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.
Klohonatz KM, Coleman SJ, Islas-Trejo AD, Medrano JF, Hess AM, Kalbfleisch T, Thomas MG, Bouma GJ, Bruemmer JE.Equine maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP) is a process whose signal remains unknown. During MRP the conceptus and endometrium communicate to attenuate prostaglandin F (PGF) secretion, sparing the corpus luteum and maintaining progesterone production. Recognition of a mobile conceptus by the endometrium is critical by days 14-16 post-ovulation (PO), when endometrium produces PGF, initiating luteolysis. The objective of this study was to evaluate endometrial gene expression changes based upon pregnancy status via RNA sequencing. This experiment utilized a cross-over design with each mare se...
Kemper AM, Drnevich J, McCue ME, McCoy AM.Skeletogenesis is complex and incompletely understood. Derangement of this process likely underlies developmental skeletal pathologies. Examination of tissue-specific gene expression may help elucidate novel skeletal developmental pathways that could contribute to disease risk. Our aim was to identify and functionally annotate differentially expressed genes in equine neonatal and adult articular cartilage (AC) and subchondral bone (SCB). RNA was sequenced from healthy AC and SCB from the fetlock, hock, and stifle joints of 6 foals (≤4 weeks of age) and six adults (8-12 years of age). There w...
Gough SL, Carrick J, Raidal SL, Keane S, Collins N, Cudmore L, Russell CM, Raidal S, Hughes KJ.During 2016-2018, 15 critically ill neonatal foals with acute respiratory distress associated with Chlamydia psittaci infection were presented to three referral hospitals in New South Wales. Chlamydia psittaci has not previously been associated with the development of neonatal respiratory disease. Objective: To investigate and describe the clinical features and outcome of C. psittaci infection in neonatal foals. Methods: Multicentre retrospective case series. Methods: The clinical, clinicopathological, necropsy and histological features of 15 foals with confirmed C. psittaci infection were r...
Bosco-Lauth AM, Bowen RA.West Nile virus (WNV) (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) was discovered in Africa more than 80 yr ago and became recognized as an avian pathogen and a cause of neurologic disease in horses largely during periodic incursions into Europe. Introduction of WNV into North America stimulated great anxiety, particularly in the equine industry, but also for pet owners and livestock producers concerned about the effect of WNV on other domestic animals. Numerous subsequent studies of naturally occurring and experimentally induced disease greatly expanded our understanding of the host range and clinical conseque...
Armstrong C, Cassimeris L, Da Silva Santos C, Micoogullari Y, Wagner B, Babasyan S, Brooks S, Galantino-Homer H.The equine hoof inner epithelium is folded into primary and secondary epidermal lamellae which increase the dermo-epidermal junction surface area of the hoof and can be affected by laminitis, a common disease of equids. Two keratin proteins (K), K42 and K124, are the most abundant keratins in the hoof lamellar tissue of Equus caballus. We hypothesize that these keratins are lamellar tissue-specific and could serve as differentiation- and disease-specific markers. Our objective was to characterize the expression of K42 and K124 in equine stratified epithelia and to generate monoclonal antibodie...
Bengtsdotter EA, Ekman S, Andersen PH.Inguinal pain, unexplained hind limb lameness, back pain or behavioural problems in geldings could be attributable to painful neuromas that develop as a consequence of crushing and severing the testicular nerves during castration. The presence of neuroma in this anatomical location has never been reported, hence the knowledge of possible clinical relevance is limited. The aim of this study was to histologically investigate the testicular nerves at the castration site in geldings for the presence of neuromas. Proximal spermatic cord remnants were collected from 20 geldings admitted to routine p...
Legere RM, Taylor DR, Davis JL, Bello K, Parker C, Judd RL, Wooldridge AA.Chronic insulin dysregulation is challenging to manage with pharmaceuticals in horses. Pioglitazone improves insulin sensitivity in humans, and the pharmacokinetics of pioglitazone have been evaluated in horses. The objectives of this study were to assess the pharmacodynamic effects of oral pioglitazone on morphometric parameters, hepatic enzyme activity and function, adipokines, and enteroinsular response to oral sugar. A prospective pilot study was performed using fifteen adult equids (8 ponies, 7 horses) to evaluate the effects of short-term pioglitazone administration (2Â mg/kg PO q 24 hou...
