reverse genetics system for equine influenza virus. Utilizing this system, we generated three mutant viruses encoding carboxy-terminally truncated NS1 proteins. We have previously shown that a recombinant human influenza virus lacking the NS1 gene (delNS1) could only replicate in interferon (IFN)-incompetent systems, suggesting that the NS1 protein is responsible for IFN antagonist activity. Contrary to previous findings with human influenza virus, w...
Pusterla N, Fecteau ME, Madigan JE, Wilson WD, Magdesian KG.The medical records of 19 horses with acute hemoperitoneum were reviewed. The causes for the hemoperitoneum were idiopathic (8 horses), splenic hematoma with capsular tear (7), bleeding from the reproductive tract (3), multicentric hemangiosarcoma (1), and systemic amyloidosis (1). The affected horses were between 4 and 32 years of age (median 11.5 years). The most consistent findings on initial examination were depression, tachycardia, tachypnea, pale mucous membranes, prolonged capillary refill time, colic, and abdominal discomfort. Less common clinical signs included abdominal distention, p...
Wattrang E, Berg M, Magnusson M.This study aimed to evaluate different nucleic acid preparations as cytokine inducers in equine cells. To induce cytokine production, bacterial plasmid DNA or short synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODN), with or without the transfection reagent lipofectin, were added to cultures of purified equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Cytokine activity was detected with bioassays in cell culture supernatants after 24h of induction and cytokine mRNA expression was detected using RT-PCR at 6h post induction. For IFN-alpha/beta it was found that both plasmid DNA and phosphodiester ODN, c...
Al Jassim RA, Scott PT, Trebbin AL, Trott D, Pollitt CC.Seventy-two lactic acid producing bacterial isolates (excluding streptococci) were cultured from the gastrointestinal tract of six horses. Two of the horses were orally dosed with raftilose to induce lactic acidosis and laminitis while the remaining four were maintained on a roughage diet. Near complete 16S rDNA was amplified by PCR from the genomic DNA of each isolate. Following RFLP analysis with the restriction enzymes MboI, HhaI and HinfI, the PCR products from the 18 isolates that produced L- and/or D-lactate were subsequently cloned and sequenced. DNA sequence analysis indicated that the...
Derossi R, Miguel GL, Frazílio FO, Nunes DB, Kassab TA.Bupivacaine is available as a racemic mixture of its enantiomers, d-bupivacaine and l-bupivacaine (LB). The aim of this randomized, double-blind study was to investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of S(-)-bupivacaine compared with standard racemic bupivacaine (RB) in horses under caudal epidural analgesia. Two treatments were administered to each horse, with a 2-week interval between subsequent treatments. Treatment 1 consisted of 0.5% LB at a dose of 0.06 mg/kg of body weight, and treatment 2 consisted of 0.5% RB at a dose of 0.06 mg/kg of body weight. Epidural injections were given in ...
Card C.Morphologic assessment of spermatozoa is one of the most objective measures in a Breeding Soundness Examination of a stallion. There are different systems for morphologic assessment of spermatozoa. The objectives of this article are to review spermatogenesis, describe clinical sample preparation, discuss previous methods of morphologic classification and explain the use of a differential spermiogram. The advantages of the differential spermiogram method of analysis are discussed, along with its use in delineating intrinsic and extrinsic disturbances in spermatogenesis. Case examples of specifi...
Erkert RS, Macallister CG, Campbell G, Payton ME, Shawley R, Clarke CR.Local anesthesia and tissue inflammation associated with lidocaine infiltration and lidocaine/prilocaine topical anesthetic cream for episioplasty in mares were compared. Twenty-two mares were randomly assigned to lidocaine or lidocaine/prilocaine topical anesthetic cream treatment groups. Perineum and vulva were cleaned, 8-12 g (approximately 1 g/cm per side of vulva) of topical anesthetic cream was applied, and the area was covered by plastic wrap 30 min prior to beginning procedure. Alternately, lidocaine was injected (1 mL) every centimeter just prior to the procedure. Episioplasty was con...
Claes F, Ilgekbayeva GD, Verloo D, Saidouldin TS, Geerts S, Buscher P, Goddeeris BM.In this study, we compared the complement fixation test (CFT), the horse complement fixation test (HCFT) and a card agglutination test for trypanosomosis (CATT/T. evansi) for the diagnosis of equine trypanosomosis in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Cohen's kappa test was used to evaluate the concordance between the three tests. Kappa scores for CFT versus HCFT and CATT are both 0.6165 (95% Confidence Interval CI 0.414--0.819) indicating a "substantial" agreement between CFT and HCFT or CATT, respectively. Kappa for HCFT versus CATT is 0.395 (CI 0.142--0.648) indicating a "fair" agreement between t...
