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.
Schenk I, Machnik M, Broussou D, Meuly A, Roques BB, Lallemand E, Düe M, Röttgen H, Lagershausen H, Toutain PL, Thevis M.In horses, the benzodiazepine diazepam (DIA) is used as sedative for pre-medication or as an anxiolytic to facilitate horse examinations. As the sedative effects can also be abused for doping purposes, DIA is prohibited in equine sports. DIA is extensively metabolized to several active metabolites such as nordazepam, temazepam and oxazepam (OXA). For veterinarians, taking into account the detection times of DIA and its active metabolites is needed for minimizing the risk of an anti-doping rule violation. Therefore, a pharmacokinetic study on 6 horses was conducted using a single intravenous (...
Rotchanapreeda T, Sae-Chew P, Lohnoo T, Yingyong W, Rujirawat T, Kumsang Y, Payattikul P, Jaturapaktrarak C, Intaramat A, Pathomsakulwong W....Pythiosis, a life-threatening disease caused by , has been increasingly diagnosed worldwide. A recently developed immunochromatographic test (ICT) enables the rapid diagnosis of pythiosis. During the 3-year clinical implementation of ICT in Thailand, we collected the laboratory reports of 38 animals with suspected pythiosis and detected ICT false-positive results in three horses and a dog with basidiobolomycosis. and cause infections with indistinguishable clinical and microscopic features. This study investigated cross-reactive antibodies by probing and crude extracts and cell-free synthe...
Dini P, Weiland A, Boakari Y, Scoggin KE, Esteller-Vico A, Daels P, Ball BA.The goal of this study was to develop a safe, effective, and economical method for permanent sterilization of mares based upon tubo-ovarian ligation performed via colpotomy. In this study, we evaluated the application of a nylon cable tie (zip-tie) to the ovarian pedicle and oviduct of mares to induce ovarian ischemia and tubal ligation without removal of ovaries. Initially, efficiency of zip-ties on the ovarian pedicle was tested in vitro and in vivo. Based on the absence of leakage through the zip-tie ligated vessels in anatomic specimens, we confirmed the potential efficacy of the technique...
Rule EK, Boyle AG, Redding LE.Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important public health risks facing our world today. Antimicrobials are commonly prescribed in equine veterinary medicine, but limited information exists documenting their use in practice. The goal of this study was to investigate antimicrobial prescription patterns in regards to prescription frequency, duration, drug class, clinician and affected body system in an equine ambulatory setting via retrospective analysis of billing and electronic medical records. Risk factors associated with antimicrobial prescription including the nature of the visit, ...
Williams ZJ, Velez-Irizarry D, Gardner K, Valberg SJ.Myofibrillar myopathy in humans causes protein aggregation, degeneration, and weakness of skeletal muscle. In horses, myofibrillar myopathy is a late-onset disease of unknown origin characterized by poor performance, atrophy, myofibrillar disarray, and desmin aggregation in skeletal muscle. This study evaluated molecular and ultrastructural signatures of myofibrillar myopathy in Warmblood horses through gluteal muscle tandem-mass-tag quantitative proteomics (5 affected, 4 control), mRNA-sequencing (8 affected, 8 control), amalgamated gene ontology analyses, and immunofluorescent and electron m...
Duarte PC, Ribeiro RM, Machado ART, Faleiros RR, Pimenta LPS, Filho JDS.The incidence of equine metabolic syndrome, a condition that results in endocrinopathic laminitis, is increasing worldwide. Although it is well known that the development of this syndrome depends on imbalances in energy metabolism and genetic traits, its pathophysiology remains unclear. Hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (H NMR) is a powerful tool used to compare metabolic profiles and to discriminate metabolites in living beings. The aim was to apply this technology to detect blood biomarkers candidates in horses that were previously demonstrated to developed metabolic changes when subjected...
de Oliveira MGC, de Paula VV, Mouta AN, Lima IO, de Macêdo LB, Nunes TL, Trindade PHE, Luna SPL.This study aimed to validate a scale for assessing acute pain in donkeys. Forty-four adult donkeys underwent castration after sedation with intravenous (IV) xylazine, induction with guaifenesin and thiopental IV, local anesthetic block, and maintenance with isoflurane. The scale was constructed from a pilot study with four animals combined with algetic behaviors described for equines. After content validation, the scale was evaluated in 40 other donkeys by three blinded and one reference evaluator, by means of edited videos referring to the preoperative and postoperative periods: before anesth...