Verkade ME, Back W, Birch HL.Throughout the ages, human subjects have selected horse breeds for their locomotor capacities. Concurrently, tissue properties may have diversified because of specific requirements of different disciplines. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the biomechanical properties of tendons with different functions between equine breeds traditionally selected for racing or sport. Methods: This study used ex vivo tendons and compared the mechanical properties of the common digital extensor tendon (CDET) and superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) between racehorses (Thoroughbred [TB]) and s...
Imani-Baran A, Abdollahi J, Akbari H, Jafarirad S, Moharramnejad S.Trachyspermum ammi has been used traditionally as a popular ethnobotanical plant in human and animal parasitic infestations. Few scientific studies have been conducted on in vitro anthelmintic activity of T. ammi against various helminths and there is no study on its in vivo/in vitro anthelmintic properties against equine helminths. Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate in vivo anthelmintic activity of crude powder (CP) and crude aqueous extract (CAE) of T. ammi seeds against gastrointestinal nematodes in the donkey. Methods: Thirty donkeys, naturally and severely infected with Stro...
Egenvall A, Clayton HM, Eisersiö M, Roepstorff L, Byström A.In dressage, the performance of transitions between gaits and halts is an integral part of riding sessions. The study aimed to evaluate rein tension before, during and after the transitions between different gaits and the transitions into halts. The kinematic (inertial measurement units) data for the head and croup, and rein tension data, were collected (128 Hz) from six professional riders each riding three of their own horses, training levels varying from basic to advanced, during normal training sessions. The activities were categorised into gaits, halts and transitions based on video evalu...
Whitesell K, Stefanovski D, McDonnell S, Turner R.The stallion Breeding Soundness Examination (BSE), as proposed by the Society for Theriogenology, recommends that a stallion produce a minimum of one billion progressively motile, morphologically normal sperm (PMMNS) in the second of two ejaculates collected 1 h apart to be classified as a Satisfactory Prospective Breeder. With this in mind, the first objective of this study was to determine if the classification outcome of the traditional BSE differs depending on the methods used to evaluate sperm motility, morphology and concentration. We hypothesized that application of Computer Assisted ...
Greiser T, Sieme H, Martinsson G, Distl O.Objectives of the present study were to estimate genetic parameters for frozen-thawed semen traits of 271 fertile German Warmblood stallions and genetic correlations with raw semen quality traits. Semen samples were collected from stallions utilized for semen collection and artificial insemination (AI) on the Lower Saxon National Stud Celle and the North Rhine-Westphalian National Stud Warendorf. Semen quality variables were analyzed in 63,972 raw (gel-free volume, concentration, progressive motility, number of sperm) and 3681 frozen-thawed samples (motility, DNA fragmentation index (DFI), non...
Kent AV, Chesworth MJ, Wells G, Gerdes C, Bladon BM, Smith RKW, Fiske-Jackson AR.Pathology of the digital flexor tendon sheath is a significant cause of lameness in the horse. Imaging is important to identify lesions and inform on prognosis prior to tenoscopic surgery. Objective: To use a large population to evaluate 1) the sensitivity and specificity of digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) contrast radiographs in diagnosing manica flexoria (MF) tears, deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) tears and constriction of the palmar/plantar annular ligament (PAL) using novel criteria; 2) predisposition to pathology in signalment and limb affected. Methods: Multicentre retrospective co...
Roberts VLH, Bailey M, Patel NK.Early results from the use of neuromodulation by percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for the management of trigeminal-mediated headshaking in horses were promising but lacked sufficient case numbers and long-term follow-up. The neuromodulatory procedure has since been established as EquiPENSâ„¢. Objective: The aim of this study was to report long-term results from a larger number of cases and to investigate for predictors of outcome. Methods: Prospective case series using international, multi-centre data. Methods: Eligible cases were horses with a veterinary diagnosis of trigeminal-media...