Upjohn MM, Archer RM, Christley RM, McGowan CM.A telephone survey of 51 National Hunt racing yards with 1140 horses in training was made in April and May 2003 to establish the incidence of exertional rhabdomyolysis syndrome during the previous year. A case-control study was used to investigate the risk factors for the syndrome in eight yards selected on the basis that cases had been confirmed by the analysis of serum muscle enzymes. The overall incidence of syndrome was 6.1 cases per 100 horses per year, and 55 per cent of the yards reported at least one case. The risk factors identified were sex, the average length of the training gallop,...
Carnevale EM, Coutinho da Silva MA, Panzani D, Stokes JE, Squires EL.Oocyte transfer is a potential method to produce offspring from valuable mares that cannot carry a pregnancy or produce embryos. From 2000 through 2004, 86 mares, 19.2 +/- 0.4 yr of age (mean +/- S.E.M.), were used as oocyte donors in a clinical program at Colorado State University. Oocytes were collected from 77% (548/710) of preovulatory follicles and during 96% (548/570) of cycles. Oocytes were collected 21.0+/-0.1h after administration of hCG to estrous donors and cultured 16.4 +/- 0.2 h prior to transfer into recipients' oviducts. At 16 and 50 d after transfer, pregnancies were detected i...
Causey RC, Weber JA, Emmans EE, Stephenson LA, Homola AD, Knapp KR, Crowley IF, Pelletier DC, Wooley NA.The purpose of this study was to describe strain-specific immune responses to Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) during uterine infection in horses. Five isolates of S. zooepidemicus were differentiated into four strains antigenically by bactericidal testing in blood of 12 horses, and genetically by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Eight healthy mares were then divided into two groups, each inoculated with one strain intrauterinely on three successive oestrous cycles followed by a second strain for three successive cycles, first and second strains being reversed fo...
Vertz J, Deblanc D, Rhodin M, Pfau T.In trotting horses, movement asymmetry is associated with ground reaction force asymmetry. In humans, limb length differences influence contralateral force production. Here we investigate whether horses, in immediate reaction to limb length changes, show movement asymmetry adaptations consistent with reported force differences. Aim of this study was to quantify pelvic and compensatory head and withers movement asymmetry as a function of limb length changes after application of orthotic lifts. In this experimental study movement asymmetry of eleven trotting horses was calculated from vertical d...
Hardee MM, Moore JN, Hardee GE.The efficacy of three agents which alter the metabolism of arachidonic acid was investigated in normal, conscious horses. A dose response evaluation was made of flunixin meglumine and phenylbutazone, two cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors, and of a selective thromboxane synthetase inhibitor, UK-38,485. Radioimmunoassay of thromboxane B2 (TxB2) and 6-keto prostaglandin F1 alpha (PGF1 alpha) was used to assess the concentrations of thromboxane A2 (TxA2) and prostacyclin (PGI2) respectively, in serum. Flunixin was the most potent inhibitor of serum TxB2 and 6-keto PGF1 alpha production. UK-38,485 also de...
Jenner F, Kirker-Head C.To determine the effect of core decompression surgery and bone mineral density (BMD) on the mechanical properties of equine navicular bones. Methods: Experimental, in vitro study. Methods: Fore limb navicular bones (n=36 pairs) from sound 2-5-year-old horses with no radiographic abnormalities of the distal aspect of the forelimbs. Methods: Navicular BMD was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. One randomly assigned navicular bone from each pair served as control. The contralateral test specimen was allocated to 1 of 6 treatment groups defined by drill bit size (3.2 versus 2.5 mm di...
Bazzano M, Zhu C, Laus F, Giambattista AD, Laghi L.The application of the 'omics' studies in the field of animal reproduction has been aimed at identifying novel biomarkers of fertility since the last few years. When assessing reproductive efficiency in horses, breed should also be taken into account as it can influence semen quality and fertility. Considering the growing interest in metabolomic analysis to evaluate male fertility, we aimed to investigate the metabolomic profile of seminal plasma in two different horse breeds. Twelve healthy stallions, n.6 American Quarter Horse (AQH) and n.6 Italian Draft Horse (IDH) stallions, regularly used...