Oliva R, Núñez I, Segunda MN, Peralta OA.Equine adult bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) may be induced into the tenogenic lineage after exposure with bone morphogenetic protein-12 (BMP-12). Despite fetal BM-MSCs have showed a greater differentiation potential compared to adults, the tenogenic differentiation capacity of equine fetal BM-MSC have not been reported. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro tenogenic differentiation potential of equine fetal BM-MSCs under the effect of BMP-12. Equine fetal BM-MSCs were exposed to three concentrations of BMP-12 (25, 50 and 100 ng/mL) during a 21-day culture period....
Beaulieu A, Nykamp S, Phillips J, Arroyo LG, Koenig J, Zur Linden A.Intra-articular injections are routinely performed to alleviate pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis in horses. Intra-articular injections require accurate needle placement to optimize clinical outcomes and minimize complications. This study's objectives were to develop and validate a three-dimensional (3D) printed model of an equine cervical articular process joint to teach ultrasound-guided injections. Five identical models of an equine cervical articular process joint were 3D printed and embedded in 10% ballistic gelatin. Experts' and novices' ability to successfully insert ...
Jansson A, Gunnarsson VÞ, Ringmark S, Ragnarsson S, Söderroos D, Ásgeirsson E, Jóhannsdóttir TR, Liedberg C, Stefánsdóttir GJ.This study examined the effect of altered body weight (BW) and body fat content on exercise performance and recovery. Nine horses were divided into two groups, and changes in BW and fat content were induced by feeding a high (HA) or restricted (RA) energy allowance for 36 days in a cross-over design. In the last week of each treatment, BW and body condition score (BCS) were recorded, body fat percentage was estimated using ultrasound, and a standardized incremental treadmill exercise test (SET) and competition-like field test were performed (scored by judges blinded to treatments). Blood samp...
Tomlinson JE, Wolfisberg R, Fahnøe U, Patel RS, Trivedi S, Kumar A, Sharma H, Nielsen L, McDonough SP, Bukh J, Tennant BC, Kapoor A, Rosenberg BR....Equine hepacivirus (EqHV) is phylogenetically the closest relative of HCV and shares genome organization, hepatotropism, transient or persistent infection outcome, and the ability to cause hepatitis. Thus, EqHV studies are important to understand equine liver disease and further as an outbred surrogate animal model for HCV pathogenesis and protective immune responses. Here, we aimed to characterize the course of EqHV infection and associated protective immune responses. Seven horses were experimentally inoculated with EqHV, monitored for 6 months, and rechallenged with the same and, subsequen...
Di Stefano DA, Vinci R, Capparè P, Gherlone EF.Enzyme-deantigenic equine bone (EDEB) is a substitute of autogenous bone. Mixing it with plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) seems a viable option to achieve enhanced bone formation in alveolar bone augmentation surgeries. This retrospective study aims to first report the histomorphometric and clinical outcomes achieved when using the EDEB/PRGF mixture for performing sinus augmentation procedures followed by delayed implant placement. Records of 11 patients who underwent 14 sinus augmentation surgeries using EDEB/PRGF followed by delayed implant placement were retrospectively collected and an...
Frączkowska K, Trzebuniak Z, Żak A, Siwińska N.The reference values of the serum and urine biochemical parameters have not been well-studied in donkeys. This study aimed to assess the normal values of the selected renal biomarkers, such as: serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), albumin, total protein (TP), electrolytes and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), urine protein concentration (UPC), urine protein/creatinine ratio (UPCR), the urine gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGTP)-to-creatinine ratio, serum creatinine-to-urine creatinine ratio (sCr/uCr), serum BUN-to-serum creatinine ratio (sBUN/sCr) and UPC-to-TP ratio, as well as the frac...
Schnabel CL, Babasyan S, Freer H, Larson EM, Wagner B.Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is a pleiotropic cytokine, that is involved in acute inflammation and is employed as a biomarker of inflammatory diseases in several species for which reliable quantification is available. We aimed to develop suitable tools to quantify TNF-α in equine samples. We generated two new mAbs against equine TNF-α (clones 48 and 292), evaluated their specificity for this cytokine, and confirmed detection of native TNF-α in stimulated equine PBMC. The TNF-α mAbs were paired in a fluorescent bead-based assay for quantification of equine TNF-α. The TNF-α assay had ...
