Omneity® Pellets
All-In-One Vitamin & Mineral Pellet
Topic:Equine Health
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.
[Use of the Reflotron system for the determination of creatine kinase (CK) in the blood of swine, sheep, cattle, horses and dogs]. The Reflotron-CK test was evaluated with blood samples of healthy and diseased pigs, sheep, cattle, horses and dogs in relation to the standard CK-NAC test (UV-method). The precision within the series on the day of blood sampling was better than VK = 7.5% (coefficient of variation) with both methods. The day to day precision was estimated by using deep frozen plasma and was in the same order of magnitude with the Reflotron-CK and the UV-method (CV less than 10%). While fresh whole blood of sheep, cattle, horses and dogs respectively should be applied directly onto the dry reagent carrier with ...
Dietary selenate versus selenite for cattle, sheep, and horses. Food and Drug Administration regulations currently permit addition of .3 mg of Se per kilogram of diet for chickens, turkeys, ducks, swine, sheep, and cattle. However, field reports indicate that this level may not be adequate for ruminants in all situations. Because sodium selenite is the most common supplemental form and is known to be readily absorbed to particles or reduced to insoluble elemental Se or selenides in acid, anaerobic environments, studies were conducted with dairy cattle, sheep, and horses fed sodium selenate to determine whether Se from this source was more bioavailable than...
A soluble recombinant fusion protein of the transmembrane envelope protein of equine infectious anaemia virus for ELISA. The use of the bacterial expression vector, pGex, to produce an abundant, soluble fusion protein of gp45 from equine infectious anaemia virus is described. Purification of the recombinant protein was achieved by one step affinity chromatography on immobilized glutathione using competitive elution so no harsh conditions were required. This provides a readily available antigen that is defined, plentiful and cheap. Yields of 3.5 mg of purified soluble protein/litre of bacterial culture were obtained. This antigen was found to be suitable for ELISA. Background reactivity to either the glutathione-...
Immunotherapy of periocular squamous cell carcinoma with metastasis in a pony. A 5-year-old Pony of America mare was referred for evaluation of inflamed upper and lower right eyelids. Squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelids and ulcerative keratitis secondary to self-trauma were diagnosed. Initial treatment of the eyelid neoplasia with 2 applications of cryotherapy failed to resolve the lesions, and immunotherapy with bacillus of Calmette-Guerin (BCG) was instituted. Multiple injections of BCG over a 17-week period resulted in progressive shrinkage of the tumor mass, but regional metastasis to the ipsilateral submandibular lymph node occurred. Six months later, ocular neop...
In vitro comparison of equine granulocytes labeled with 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime or 111In-oxine. Isolated equine granulocytes (WBC), radiolabeled with 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) or 111In-oxine, were evaluated in vitro for their labeling characteristics, viability, and phagocytic function over a 6-hour postlabeling period. Mean +/- SD labeling efficiency for 111In-oxine-WBC was 62.2 +/- 15.3%, which was significantly (P less than 0.001) higher than that for 99mTc-HMPAO-WBC (32.0 +/- 17.0%). In vitro elution of radiolabel from cells was significantly (P less than 0.02) greater for 99mTc-HMPAO-WBC at 0.5, 2, and 4 hours, but was not significantly different from elutio...
Necropsies of eight horses infected with Strongylus equinus and Strongylus edentatus. Ponies (n = 8) approximately 18 months old, were infected with 20,000 to 30,000 infective larvae of Strongylus equinus with less than 10% contamination with Strongylus edentatus larvae and necropsied 7 months post-infection. Lesions were present in the omentum, liver, pancreas, ventral colon, caecum and occasionally in the lungs. There were numerous intraabdominal adhesions and severe multiple granulomatous omentitis. Pancreatic damage, which characterises S. equinus, was exceptionally mild and was manifested mainly by slight periductular infiltration of eosinophils. Granulomas associated with...
Equine haptoglobin: isolation, characterization, and the effects of ageing, delivery and inflammation on its serum concentration. Haptoglobin (Hp) was isolated from equine serum by ammonium sulphate precipitation, anion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. Equine Hp which migrated to the alpha 2-globulin region in electrophoresis, contained 2 fractions with molecular weights (NW) of 108,000 and 105,000, and each fraction consisting of 2 subunits. Quantitative measurement of Hp in equine serum was performed by the single radial immunodiffusion method using anti-equine Hp serum. In clinically normal horses, the highest concentration of serum Hp was found in newborn foals and a high value was maintained until 12 mont...