Albert R, Vásárhelyi G, Bodó G, Kenyeres A, Wolf E, Papp T, Terdik T, Módis L, Felszeghy S.One of the most promising applications for the restoration of small or moderately sized focal articular lesions is mosaicplasty (MP). Although recurrent hemarthrosis is a rare complication after MP, recently, various strategies have been designed to find an effective filling material to prevent postoperative bleeding from the donor site. The porous biodegradable polymer Polyactive (PA; a polyethylene glycol terephthalate - polybutylene terephthalate copolymer) represents a promising solution in this respect. A histological evaluation of the longterm PA-filled donor sites obtained from 10 exper...
Giancola F, Gentilini F, Romagnoli N, Spadari A, Turba ME, Giunta M, Sadeghinezhad J, Sorteni C, Chiocchetti R.Equine ileocolonic aganglionosis, which is also called lethal white foal syndrome (LWFS), is a severe congenital condition characterized by the unsuccessful colonization of neural crest progenitors in the caudal part of the small intestine and the entire large intestine. LWFS, which is attributable to a mutation in the endothelin receptor B gene, is the horse equivalent of Hirschsprung's disease in humans. Affected foals suffer from aganglionosis or hypoganglionosis of the enteric ganglia resulting in intestinal akinesia and colic. In other species with aganglionosis, fibers of extrinsic origi...
Aguilar JJ, Woods GL, Miragaya MH, Olsen LM, Vanderwall DK.The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that incubating equine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) in medium containing 50% or 100% homologous preovulatory follicular fluid would improve cumulus expansion and nuclear maturation. Oocytes were incubated in one of three media: 1) supplemented TCM-199 (control), 2) 50% (v/v) follicular fluid in control medium or 3) 100% follicular fluid. Cumulus expansion was evaluated subjectively, and nuclear maturation was evaluated by staining oocytes with Hoechst 33258. The hypothesis that incubating COCs in medium containing follicular fluid would...
Sisken BF, Zwick M, Hyde JF, Cottrill CM.This review covers the development and maturation of the cerebellum of the horse and compares this developmental sequence with that of man, mouse and chicken. These comparisons attempt to correlate morphological and neurochemical features, developmental time and functional performance necessary for survival at birth. Although there is great disparity between these 3 species, the basic anatomical structures of the cerebellum are present as are specific cellular groups, synapses and neurochemical markers. In addition to this structural homogeneity, other attributes of the cerebellum are its easi...
Dowling BA, Dart AJ, Matthews SM.To evaluate chemical arthrodesis using sodium monoiodoacetate for treatment of degenerative joint disease of the tarsometatarsal and distal intertarsal joints. Methods: Retrospective clinical study. Methods: Horses were diagnosed with degenerative joint disease of one or more of the tarsometatarsal or distal intertarsal joints based on history, lameness examination, radiographic findings and, in some cases, response to intra-articular anaesthesia or medication. Intra-articular injections of sodium monoiodoacetate were performed using 23 gauge needles in the sedated, standing horse. Positive co...
Chaffin MK, Fajt V, Martens RJ, Arnold CE, Cohen ND, O'Conor M, Taylor RJ, Bernstein LR.Gallium is a trivalent semi-metal with anti-microbial effects because of its incorporation into crucial iron-dependent reproductive enzyme systems. Gallium maltolate (GaM) provides significant gallium bioavailability to people and mice following oral administration and to neonatal foals following intragastric administration. To study the prophylactic and therapeutic effects of GaM against Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals, we developed a methylcellulose formulation of GaM (GaM-MCF) for oral administration to neonatal foals. Normal neonatal foals were studied. Six foals received 20 mg/kg and ...
Doll CU, Bohner M, Berner D, Buettner K, Horstmeier C, Winter K, Burk J.Low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has gained increasing importance to monitor equine tendon lesions. Comparing results between studies and cases is hampered, because image analysis approaches vary strongly. This study aimed to improve reliability, comparability and time efficiency of quantitative MRI image analysis. Unassigned: Induced tendon lesions were studied over a 24-week period with 10 follow-up MRI examinations. Signal intensities (SIs) of tendons, tendon lesions, cortical bone and background, as well as lesion cross-sectional areas (CSAs) were measured. Lesion SI standardisat...
Egenvall A, Byström A, Lindsten A, Clayton HM.As techniques for equine biomechanical research have become more accessible and affordable, the literature published in this area has exploded. Literature reviews have become more popular of late and, more specifically, several literature reviews in areas related to equine biomechanics have been published. A scoping review is a relatively new approach, where a general aim is to map the body of literature on a topic area, accounting for criteria for inclusion and exclusion. However, problems can arise both in performing the review and in critiquing the findings. In this manuscript, the authors ...