Fu DJ, Ramachandran A, Miller C.A 3-y-old, female Quarter Horse with a history of acute neurologic signs was found dead and was submitted for postmortem examination. Areas of petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhage were present on cross-sections of the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem. Histologic examination of the brain revealed severe, purulent meningoencephalitis and vasculitis with a myriad of intralesional gram-positive cocci. was identified from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue obtained from sites with active lesions by PCR and nucleotide sequencing of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA. should be considered as a cau...
Wenzlow N, Neal D, Stern AW, Prakoso D, Liu JJ, Delcambre GH, Beachboard S, Long MT.Estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) is a poorly studied field in veterinary pathology. The development of field-applicable methods is needed given that animal cruelty investigations are increasing continually. We evaluated various histologic criteria in equine brain, liver, and muscle tissue to aid the estimation of PMI in horses, which is central to forensic investigations of suspicious death. After death, autolysis proceeds predictably, depending on environmental conditions. Currently, no field-applied methods exist that accurately estimate the PMI using histology in animals or human...
Mocchi M, Grolli S, Dotti S, Di Silvestre D, Villa R, Berni P, Conti V, Passignani G, Brambilla F, Bue MD, Catenacci L, Sorrenti M, Segale L, Bari E....In the last decades, it has been demonstrated that the regenerative therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stromal cells is primarily due to the secretion of soluble factors and extracellular vesicles, collectively known as secretome. In this context, our work described the preparation and characterization of a freeze-dried secretome (Lyosecretome) from adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells for the therapy of equine musculoskeletal disorder. An intraarticular injectable pharmaceutical powder has been formulated, and the technological process has been validated in an authorized facility...
Finley CJ, Fischer AT.Laparoscopic removal of cryptorchid testes has been routinely reported through enlarged parainguinal incisions in dorsally recumbent horses. Outcomes following removal through an extended umbilical incision have not been previously reported. Objective: To describe the surgical technique of removing cryptorchid testes in dorsally recumbent horses through an enlarged umbilical portal after laparoscopic intra-abdominal castration. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Medical records were reviewed for horses that underwent laparoscopic removal of unilateral or bilateral cryptorchid testes ...
Estell K.Acute central nervous system (CNS) trauma in the field is best approached by a systematic and thorough physical and neurologic examination that allows the practitioner to localize the brain or spinal cord injury. The skull and vertebral canal are complex 3-dimensional structures, and orthogonal radiographic views are necessary for an accurate diagnosis. Therapeutics aimed at decreasing pain, inflammation, and edema or increased intracranial pressure in the case of traumatic brain injury should be administered. Survival and return to athleticism can be achieved even in moderate-to-severe trauma...
Zarski LM, Vaala WE, Barnett DC, Bain FT, Soboll Hussey G.Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) ubiquitously infects horses worldwide and causes respiratory disease, abortion, and equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy. Protection against EHV-1 disease is elusive due to establishment of latency and immune-modulatory features of the virus. These include the modulation of interferons, cytokines, chemokines, antigen presentation, and cellular immunity. Because the modulation of immunity likely occurs at the site of first infection-the respiratory epithelium, we hypothesized that the mucosal influenza vaccine Flu Avert I.N. (Flu Avert), which is known to stimulat...
Sano Y, Kuwajima H, Kanai H, Baba C, Azami K, Matsuda K.A 24-year-old, Thoroughbred gelding presented with difficulty breathing for a few days and intermittent nose bleeding before dying. At necropsy, the bronchoesophageal artery and the bronchial artery that flowed into the left anterior lobe were tortuous and dilated, and it was found that dilated tortuous branches of the bronchial artery ran over the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the left anterior lobe. Histopathologically, an anastomosis between a muscular artery and an elastic artery were demonstrated, which were identified as bronchial and pulmonary arteries, respectively. Based on the gross...
Lo HC, Winter JC, Merle R, Gehlen H.Acute dehydration caused by a variety of diseases in horses can lead to acute kidney injury. However, current renal biomarkers usually indicate renal damage late in the course of the disease. A novel biomarker would be helpful to diagnose renal disease earlier. Objective: (1) To estimate the correlation of serum symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) concentrations with the degree of dehydration, traditional renal biomarkers and renal function analysis, and (2) to determine the value of SDMA as a prognostic and early biomarker of renal injury in horses. Methods: Prospective cohort. Methods: Serum S...