Biochemical analysis by SDS-PAGE and western blotting of the antigenic relationship between Leptospira and equine ocular tissues. The antigenic relationship between Leptospira interrogans, equine cornea and lens was previously noted in our studies. Serum antibodies from horses inoculated with serovars wolffi, pomona, icterohaemorrhagiae, and tarassovi, were able to bind to five antigenic fractions from both cornea and lens, as demonstrated by immunoblotting. These antigens seem to be made up of protein and carbohydrates. After treatment with periodate for cleavage of glycoside ring structures, those fractions kept their condition of target for anti-Leptospira antibodies. Nevertheless, all fractions lost that condition af...
Morphologic and biochemical study of sternal cartilage autografts for resurfacing induced osteochondral defects in horses. Using biodegradable pins, sternal cartilage autografts were fixed into osteochondral defects of the distal radial carpal bone in ten 2 to 3-year-old horses. The defects measured 1 cm2 at the surface and were 4 mm deep. Control osteochondral defects of contralateral carpi were not grafted. After confinement for 7 weeks, horses were walked 1 hour daily on a walker for an additional 9 weeks. Horses were euthanatized at 16 weeks. Half of the repair tissue was processed for histologic and histochemical (H&E and safranin-O fast green) examinations. The other half was used for the following bioch...
Effects of xylazine on ventilation in horses. The effects of 3 commonly used dosages (0.3, 0.5, and 1.1 mg/kg of body weight, IV) of xylazine on ventilatory function were evaluated in 6 Thoroughbred geldings. Altered respiratory patterns developed with all doses of xylazine, and horses had apneic periods lasting 7 to 70 seconds at the 1.1 mg/kg dosage. Respiratory rate, minute volume, and partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) decreased significantly (P less than 0.001) with time after administration of xylazine, but significant differences were not detected among dosages. After an initial insignificant decrease at 1 minute a...
A single gene encodes the beta-subunits of equine luteinizing hormone and chorionic gonadotropin. Equine (e) CG and LH beta-subunits have identical amino acid sequences, including an extended carboxyl-terminal peptide (CTP). This suggests that unlike the corresponding human genes, the beta-subunits of eCG and eLH may be encoded by a single gene and share a common proximal promotor region. To explore this, we isolated and characterized the eLH/CG beta gene(s). Data from Southern analyses suggest that the eCG beta and eLH beta subunits are products of the same single copy gene (eLH/CG beta). Overlapping fragments of the eLH/CG beta gene and cDNA were amplified from equine genomic DNA and pit...
Four forearm flexor muscles of the horse, Equus caballus: anatomy and histochemistry. Two of the forearm flexors of the horse, the superficial and deep digital flexor muscles, are critical to support the digital and fetlock joints, exhibit differing insertions, and are passively supported by the proximal and distal check ligaments, respectively. These two muscles differ in histochemical composition and architecture. The differences are correlated with the different stress levels transmitted through their tendons, and the different frequencies of clinical breakdown that have been reported. Both muscles contain type I and type IIa fibers. A few type IIb fibers occurred in the dee...
[Selenium, an essential and toxic element. Latin American data]. After a brief discussion of some of the aspects of importance, sources, deficiencies and excesses of selenium the great differences of ingestion between different countries are mentioned. Breast fed children from an area in Venezuela ingest 10 times the amount compared with children from Finland. Among sesame seed samples from 20 different countries used as Se indicators, the highest and the lowest values were found in those of Latin-American origin. With very few exceptions the highest and the lowest urinary and serum Se levels reported in the literature came from this region. The performance...
Isolation and characterization of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein from horses, and its evaluation as an acute-phase reactive protein in horses. Equine alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (alpha 1AG) was isolated from equine serum by successive ammonium precipitation, anion- and cation-exchange chromatographies, and gel filtration. Purified equine alpha 1AG had a molecular weight of 46,000 +/- 1,000, and contained 31.4% carbohydrate. Gel isoelectric focusing revealed an isoelectric point range of 2.8 to 3.7. With immunoelectrophoresis, it was found that alpha 1AG migrated to the alpha 1-globulin region. Single radial immunodiffusion was used for quantitative measurement of alpha 1AG in equine serum. In clinically normal foals, serum alpha 1AG wa...