Del Prete C, Stout T, Montagnaro S, Pagnini U, Uccello M, Florio P, Ciani F, Tafuri S, Palumbo V, Pasolini MP, Cocchia N, Henning H.During cold storage stallion spermatozoa experience undergo oxidative stress, which can impair sperm function and fertilizing capacity. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) are the main endogenous enzymatic antioxidants in stallion seminal plasma, and counteract reactive oxygen species. Semen dilution reduces the endogenous antioxidant concentrations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether addition of 15 IU/mL each of SOD, CAT, and GPX to diluted stallion semen would ameliorate a reactive oxygen-mediated decrease in semen quality during 72 h o...
Tanner RB.The equine first premolar is now considered a vestigial tooth that does not play a role in mastication. For centuries, this tooth has been blamed for a number of abnormalities. Given its anatomical location, the tooth is often implicated by riders to cause biting issues. Treatment of this tooth is considered controversial, with some clinicians extracting all equine first premolars prior to bit introduction and others choosing to remove only those shown to cause bite-related problems. In a private veterinary hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, dental charts of 306 Thoroughbred yearlings, average a...
Bowden A, Burford JH, Brennan ML, England GCW, Freeman SL.Colic is the most common emergency problem in the horse. An owner's ability to recognise colic and seek assistance is a critical first step in determining case outcome. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess horse owners' knowledge and opinions on recognising colic. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to horse owners with open and closed questions on their knowledge of normal clinical parameters in the horse, confidence and approach to recognising colic (including assessment through case scenarios), and their demographics. Descriptive and ch...
Pre-clinical studies on human isolated bronchi have relevant translational value in human in vivo, conversely no investigation has been performed to assess whether data resulting from equine isolated airways can have any translational application in asthmatic horses. Thus, a meta-regression analysis via random-effect method was carried out to correlate the pharmacological characteristics of bronchodilators resulting from experiments performed in equine isolated bronchi with their impact on the lung function outcomes in asthmatic horses. Data on the potency of different bronchodilators were ext...
To evaluate the etiology of skeletal changes noted in equid vertebrae from a 19- century context near Belgrade, Serbia. A vertebral column consisting of 15 fused thoracic vertebrae (T2-T16), with right ribs fused to T4 and T5 and small remnants of ribs articulating with T4, T5 and T6 on the left side were accidentally recovered during industrial exploitation of sand. The specimen was subjected to morphological analysis and collagen fingerprinting by mass spectrometry for species identification. In order to determine the absolute temporal context, radiocarbon dating was employed. Pathological c...
Yaneselli K, Barrachina L, Remacha AR, Algorta A, Vitoria A, Cequier A, Romero A, Vázquez FJ, Maisonnave J, Rodellar C.Propagation ex vivo of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) requires culture medium supplementation. Fetal bovine serum (FBS) has long been the gold standard supplement, but its use is being questioned mainly due to ethical and safety issues. The use of platelet lysate (PL) as substitute of FBS has been proposed but little is known about its effects on equine MSCs characteristics including their immune profile. The aim of this work was to investigate for the first time the effect of allogenic PL on the immunogenic and immunomodulatory gene expression profile of equine bone marrow derived MSCs (eBM-MS...
Diez Bernal S, Studer N, Thormann W, Spadavecchia C, Levionnois O.To evaluate the effect of a romifidine infusion on antinociception and sedation, and to investigate its relationship with plasma concentration. Methods: Prospective, experimental, nonrandomized trial. Methods: A total of 10 healthy adult warmblood horses. Methods: Romifidine (loading dose: 0.08 mg kg, infusion: 0.03 mg kg hour) was administered intravenously over 120 minutes. Romifidine plasma concentrations were determined by capillary electrophoresis. Sedation quality and nociceptive thresholds were evaluated at regular time points before, during and after romifidine administration. The noci...
Norris JK, Slusarewicz P, Nielsen MK.The efficacy of anthelmintic treatments against populations of endoparasites infecting livestock throughout the world is decreasing. To mitigate this, the use of fecal egg counts is recommended to determine both the necessity, and to ensure the appropriate choice, of anthelmintic treatment. Traditionally, and in order to facilitate easier identification and/or enumeration, samples are analysed after separating eggs from other fecal particulates by exposing them to a solution with a density higher than that of the eggs, but lower than the remaining fecal contents. While many parasite egg flotat...