Paz GSD, Camargo GG, Cury JE, Apolonio EVP, Garces HG, Prado ACD, Chechi JL, Oliveira AL, Watanabe MJ, Bagagli E, Bosco SMG.Pythiosis is a disease caused by the oomycete Pythium insidiosum, mainly reported in equines, dogs and humans and directly transmitted through contaminant zoospores in aquatic environments. We report the first outbreak of equine pythiosis in five equines. Wound samples were submitted for diagnostic testing including mycological culture and nested PCR. Treatment approaches consisted of conventional and alternative therapies. Microbiological analyses were performed using water samples from the riverbanks close to where the animals had grazed. All animals were positive for P. insidiosum cultures...
Subbiah M, Thirumalapura N, Thompson D, Kuchipudi SV, Jayarao B, Tewari D.Metagenomic sequencing of clinical diagnostic specimens has a potential for unbiased detection of infectious agents, diagnosis of polymicrobial infections and discovery of emerging pathogens. Herein, next generation sequencing (NGS)-based metagenomic approach was used to investigate the cause of illness in a subset of horses recruited for a tick-borne disease surveillance study during 2017-2019. Blood samples collected from 10 horses with suspected tick-borne infection and five apparently healthy horses were subjected to metagenomic analysis. Total genomic DNA extracted from the blood samples ...
Morgan JM, Galuppo LD.Management of fractures in the field starts with successful assessment and stabilization of the patient by the practitioner on the front lines. A careful examination is vital to succesful patient management. This includes identifying the fracture location and severity, evaluating skin integrity and potential contamination of the fracture, and treating any ongoing hemorrhage, hypovolemia or stress. Appropriate application of splints in the field will minimize ongoing tissue damage and improve patient comfort. This ultimately aids further assessment, facilitates referral, and improves opportunit...
Kilcoyne I, Spier SJ.Castration is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in equine practice. Open, closed, and semiclosed techniques are described for castration of horses, and the procedure may be performed in a standing, sedated animal or in a recumbent animal under general anesthesia. Although a relatively routine procedure, complications can occur, with reported complication rates ranging from 10.2% to 60%. Most complications are mild and resolve rapidly with appropriate treatment, but more serious or life-threatening complications can also occur. A thorough knowledge of male reproductive anatom...
Fouché N, Oesch S, Gerber V, Richter H, Howard J, Peters LM.Sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) activity is one of the most sensitive and specific markers for hepatocellular injury in horses, but its reported lability makes it impractical for use in many clinical settings. To date, stability of SDH in equine samples has only been evaluated in a limited number of studies in serum samples of horses with activities within reference intervals. The objective of the study was to determine pre-analytical stability of equine SDH activity in heparinized plasma stored at different temperatures for up to 72 h. Twenty client-owned horses admitted to a veterinary teaching...
Hardeman AM, Egenvall A, Serra Bragança FM, Koene MHW, Swagemakers JH, Roepstorff L, van Weeren R, Byström A.The increasing popularity of objective gait analysis makes application in prepurchase examinations (PPE) a logical next step. Therefore, there is a need to have more understanding of asymmetry during a PPE in horses described on clinical evaluation as subtly lame. Objective: The objective of this study is to objectively compare asymmetry in horses raising minor vet concerns in a PPE and in horses raising major vet concerns with that found in horses presented with subtle single-limb lameness, and to investigate the effect of age/discipline on the clinicians' interpretation of asymmetry on the c...
Dechant JE.Equine toxicologic emergencies are relatively uncommon but can cause significant morbidity and mortality in a group of comanaged horses. The field veterinarian's role is to triage the situation, as well as the individual animal. Individual patient stabilization should focus on support of essential organ functions, providing time for treatments to have an effect or for elimination of the toxicant. Decontamination procedures can follow patient stabilization, if appropriate. Antidotes are often not available or feasible for equine intoxications. The field veterinarian should emphasize triage and ...