Effect of inhalation anaesthetics on total respiratory resistance in conscious ponies. Total respiratory resistance was measured rapidly and non-invasively in 6 conscious ponies before and after they inhaled approximately 25% of the minimal anaesthetic concentration (0.25 MAC) of either enflurane, halothane, or isoflurane, over a 10 min period. The forced random noise (FRN) method was used to measure the impedance over the frequency range of 5 to 40 Hz and its real part, the resistance, was extracted from these impedance measurements. At the concentrations used, halothane appeared to have no effect on the total respiratory resistance; enflurane and isoflurane seemed to increase ...
Evaluation of sulbactam plus ampicillin for treatment of experimentally induced Klebsiella pneumoniae lung infection in foals. Efficacy of sulbactam, a beta-lactamase inhibitor, in combination with ampicillin, was evaluated for treatment of experimentally induced pneumonia caused by beta-lactam-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Infection was experimentally induced in 18 healthy weanling foals that were randomly allocated to 3 treatment groups: sulbactam plus ampicillin (S/A, 3.3 and 6.6 mg/kg of body weight, respectively), ampicillin (6.6 mg/kg), or vehicle only. Foals were treated daily for 7 days; the observer was unaware of treatment status. Compared with ampicillin and vehicle, treatment with S/A resulted in a stat...
Equine infectious anemia virus gene expression: characterization of the RNA splicing pattern and the protein products encoded by open reading frames S1 and S2. The utilization of predicted splice donor and acceptor sites in generating equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) transcripts in fetal donkey dermal cells (FDD) was examined. A single splice donor site identified immediately upstream of the gag coding region joins the viral leader sequence to all downstream exons of spliced EIAV transcripts. The predominant 3.5-kb transcript synthesized in EIAV-infected FDD cells appears to be generated by a single splicing event which links the leader sequence to the first of two functional splice acceptor sites near the 5' end of the S1 open reading frame (OR...
[Three cases of virus isolation from horse fetuses diagnosed with equine arteritis virus (EAV) abortion from stud farms with different breeds]. Three cases of abortions were diagnosed as caused by Equine Arteritis Virus (EAV) by isolation and typing of this virus from the respective fetuses. All 3 abortions were single cases, one occurring on a stud with Iceland Ponies, one with Warmbloods, one with Lipizzaner horses. On each stud horses of the respective breed were kept exclusively, therefore there existed no epidemiologic link. By means of seroneutralization tests performed on in contact horses it could be shown, that EAV had only been introduced recently into the stud with the Iceland Ponies. An extraneous mare stabled temporarily ...
Bronchial circulation during prolonged exercise in ponies. Tracheal, bronchial, and renal flow were studied in 8 healthy ponies at rest and during exercise performed on a treadmill at a speed setting of 20.8 km/h and 7% grade (incline) for 30 minutes. Blood flow was determined with 15-microns-diameter radionuclide-labeled microspheres that were injected into the left ventricle when the ponies were at rest, and at 5, 15, and 26 minutes of exertion. Heart rate and mean aortic pressure increased from resting values (40 +/- 2 beats/min and 124 +/- 3 mm of Hg, respectively) to 152 +/- 8 beats/min and 133 +/- 4 mm of Hg at 5 minutes of exercise, to 169 +/- ...
The role of procaine in adverse reactions to procaine penicillin in horses. Procaine penicillin is a commonly used antibiotic in equine medicine but its use is associated with a substantial incidence of adverse reactions. Soluble procaine concentrations were determined by HPLC in several commercially available procaine penicillin preparations, including some that were involved in adverse reactions. The mean (+/- SEM) soluble procaine concentrations in the veterinary preparations was 20.18 +/- 5.07 mg/ml, which was higher than the concentration in the only procaine penicillin preparation for use in humans in Australia of 7.3 mg/ml. Heating the veterinary procaine penic...
Immunohistochemical observations on pneumonic lesions caused by Rhodococcus equi in foals. An immunohistochemical analysis of Rhodococcus equi-induced pneumonia in 10 foals was performed by biotin-streptavidin system. The detection of R. equi was more sensitive in immuno-stain using anti-R. equi serum than in Gram's stain. This bacteria also reacted to anti-BCG serum. Lysozyme and alpha 1-antitrypsin were detectable in macrophages. A particularly intense staining was observed in association with intracellular bacteria. Though a degree of reaction for alpha 1-antichymotrypsin was very low in comparison with lysozyme and alpha 1-antitrypsin, it was also demonstrated in macrophages ing...