Mazzotti E, Teti G, Falconi M, Chiarini F, Barboni B, Mazzotti A, Muttini A.Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that strongly correlates with age and promotes the breakdown of joint cartilage and subchondral bone. There has been a surge of interest in developing cell-based therapies, focused particularly on the use of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) isolated from adult tissues. It seems that MSCs derived from synovial joint tissues exhibit superior chondrogenic ability, but their unclear distribution and low frequency actually limit their clinical application. To date, the influence of aging on synovial joint derived MSCs' biological characteristics and differen...
Camino E, Dorrego A, Carvajal KA, Buendia-Andres A, de Juan L, Dominguez L, Cruz-Lopez F.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne protozoan disease caused by Theileria equi and/or Babesia caballi. Clinical signs (fever, pale mucosal membranes, jaundice), anemia and hyperbilirubinemia have been associated with the disease. EP is widespread, has a significant economic impact on the equine industry and remains endemic in Spain. This study was carried out with samples belonging to 140 horses residing in Spain and showing common clinical signs of EP. A blood smear microscopic examination and a comparison between the different results obtained by competitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent...
Manso-DÃaz G, Bolt DM, López-Sanromán J.Ultrasonographic visualisation of the mesenteric vasculature of the large colon (LC) from the right side of the abdomen in cases of displacement and volvulus has been described. However, the LC can move freely within the abdomen and its mesentery can potentially contact both sides of the abdominal wall. Methods: Thirty-four horses presented with LC-related colic that had visible LC mesenteric vasculature visible on abdominal ultrasound were included. A control group was made including horses with confirmed small intestinal-related colic. The objective of this study was to evaluate the visibili...
Tzelos T, Morgan ER, Easton S, Hodgkinson JE, Matthews JB.Interval treatment control programmes used widely in equine helminth control have favoured the development of anthelmintic resistance worldwide. Best practice guidelines have been designed to address resistance and include the requirement for improved pasture hygiene to break helminth transmission cycles, along with anthelmintic application informed by the results of diagnostic tests to reduce selection pressure for resistance. Using an online questionnaire, this study examined uptake of measures recommended in these guidelines by UK horse owners. The survey comprised 58 questions spanning gra...
Roepstorff L, Johnston C, Drevemo S.The increasing range of of horseshoes and hoofpads makes it important to be able to evaluate their influence on performance and stress in the locomotor apparatus. The aim of this study was to describe the changes in ground reaction forces and locomotion pattern during the stance phase due to the application of a standard iron shoe. Six Swedish Warmblood horses were evaluated kinetically and kinematically before and after they were shod with an 8 mm iron shoe. Data were used to calculate ground reaction forces in the vertical and craniocaudal directions, point of application of the force, hoof ...
Ho EN, Leung DK, Wan TS, Yu NH.This paper reports two highly efficient liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods for the screening of anabolic steroids, corticosteroids, and acidic drugs for the purpose of doping control in equine sports. Sample extraction was performed using a mixed-mode C8-SCX solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge. The first eluted fraction (acidic/neutral fraction) was base-washed and the resulting organic extract was used for the screening of anabolic steroids and corticosteroids by LC-MS using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in the positive electrospray ionisation (ESI) mode. The rema...
Kulikova EE, Isaeva AS, Rotkina AS, Manykin AA, Letarov AV.The complex cellulolytic microbial community of the horse intestines is a convenient model for studying the ecology of bacteriophages in natural habitats. Unlike the rumen of the ruminants, this community of the equine large intestine is not subjected to digestion. The inner conditions of the horse gut are much more stable in comparison to other mammals, due to the fact that the horse diet remains almost unchanged and the intervals between food consumption and defecation are much shorter than the whole digestive cycle. The results of preliminary analysis of the structure and dynamics of the vi...
Gronqvist G, Rogers C, Gee E.Within popular press there has been much coverage of the negative effects associated with firework and horses. The effect of fireworks has been documented in companion animals, yet no studies have investigated the negative effects, or otherwise, of fireworks on horses. This study aims to document horse responses and current management strategies to fireworks via an online survey. Of the total number of horses, 39% (1987/4765) were rated as "anxious", 40% (1816/4765) "very anxious" and only 21% (965/4765) rated as "not anxious" around fireworks. Running (82%, 912/1107) was the most common behav...