Whishaw IQ, Burke CJ.Place memory, the ability to remember locations, is a feature of many animal species. This episodic-like memory is displayed in the foraging behavior of animals and has been studied in many different kinds of laboratory spatial tasks. A horse stallion, Equus ferus caballus, will create "dung-heaps or stud-piles" by defecation in the same place suggesting that the behavior is central to spatial behavior but to date there has been little investigation of horse olfactory/spatial behavior. The present study describes investigatory behavior of horses for objects on the surface of a riding arena. Ho...
Couroucé A.This review considers standardized exercise testing which is, routinely used for French Trotters in the field. Track testing provides a more limited range of measurements than treadmill testing, but has the advantage of being performed in the horse's natural environment. Various measurements such as heart rate during exercise and blood lactate concentration after exercise may be measured on the track and lead to the calculation of physiological variables such as V200 (velocity corresponding to a 200 bpm heart rate) and V4 (velocity corresponding to a 4 mmol/L blood lactate concentration). V4 i...
Nielsen MK, Jacobsen S, Olsen SN, Bousquet E, Pihl T.Strongylus vulgaris is a pathogenic helminth parasite infecting horses and was once considered to be the primary cause of colic. Migrating larvae cause ischaemia and infarction of intestinal segments. This knowledge is derived from case reports and experimental inoculations of parasite-naïve foals, and it remains unknown to what extent the parasite is associated with different types of colic. Objective: To evaluate the role of S. vulgaris as a risk factor for different types of colic in horses. Methods: A retrospective case-control study among horses referred with abdominal pain to the Univ...
Weber EJ, Sanchez LC, Giguère S.The modified sepsis scoring system provides a method to identify sepsis in foals early in the disease process, but inconsistent results have been obtained from its clinical application in previous studies. Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the modified sepsis score in a larger population of foals. A secondary objective was to identify factors associated with sepsis. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Records were retrospectively analysed for neonatal admissions to the University of Florida Large Animal Hospital from 1982 to 2008. Backwards stepwise multivaria...
McGowan TW, Pinchbeck G, Phillips CJ, Perkins N, Hodgson DR, McGowan CM.To describe management practices and routine preventive care of aged horses in Queensland, Australia, including effects of owner characteristics, affiliation to an equestrian group and retirement of the horse. Methods: Owners of horses were contacted via Equestrian Australia (EA) and asked to complete a questionnaire about their aged horses (e.g. age, breed, sex and colour); their use and management, including preventive health care; and use of equine healthcare providers. Results: Horses aged 15 years or greater represented one-third of the total horses owned in the population sample. The med...
Hernández JÁ, Arroyo FL, Suárez J, Cazapal-Monteiro CF, Romasanta Á, López-Arellano ME, Pedreira J, de Carvalho LMM, Sánchez-Andrade R....The usefulness of pellets industrially manufactured with spores of parasiticide fungi as a contribution to integrated nematode control was assessed in grazing horses throughout sixteen months. Two groups of 7 Pura Raza Galega autochthonous horses (G-T and G-P) were dewormed pour-on (1mg Ivermectin/kg bw) at the beginning of the trial, and other group (G-C) remained untreated. The G-P was provided daily with commercial pellets to which was added a mixture of fungal spores during the industrial manufacturing (2×10 spores of Mucor circinelloides and same dose of Duddingtonia flagrans/kg), and G-...
Roberto da Costa RP, Ferreira-Dias G, Mateus L, Korzekwa A, Andronowska A, Platek R, Skarzynski DJ.Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in angiogenesis and in the regulation of the blood flow. This study was carried out to investigate (i) the effects of endogenous estrogens and progestins and exogenous progesterone (P(4)) (5 ng/ml or 1 microg/ml) or estradiol 17beta (E(2)beta) (50 pg/ml or 1 microg/ml) on in vitro endometrial NO synthesis; (ii) the presence of different isoforms of NO synthase; (iii) and their relationship to microvascular density in the equine endometrium during the estrous cycle. NOS expression was also evaluated in the myometrium. Expression of endothelial and induc...
Bussche L, Rauner G, Antonyak M, Syracuse B, McDowell M, Brown AMC, Cerione RA, Van de Walle GR.Signaling mechanisms that regulate mammary stem/progenitor cell (MaSC) self-renewal are essential for developmental changes that occur in the mammary gland during pregnancy, lactation, and involution. We observed that equine MaSCs (eMaSCs) maintain their growth potential in culture for an indefinite period, whereas canine MaSCs (cMaSCs) lose their growth potential in long term cultures. We then used this system to investigate the role of microvesicles (MVs) in promoting self-renewal properties. We found that Wnt3a and Wnt1 were expressed at higher levels in MVs isolated from eMaSCs compared wi...