Toth Z, Kaps M, Sölkner J, Bodo I, Curik I.The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for coat color in horses. Besides defining coat color classes (gray, chestnut, bay, and black), the phenotypes were also measured quantitatively according to standardized international procedures (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage L*, a*, b*), where L* describes lightness, a* describes color saturation from red to green, and b* describes color saturation from yellow to blue. The total color saturation was derived from a* and b* and referred to as Chroma. A total of 294 horses from the breeds Lipizzan, Nonius, Arabian Pure Bred, Sh...
Higuchi T, Hashikura S, Hagiwara S, Gojo C, Inui T, Satoh S, Yoshida M, Fujii M, Hidaka D, Tsubaki S, Takai S.Although isolation of Rhodococcus equi from tracheobronchial aspirates is thought to be a definitive diagnosis of R. equi pneumonia in foals, virulence of isolates from the aspirates of infected foals remains obscure. In the present study, transtracheal aspirates were collected from thirty-one 1- to 6-month-old foals, which showed clinical signs of respiratory tract infection, and R. equi isolates were analyzed for the presence of virulence plasmids and virulence-associated antigens. Moreover, this method was compared with a serodiagnosis by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to eval...
Winther L, Baptiste KE, Friis C.Ampicillin concentrations in pulmonary epithelial lining fluid (PELF) and plasma was studied after single intravenous ampicillin administration (15mg/kg) or single intragastric administration of its prodrug, pivampicillin (19.9mg/kg) to horses and discussed in relation to minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of common equine respiratory pathogens. After intravenous administration, elimination of ampicillin was fast and not detectable in plasma after 12h in three out of six horses. Pivampicillin was absorbed well in non-fasted horses with an oral bioavailability of 36%. The degree of penetra...
Crișan MI, Damian A, Morar I, Páll E, Peștean C, Groza IȘ.The ability to choose the sex of the offspring is of upmost economic importance for horse breeders. Unlike other species, horses present several reproductive peculiarities that interfere with assisted reproductive technologies used in other large animals (such as bovine) and make them difficult to apply. Thus, there is a great interest to determine the sex of the offspring as soon as possible. This has led to the development of several technologies to serve this purpose, which can be classified into two categories. One is equine embryo sexing by either non-invasive biotechnological methods, su...
Smyth GB, Young DW, Duran SH.Postprandial insulin and glucose concentrations were measured in 3 Arabian and 3 Thoroughbred foals at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 3 months of age. Prefeeding serum insulin concentrations were similar in foals at 1 day (25.9 +/- 5.1 pmol/L), 1 week (32.4 +/- 5.8 pmol/L), and 1 month (38.2 +/- 7.9 pmol/L), but had increased significantly to 131.0 +/- 20.2 pmol/L at 3 months of age (P < 0.05). There was significantly increased serum insulin secretion after a feed in foals at 3 months of age (P < 0.05) when compared with that at younger ages. Prefeeding serum glucose concentrations ranged fr...
Løwenstein H, Markussen B, Weeke B.Sera from 26 patients and 4 normals were examined for specific IgE binding to antigens of extract of horse hair and dandruff by means of CRIE. 22 of the patients were RAST- and intracutaneous-positive to horse extract. 4 more of the patients were RAST-negative to horse allergens, but showed allergies to extract of allergens from sources other than horse. The remaining four sera from controls were RAST-negative to horse and had no history of allergy. Antigens of horse hair and dandruff showed a significantly higher degree of binding to specific IgE in the sera from the first group of patients t...
Kusch S, Oechsner H, Jungbluth T.Experiments on methanogenesis from horse dung were conducted in laboratory-scale batch reactors in order to determine the substrate performance in a solid-phase digestion process, more specifically in terms of potential energy recovery and suitable process technology. Dung from a horse stable with straw bedding was used. The temperature was kept in the mesophilic range. In the percolation process (with process water sprinkled over the stacked biomass) a proportion of 10-20% of solid inoculum (pre-digested horse dung) was found to be suitable. Comparative experiments with both percolation and f...