The production of equine monoclonal immunoglobulins by horse-mouse heterohybridomas. Studies were carried out to determine the optimum conditions for the production of equine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Lymphocytes from ponies immunised with influenza A equine 2 virus, isolate A/Equine/Newmarket/79 (H3N8) were fused with mouse myeloma (NSO) cells and with horse-mouse heterohybridomas made aminopterin-sensitive by selective growth in 8-azaguanine. Although all fusions initially resulted in heterohybridoma colonies that secreted equine immunoglobulin, many of these were unable to maintain secretion for longer than a few weeks. Increasing the time between immunisation and the b...
Microvascular circulation of the descending colon in horses. The microvascular circulation of the descending colon was studied in 5 adult horses, using microangiography and light microscopy combined with gross studies and scanning electron microscopy of vascular replicas. After heparinization, horses were euthanatized, and 3 segments of the descending colon and its mesentery containing 1 vascular arcade were removed from each horse. The fecal balls were gently massaged from the lumen, and the blood was flushed free of the circulation with isotonic NaCl. In 5 segments, the vascular system was injected with a modified radiopaque medium and evaluated radio...
[Diagnosis and therapy of tendinitis exemplified by the athletic horse].
Sportverletzung Sportschaden : Organ der Gesellschaft fur Orthopadisch-Traumatologische Sportmedizin
This paper reviews the literature and describes our experiences in the diagnosis and treatment of tendinitis in horses. Ultrasonography provides a sensitive tool to diagnose tendinitis and quantitate the degree of damage to the tendon; as well as provide differential diagnoses such as peritendinitis. The principles in therapy of acute tendinitis are: Immediate reduced exercise or rest, physical therapy to reduce inflammation and administration of local and systemic antiinflammatory drugs. The goal is restoration of the tensile strength of the tendon without peritendinous granulation tissue and... Mammary adenocarcinoma in four mares. Mammary gland adenocarcinoma in 4 horses was characterized by firm swelling of the gland and serosanguineous discharge from the teat orifice. Two of the mares had ulcerative lesions of the mammary gland. Palpation of the affected gland typically elicited signs of pain. Diagnosis was assisted by cytologic evaluation of the fluid discharge, but definitive diagnosis was based on histologic examination. Treatment included mastectomy and lymphadenectomy.
Tracheal obstruction from tracheal collapse associated with pneumonia in a horse. A 20-month-old Quarter Horse stallion was admitted for evaluation of labored breathing, honking cough, and bilateral epistaxis that were caused by pneumonia and collapsed trachea. A transtracheal aspiration revealed highly cellular, serosanguineous fluid. Radiography revealed a patchy alveolar pattern and a narrowed tracheal lumen. Endoscopy confirmed narrowing of the tracheal lumen. Streptococcus zooepidemicus was isolated on culture of the transtracheal aspirate. The horse responded to penicillin treatment, and the tracheal collapse improved endoscopically after 4 days, with complete recover...
Role of the eosinophil in serum-mediated adherence of equine leukocytes to infective larvae of Strongylus vulgaris. The adherence of equine leukocytes to Strongylus vulgaris infective larvae (L3) in the presence of normal and immune sera was examined in vitro. Immune sera promoted adherence of buffy coat cells from ponies with S. vulgaris-induced eosinophilia (eosinophilic ponies) to S. vulgaris L3. However, eosinophils in the buffy coat cells were the predominant adherent cell type. Studies using leukocyte populations enriched for eosinophils, neutrophils, and mononuclear cells from eosinophilic ponies support the observations using buffy coat cells that eosinophils were the main effector cells. Adherent e...
[Two rare lens abnormalities in horses]. Coloboma and ectopia of the crystalline lens are rarely encountered or diagnosed congenital defects of the equine eye. The clinical and ophthalmoscopic features of a congenital coloboma of the lens in a 3 year old Hanoverian stallion and of an ectopic lens in a 6-month old Hanoverian filly are described and depicted. In the stallion, the lens coloboma was associated with a partial coloboma of the zonules, and in the filly, the ectopic lens was small and spherical (microphakia, spherophakia) and associated with syneresis of and small floaters in the vitreous. Although it cannot be excluded that...
[Weak viability syndrome in newborn foals. Retrospective studies of the etiological clarification and chance for recovery]. This review of therapeutic results involved 115 foals with delayed viability syndrome (DVS). The foals were up to four days old. It could be shown that prognosis quoad vitam depended very much on the severity of illness, which could be determined primarily by the foals' ability to stand (SA) and secondly by the presence of the suckling reflex (SR). Those foals that were (still) able to stand--while the suckling reflex was/was not present (anymore) (SA+, SR+; SA+, SR-)--had good prospects of recovery regardless of the causal disease. The chances for survival were significantly poorer if the foa...