Hamamoto-Hardman BD, Steffey EP, Weiner D, McKemie DS, Kass P, Knych HK.The objective of the current study was to describe and characterize the pharmacokinetics and selected pharmacodynamic effects of morphine and its two major metabolites in horses following several doses of morphine. A total of ten horses were administered a single intravenous dose of morphine: 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, or 0.5 mg/kg, or saline control. Blood samples were collected up to 72 hr, analyzed for morphine, and metabolites by LC/MS/MS, and pharmacokinetic parameters were determined. Step count, heart rate and rhythm, gastrointestinal borborygmi, fecal output, packed cell volume, and total prote...
Leblond A, Villard I, Leblond L, Sabatier P, Sasco AJ.Epidemiological studies should allow comparisons to be made of the prevalence of disease in populations from different countries, but the population characteristics and health problems in French horses are not well established. We have conducted a retrospective evaluation of the causes of death and vital characteristics of insured horses in France for the year 1995, with a view to comparison with published data from other countries. Files on 448 deceased horses were provided by nine insurance companies. Most of the animals were used for breeding (60%), followed by leisure (20%), eventing and r...
Viklund Å, Eriksson S.A linear profiling protocol was introduced in 2013 at tests for 3-year-old Swedish Warmblood horses. In this protocol, traits are subjectively described on a nine-point linear scale from one biological extreme to the other. This complements the traditional scoring where horses are evaluated in relation to the breeding objective. This study aimed to investigate the suitability of the linear information for genetic evaluation. Data on 22 conformation traits, 17 movement traits, 14 jumping traits and one temperament trait from 3,410 horses tested between 2013 and 2016 were analysed using an anima...
Farkas R, Tánczos B, Gyurkovszky M, Földvári G, Solymosi N, Edelhofer R, Hornok S.The prevalence of Theileria equi infection was studied in 324 healthy horses from 27 farms in Hungary with cELISA and IFAT and the blood samples of 101 horses selected randomly were also examined by PCR. The results indicate that there are many stud farms where one or more horses are infected with T. equi. Among 27 farms 17 (67.9%) were found to have seropositive horses. The seroprevalence of theileriosis among the tested stud farms ranged between 0 and 100%. No marked differences were found in seropositivity between geographical areas. The overall prevalence of positive samples was 32.0% with...
Tomlinson JE, Taberner E, Boston RC, Owens SD, Nolen-Walston RD.There is a markedly reduced half-life of transfused RBCs when donor and recipient cats or humans are cross-match incompatible. Only 10-20% of horses have naturally occurring alloantibodies. Therefore, cross-match testing before blood transfusion is not always performed. Objective: Cross-match incompatibility predicts shortened RBC survival time as compared to that of compatible or autologous blood. Methods: Twenty healthy adult horses. Methods: Prospective trial. Blood type, anti-RBC antibody screen (before and 1 month after transfusion) and major and minor cross-match determined 10 donor-reci...
Zielińska P, Nicpoń J, Kiełbowicz Z, Soroko M, Dudek K, Zaborski D.The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of high intensity laser therapy (HILT) on tendon and ligament injury treatment in horses. Twenty six horses with tendinopathies were randomly assigned to a HILT treated or to a non-treated group. Each horse was subjected to the same rehabilitation programme. Horses from the treatment group underwent a series of fifteen HILT treatments with the same parameters. Clinical and ultrasound assessments were performed by the same veterinarian and were carried out before (day 0), during (day 13-15) and after treatment (day 38-40). Clinical evaluation in...
Stogdale L.The nomenclature of human diabetes mellitus (DM) has been revised, and this classification has been accepted throughout the medical world and literature. The major categories of diabetes are: insulin-dependent DM, type I or IDDM; noninsulin-dependent DM, type II or NIDDM; secondary DM or type S; impaired glucose tolerance, IGT; gestational diabetes; and previous abnormality of glucose tolerance, PrevAGT. A review of the literature has shown that over half of the documented diabetic dogs, with a single medical diagnosis, appear to be type I, IDDM, with a substantial proportion being type S, and...