Lillich JD, Ruggles AJ, Gabel AA, Bramlage LR, Schneider RK.Medical records of 17 horses in which a distal sesamoid bone fracture was diagnosed between 1982 and 1992 were reviewed. There were 8 Standardbreds, 6 Quarter Horses, 2 Thoroughbreds, and 1 Arabian. Mean age was 4.7 years. A forelimb was affected in 15 horses, and a hind limb was affected in 2. All horses were lame, and most were grade III/V lame at the trot. In all horses, the diagnosis was confirmed by means of radiography. Five horses were treated with stall rest alone; 5 underwent neurectomy; 4 were treated with stall rest and corrective shoeing; and 1 was treated with stall rest and exter...
Scocco P, Menghi G, Ceccarelli P, Pedini V.This study was aimed at characterizing the glycoconjugates produced by the horse sublingual gland and, in particular, at discriminating between the sialoderivatives by means of differential oxidation and saponification combined with lectin histochemistry and enzymatic degradation. The results showed a predominance of sialoglycoconjugates with beta-galactose as acceptor sugar in the salivary mucins produced by the sublingual gland. Besides being the most represented terminal residue, sialic acid was also expressed in a great variety of derivatives distinguishable on the basis of acceptor sugars...
Sheahan BJ, Wilkins PA, Lascola KM, Martin V, Po E.Prior studies have shown the prognostic utility of measuring L-lactate in critically ill neonatal foals, both as single (at admission) and serial measurements. Greater prognostic sensitivity and specificity may be achieved by use of the area under the L-lactate versus time curve (LACArea ) over the first 24 hours of hospitalization, which captures both severity and duration of hyperlactatemia. Prior to application of this concept in sick equine neonates, a reference interval for LACArea should be determined. Methods: The concentration of lactate [LAC] was measured in blood obtained via direct ...
Weiss DJ, Trent AM, Johnston G.Prothrombotic changes occurring in the prodromal stages of carbohydrate-induced laminitis were investigated. Hemostatic alterations were evaluated by determining platelet counts, platelet survival, activated partial thromboplastin time, one-stage prothrombin time, and monocyte procoagulant activity. Thrombosis of vessels in the hoof wall was evaluated by contrast arteriography and histologic examination. Of 5 horses, 4 became lame between 28 and 52 hours after carbohydrate administration. Mean platelet count in laminitis-affected horses was lower throughout the prodromal stages of laminitis, c...
Moss GE, Estergreen VL, Becker SR, Grant BD.[1,2,6,7-3H]Progesterone was injected into the uterine artery of umbilical vein of 4 pregnant Ponies to determine whether 5 alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione (DHP), 20 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-pregnan-3-one (20 alpha-ol), and 3 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-pregnan-20-one (3 beta-ol) are produced by the placenta, fetus, or mare during late gestation. Plasma samples were collected from indwelling catheters in the uterine artery and vein and the umbilical artery and vein at frequent intervals until 6 h after isotope injection. The plasma samples were extracted with organic solvents and the respective pregnanes were...
Crawford A, O'Donnell M, Crowe O, Eliashar E, Smith RK.To report the clinical features of horses with fluid-filled masses associated with the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) and outcome after surgery. Methods: Case series. Methods: Horses (n=10) Methods: Medical records of horses with fluid-filled masses associated with the DFTS were reviewed and the clinical features, diagnostic methods, treatment, histopathology, and outcome reported. Results: Masses were unilateral (7 hind limb, 3 front limb) and in 8 horses were associated with lameness. In 6 horses, lameness improved by >50% with intrathecal DTFS anesthesia, whereas 2 were less positiv...
Sayasith K, Bouchard N, Doré M, Sirois J.The objectives of the study were to clone the primary structure of the prostaglandin E2 receptor subtype 2 (PTGER2) cDNA and to characterize its regulation in equine follicles during gonadotropin-induced ovulation. Results from DNA isolation indicated that the equine PTGER2 cDNA encodes a predicted 353-amino acid protein, which is highly similar (76-85%) to known mammalian homologues. The regulation of PTGER2 was studied by semi-quantitative RT-PCR/Southern blot using preparations of theca interna and mural granulosa cells isolated from equine follicles 0-39 hr post-treatment with human chorio...
St George L, Thetford C, Clayton HM, Hobbs SJ.In dressage, horse-rider combinations must demonstrate harmony whilst performing a test of gaits and movements, scored by judge(s) using predetermined criteria. The para dressage governing body is working towards compliance with the International Paralympic Committee's mandate for evidence-based classification, which requires a comprehensive understanding of key performance determinants. This study aimed to explore stakeholder perceptions surrounding the key determinants of, and impact of impairment on, para dressage performance. Semi-structured interviews with 30 para dressage stakeholders (a...
