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.
Marois P, Pavilanis V, Boudreault A, Di Franco E.The clinical diagnosis of equine influenza was first based on the spectacular contagiousness of the disease, the general clinical resemblances to human influenza and the almost complete absence of complications usually observed in infectious viral arteritis, viral rhinopneumonitis or in other respiratory infections of the horses. The specific viral etiology of the epizootic was ascertained through the isolation of a type A influenza virus and further substantiated by evaluation of the immunological response of the sick horses, as demonstrated by complement fixation and hemagglutination-inhibit...
Peck KE, Ray AC, Manuel G, Rao MM, Foos J.To develop a sensitive, rugged high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the measurement of phenylbutazone (PBZ) in equine sera, using a rapid, nonevaporative extraction technique. Methods: Sera from 5 nonexercising adult horses. Methods: After addition of sodium chloride and acetonitrile to serum samples, reverse-phase HPLC analysis for PBZ and oxyphenbutazone (OXY) was performed directly on extracts, using diode array UV spectrophotometric detection. Probenecid was used as an internal standard. Data were evaluated by standard means of statistical analysis. Results: Recoveries ...
Ivester KM, Couëtil LL, Moore GE.Mild equine asthma is presumed to arise in response to environmental exposures but the relative impact of differing inflammatory phenotypes upon performance are largely unexplored. Objective: Airway inflammation negatively affects performance and cytological phenotype varies with environmental exposure. Methods: Thoroughbred racehorses in active training and racing. Methods: Thoroughbreds were recruited 24-48 hours before racing. Each horse was eligible for re-enrollment with each race entry. Within one hour of race completion, physical examination, respiratory endoscopy, and BAL were performe...
Reilly PT, van Eps A, Stefanovski D, Pfau T.Horseshoes with modified contact surfaces combined with deformable ground substrates are used to change hoof orientation during mid-stance, for example, for therapeutic reasons. Objective: To measure the effect of horseshoes and ground substrates on sagittal and transverse plane hoof orientation at mid-stance using a dorsal hoof wall mounted triaxial accelerometer. Methods: In vivo experiment, randomised crossover design. Methods: Differences in sagittal and transverse plane angles between standing and mid-stance of the left front hoof of six horses walking with regular horseshoes, egg bar, to...
Giacominelli-Stuffler R, Frangipane di Regalbono A, Traversa D, Geurden T, Marcer F, Di Francesco A, Angelini C, di Cesare A, Storelli MM....Leukotrienes are products of the arachidonic acid metabolism and act as potent inflammatory mediators modulating the immune response and various physiological processes. This study evaluated the expression and activity of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), the enzyme that catalyzes the first two steps in the biosynthesis of leukotrienes, in horses infected by larval cyathostomins. Tissue samples from dorsal and ventral colon, and from the cecum were collected from 16 horses slaughtered for human consumption. Samples were analyzed to estimate the burdens of encysted cyathostomin larvae and adult luminal s...
Muko R, Sunouchi T, Urayama S, Toishi Y, Kusano K, Sato H, Muranaka M, Shin T, Oikawa MA, Ojima Y, Ali M, Nomura Y, Matsuda H, Tanaka A.Histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) is abundant plasma protein with various effects on angiogenesis, coagulation, and immune responses. Previously, we identified the base and amino acid sequences of equine HRG (eHRG) and revealed that eHRG regulates neutrophil functions. In this study, we first conducted a large-scale gene analysis with DNA samples extracted from 1700 Thoroughbred horses and identified unique insertion/deletion polymorphisms in the histidine-rich region (HRR) of eHRG. Here we report two types of polymorphisms (deletion type 1 [D1] and deletion type 2 [D2]) containing either a 45...
Whitton RC, Rose RJ.To determine the frequency of damage to the medial palmar intercarpal ligament (MPICL), and the range of sizes of the dorsomedial intercarpal ligament (DMICL) of the midcarpal joint in horses with no history of carpal joint disease. Methods: Cadaver limbs were collected from 72 horses with no history of carpal joint disease. One hundred and forty-two midcarpal joints were dissected and the MPICL and DMICL were examined. Measurements were made with a digital micrometer. Results: MPICL tearing was present in 88 of 96 joints from horses 2 years and older. Tears were predominantly of the dorsolate...
Lanci A, Merlo B, Grandis A, Mariella J, Castagnetti C, Iacono E.Wharton's jelly (WJ) is fundamental for the well-being of the fetus, binding to the umbilical vessels and protecting them from twisting and compression. Gross and microscopic studies have been undertaken on the umbilical cord (UC) of human placentae in both normal and high-risk pregnancies, however there is limited research on equine UC. The aim of this study was to describe microscopically and immunohistochemically the equine UC in normal pregnancies, with particular attention to WJ. Forty-seven healthy mares, with no complications during pregnancy, admitted to the hospital for attending deli...
Coomer RPC, Terschuur JA, Pressanto MC, Walker I.To assess the efficacy of commercial intra-articular blood-derived allogeneic-induced mesenchymal stem cells (CIMSCs) to treat tarsometatarsal lameness in horses. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Methods: Records from 167 adult light breed horses with bilateral tarsometatarsal lameness. Methods: Horses with tarsometatarsal lameness were retrospectively selected from medical records. Diagnosis followed subjective graded lameness assessment before and after intra-articular analgesia, with graded radiographic tarsal examination. Horses were excluded if they were diagnosed or treate...