Fine DL, Jenkins E, Martin SS, Glass P, Parker MD, Grimm B.A multisystem approach was used to assess the efficiency of several methods for inactivation of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) vaccine candidates. A combination of diverse assays (plaque, in vitro cytopathology and mouse neurovirulence) was used to verify virus inactivation, along with the use of a specific ELISA to measure retention of VEEV envelope glycoprotein epitopes in the development of several inactivated VEEV candidate vaccines derived from an attenuated strain of VEEV (V3526). Incubation of V3526 aliquots at temperatures in excess of 64 degrees C for periods >30 min i...
Duan H, Gao JF, Hou MR, Zhang Y, Liu ZX, Gao DZ, Guo DH, Yue DM, Su X, Fu X, Wang CR.The complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequence of Triodontophorus brevicauda, an intestinal equine nematode parasite was determined for the first time. The circular T. brevicauda mt genome is 14,305 bp in length and contains 36 genes, of which 12 code for protein, 22 for transfer RNA, and two for ribosomal RNA, and lacks atp8 mtDNA gene. Phylogenetic analysis based on the concatenated amino acid sequence of the 12 protein-coding genes was performed using three different tree-building methods. The Strongyloidea cluster divides into two large branches, and each nematode family included in our s...
Burden FA, Bell N.The domestic donkey is a unique equid species with specific nutritional requirements. This article examines the importance of feeding strategies that mimic the donkey's natural environment using poor nutritional quality fibers and access to browsing materials. The relationship between nutrition and health is examined and practical approaches to the healthy and sick donkey are discussed.
Avellini L, Chiaradia E, Gaiti A.Physical exercise increases both tissue needs for oxygen and cellular respiration and causes an overproduction of free radicals. When free radical generation exceeds the cell's antioxidant capacity tissue-damage develops due to oxidative stress. Therefore, it appears important to increase the scavenger ability of the tissues. Controlled training and dietary supplements may provide ways of doing this. As a model, we used 3-year-old racehorses (Equus caballus) which underwent a series of different physical exercise trials before and after 70 days of daily training and dietary supplements (vitami...
Taylor WTT, Barrón-Ortiz CI.Despite its transformative impact on human history, the early domestication of the horse (Equus caballus) remains exceedingly difficult to trace in the archaeological record. In recent years, a scientific consensus emerged linking the Botai culture of northern Kazakhstan with the first domestication of horses, based on compelling but largely indirect archaeological evidence. A cornerstone of the archaeological case for domestication at Botai is damage to the dentition commonly linked with the use of bridle mouthpieces, or "bit wear." Recent archaeogenetic analyses reveal, however, that horse r...
Amaral A, Fernandes C, Lukasik K, Szóstek-Mioduchowska A, Baclawska A, Rebordão MR, Aguiar-Silva J, Pinto-Bravo P, Skarzynski DJ, Ferreira-Dias G.We have shown that bacteria induce neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in mare endometrium. Besides killing pathogens, NETs may contribute for endometrosis (chronic endometrium fibrosis). Since elastase (ELA) is a NETs component that regulates fibrosis and prostaglandin (PG) output, the aim was to evaluate if inhibition of ELA would affect collagen 1 (COL1) transcription and PGs secretion by endometrium explants, in different estrous cycle phases. Follicular-FP (n = 8) and mid luteal-MLP (n = 7) phases explants were cultured for 24-48 hr with medium alone (Control), ELA (0.5 μg/ml,1 ...
Terry RB, Archer S, Brooks S, Bernoco D, Bailey E.A single autosomal dominant locus, leopard complex (LP) controls the presence of appaloosa pigmentation patterns in the horse. The causative gene for LP is unknown. This study was undertaken to map LP in the horse. Two paternal half sib families segregating for the LP locus and including a total of 47 offspring were used to perform a genome scan which localized LP to horse chromosome 1 (ECA1). LP was linked to ASB08 (LOD = 9.99 at Theta = 0.02) and AHT21 (LOD = 5.03 at Theta = 0.14). To refine the map position of LP, eight microsatellite markers on ECA1 (UM041, LEX77, 1CA41, TKY374, COR046, 1C...
Butcher MT, Ashley-Ross MA.Fetlock joint kinematics during galloping in 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old Thoroughbreds in race training were quantified to determine if differences due to age could account for the observation that 2-year old Thoroughbred racehorses incur a high number of injuries to the bones and soft tissues in the distal forelimbs during training and at the outset of racing. Twelve Thoroughbred racehorses were videotaped in the sagittal plane at 250 frames/s during their daily galloping workout on a 7/8 mile sand-surface training track. Four galloping strides were recorded for each horse and subsequently dig...
Toutain PL, Lassourd V.The current performance of analytical techniques used for drug control in horses lead the Regulatory Authorities to decide whether trace levels of drugs legitimately used for therapeutic medication should or should not be reported. Here, we propose a well-ordered and nonexperimental pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic approach for the determination of irrelevant drug plasma (IPC) and urine concentrations (IUC). The published plasma clearance is used to transform an effective (marketed) dose into an effective concentration (EPC). EPC is transformed into an IPC by applying a safety factor (SF). This...
Silva MLCR, Auguste AJ, Terzian ACB, Vedovello D, Riet-Correa F, Macário VMK, Mourão MPG, Ullmann LS, Araújo JP, Weaver SC, Nogueira ML.Madariaga virus (MADV), the new species designation for the South American isolates of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), is genetically divergent and substantially different in ecology and pathogenesis from North American EEEV strains. We isolated and characterized a MADV isolate obtained from a horse in Brazil. Our results support previous phylogenetic studies showing there are three genetically distinct MADV lineages. The MADV isolate from Paraíba State belongs to the South American lineage III and is closely related to Peruvian, Colombian and Venezuelan isolates.
Jürgenschellert L, Krücken J, Austin CJ, Lightbody KL, Bousquet E, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.Effective and sustainable worm control in horses would benefit from detailed information about the current regional occurrence of tapeworms. Different diagnostic methods are currently available to detect Anoplocephala spp. infections in horses. However, the format as well as the sensitivity and specificity of the methods vary considerably. Methods: A coprological, serological and questionnaire study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of tapeworm infections on 48 horse farms in the region of Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany. In total, faecal samples of 484 horses were a...
Olivier A, Nurton JP, Guthrie AJ.Wastage is the term used to describe the phenomenon of the loss of racehorses from conception to adulthood due to death or injuries (i.e. they never reach a race-track), or the days lost by racehorses due to not training or being withdrawn from a race. This epizoological study was conducted to investigate wastage in Thoroughbred horses used for flat racing in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data from 6 racing stables were recorded from 1 March 1993 to 28 February 1994. Each trainer completed a daily training record of the horses in his stable. This questionnaire included reasons why a ho...
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 ...
McConnico RS, Morgan TW, Williams CC, Hubert JD, Moore RM.To determine pathophysiologic effects of phenylbutazone on the equine right dorsal colon (RDC). Methods: 12 healthy adult horses. Methods: A controlled crossover observational study was conducted. Clinical and serum variables, colonic inflammation (histologic grading), and measurement of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) concentrations, ingesta volatile fatty acid (VFA) content, and arterial blood flow in the RDC were evaluated for a 21-day period in horses administered phenylbutazone (8.8 mg/kg, PO, q 24 h) or a control substance. Results: D...
van de Water E, Oosterlinck M, Dumoulin M, Korthagen NM, van Weeren PR, van den Broek J, Everts H, Pille F, van Doorn DA.Nutraceuticals are often used in the management of equine osteoarthritis, but scientific evidence of their efficacy is lacking. Objective: To study the preventive effects of two new nutraceuticals after the experimental induction of synovitis in comparison with positive and negative control treatments. Methods: Blinded, controlled, randomised experiment. Methods: Twenty-four healthy Standardbred horses were randomly allocated to supplement AT (multi-ingredient, 28 days), supplement HP (collagen hydrolysate, 60 days), meloxicam (4 days) or placebo (60 days). Synovitis was induced in the right i...
Rodriguez C, Taminiau B, Brévers B, Avesani V, Van Broeck J, Leroux AA, Amory H, Delmée M, Daube G.Clostridium difficile has been identified as a significant agent of diarrhoea and enterocolitis in both foals and adult horses. Hospitalization, antibiotic therapy or changes in diet may contribute to the development of C. difficile infection. Horses admitted to a care unit are therefore at greater risk of being colonized. The aim of this study was to investigate the carriage of C. difficile in hospitalized horses and the possible influence of some risk factors in colonization. During a seven-month period, faecal samples and data relating the clinical history of horses admitted to a veterinary...