Skrabalak DS, Maylin GA.Dexamethasone and a metabolite, 9-fluoro-16α-methyl-6β, 11β, 16β-trihydroxy-1, 4-androstadiene-3, 17-dione, were detected in the urine of horses injected parenterally with the parent drug. The structure of the metabolite was elucidated by thin-layer chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Vitums A, Grant BD, Stone EC, Spencer GR.ABSTRACT Transposition of the aorta to the right ventricle with atresia of the pulmonary trunk was described in a 2 year old horse. Clinical and physiological examinations were performed and data recorded. Teratogenesis of the present anomaly was discussed and the literature reviewed. The probable course of circulation during the fetal life and after birth of this animal was suggested. An extensive col-lateral circulation was developed to the lungs, which might explain how the animal could live so long.
Damkel C, Snyder A, Uhlig A, Coenen M, Schusser GF.An electrode incorporated into a polyethylene hose was introduced under endoscopic control into the stomach of six fasting adult horses for long-lasting pH measurements. The intragastric pH was recorded every four seconds for a period of 24 hours. The Warmblood horses were assigned randomly to receive hay ad libitum (H group); 1.5 kg hay/100 kg BW/day and 1 kg concentrate/100 kg BW/ day (C group) or protocol C plus 75 g pectin-lecithin supplement/100 kg BW/day (P group). The horses were adapted to each diet for 14 days. The 24-hour median pH value for protocol H (2.69) was significantly lower ...
Brandon RB, Giffard JM, Bell K.Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in exons 13, 15 and 16 of equine transferrin for common, rare and mutant variants were investigated. Compared with previous work a further 13 SNPs have been identified, allowing for the two previously identified clades to be subdivided into 11 groups. A combination of one or more of eight SNPs can be used to classify the equine variants into these 11 groups, since most are co-inherited. Putative sites of glycosylation in exons 13 and 16 showed no polymorphism, suggesting that presence or absence of sugar moieties does not lead to electrophoretic variation...
Hemberg E, Kindahl H, Lundeheim N, Einarsson S.The objectives of this study were to investigate: (i) relationships between early foal health and their dams' reproductive health at mating/conception as well as after parturition and (ii) health status during early foal life and its association with performance as an adult. The study included 35 foals showing clinical symptoms indicating septicaemia, sometimes in combination with other disturbances, within their first 18 h postpartum (Group I). Eighty-eight foals that were healthy during their first few days of life were used as control (Group II). All foals were born in the same region of Sw...
Nocera I, Bonelli F, Meucci V, Rinnovati R, Spadari A, Intorre L, Pretti C, Sgorbini M.Literature on the protein carbonyl content (PCC) evaluation in horses is scarce, thus the aims were to evaluate the PCC in healthy and SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) horses and to investigate the performances of PCC in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio in identifying SIRS positive and negative horses. A total of 72 adult horses were included. All the horses underwent to a complete physical examination, blood analysis, and were evaluated for the SIRS status. Blood samples were collected once in healthy horses and at admission time, then 24, 48, 72, and 96 h...
Hare JE, Viel L, Conlon PD, Marshall JS.Pulmonary mast cells (PMC) are important components of the inflammatory process in equine allergic lung diseases such as heaves. Very little, however, is known of the degranulation kinetics of these cells and thus, their pathophysiologic role remains largely speculative. The purpose of this study was to develop a repeatable protocol for in vitro equine PMC degranulation. Five mature horses (sex: 2 M, 3 F; age: 8.8 +/- 6.5 y), historically free of pulmonary disease and normal on clinical respiratory examination, arterial blood gas analysis, pulmonary mechanics testing and histamine inhalation c...
Val-Calvo J, Darcy J, Gibbons J, Creighton A, Egan C, Buckley T, Schmalenberger A, Fogarty U, Scortti M, Vázquez-Boland JA.A multidrug-resistant clone of the animal and human pathogen Rhodococcus equi, MDR-RE 2287, has been circulating among equine farms in the United States since the 2000s. We report the detection of MDR-RE 2287 outside the United States. Our finding highlights the risk for MDR-RE spreading internationally with horse movements.
Vanderwall DK, Woods GL.To determine the effect on fertility of large-volume uterine lavage with lactated Ringer's solution (LRS) performed immediately prior to insemination in mares. Methods: Prospective randomized controlled study. Methods: 20 mares. Methods: Control mares (n = 10) were inseminated with 1 billion (estimated before cooling) progressively motile spermatozoa that had been cooled in a passive cooling unit for 24 hours. Mares (n = 10) in the treatment group were inseminated with 1 billion progressively motile spermatozoa (cooled as described for control mares) immediately after uterine lavage with 4 L o...
Kingston JK, Bayly WM, Sides RH.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage has been associated with reduced performance in racing horses. However, it is unclear what volume of blood loss into the lungs impairs performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine the minimal volume of autologous Horses blood instilled into the airways that significantly affects performance and pulmonary function in exercising horses. Six Thoroughbred horses performed 2 exercise bouts on each of 4 treatment test days. Each exercise bout consisted of a 2 min warm-up at 4 m/s followed by running at a speed equivalent to 115% VO2max, until ...
Erichsen C, Eksell P, Holm KR, Lord P, Johnston C.Radiography and scintigraphy are used to aid diagnosis of the cause of back pain, but a large variation in appearance and radiopharmaceutical uptake in fully functioning horses make diagnosis difficult. Objective: To describe the range of and compare scintigraphic and radiographic findings in the spinous processes of horses without clinical signs of back problems. Methods: Thirty-three apparently normal riding horses underwent scintigraphic and radiographic examinations of the spinous processes in the thoracolumbar spine. Scintigraphic images were evaluated in a continuous blue, green and red ...