Lennard SN, Gerstenberg C, Allen WR, Stewart F.Northern blot and in situ hybridization techniques have demonstrated a marked increase in mRNA encoding epidermal growth factor (EGF) in the endometrium of mares, coincident with the start of interdigitation between the allantochorion and endometrium during placentation. In the present study, the unusually high EGF expression in the epithelium of the endometrial glands was shown to be maintained until at least day 250 of gestation (term = 320-340 days) in mares carrying normal horse conceptuses. However, in mares carrying failing donkey-in-horse pregnancies created by embryo transfer, EGF expr...
Pinchbeck GL, Clegg PD, Proudman CJ, Morgan KL, French NR.Falls during racing present a risk of injury to both horse and jockey and a risk of fatality to horses. Objective: To use video recordings of races to describe the circumstances surrounding horse falls at hurdle and steeplechase fences and to identify and quantify within-race risk factors for horse falls in National Hunt racing in the UK. Methods: A retrospective, matched, nested case-control study using video recordings of races was conducted on 6 UK racecourses. Cases and controls were matched on both race type and jump number at which the fall occurred. Conditional logistic regression analy...
Bornmann T, Randle H, Williams J.Happiness is a subjective feeling and associated with positive affective states that can indicate good welfare. It is becoming increasingly agreed that equestrians' ability to recognize indicators of positive emotions has the potential to enhance overall horse wellbeing, but research in this area is limited. Therefore, this study investigated equestrians' perceptions of horse happiness. A survey comprising 25 questions was distributed through equestrian-related social media (internationally) and yielded 332 valid responses. Frequency analysis was conducted within each factor category (e.g., ri...
Dickie CW, Klinkerman DL, Petrie RJ.Two Quarter Horse foals from different premises died from enterotoxemia. Clostridium perfringens toxins alpha and beta were demonstrated in the foal's intestines by mouse protection tests. Clostridium perfringens type C was isolated from the intestines of each foal. Histologic examination revealed hemorrhage, necrosis, and massive numbers of C perfringens.
Ortiz-Rodriguez JM, MartÃn-Cano FE, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Masot J, Redondo E, Gázquez A, Gil MC, Aparicio IM, Rojo-DomÃnguez P, Tapia JA....Oxidative stress is considered a major mechanism causing sperm damage during cryopreservation and storage, and underlies male factor infertility. Currently, oxidative stress is no longer believed to be caused only by the overproduction of reactive oxygen species, but rather by the deregulation of redox signaling and control mechanisms. With this concept in mind, here, we describe for the first time the presence of the soluble carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) antiporter, which exchanges extracellular cystine (Cyss) for intracellular glutamate, in stallion spermatozoa, as well as its impact ...
Puangthong C, Sukhong P, Saengnual P, Srikuea R, Chanda M.The expressions of vitamin D receptor (VDR) and vitamin D-metabolising enzymes (CYP27B1 and CYP24A1) in skeletal muscle have been reported. However, the regulation of this vitamin D system in horse skeletal muscle after high-intensity exercise has not yet been elucidated. Objective: To investigate the effect of high-intensity exercise on the expression of vitamin D system-related proteins in horse skeletal muscle and its associations with skeletal muscle stem cell (SMSC) activity and serum 25(OH)D level. Methods: Longitudinal study. Methods: Six healthy ponies (5 geldings, 1 mare; age 6.3 ±Â...
Adrian AM, Barrett MF, Werpy NM, Kawcak CE, Chapman PL, Goodrich LR.To evaluate and compare the diagnostic capability of arthroscopy and ultrasonography for the detection of pathological change in equine stifle joints. Although descriptions of the arthroscopic and ultrasonographic boundaries of the normal femorotibial joint exist, there are few examples in the literature comparing the pathological changes observed with each imaging modality. Objective: To evaluate and compare arthroscopic and ultrasonographic examinations for characterising pathological change in the stifle joint. To describe how the results of arthroscopic and ultrasonographic examinations ma...
Williams DC, Aleman MR, Brosnan RJ, Fletcher DJ, Holliday TA, Tharp B, Kass PH, Steffey EP, LeCouteur RA.Previous study of the diagnostic validity of electroencephalography (EEG) to detect abnormalities in equine cerebral cortical function relied on the administration of various drugs for sedation, induction, and maintenance of general anesthesia but used identical criteria to interpret recordings. Objective: To determine the effects of 2 inhalation anesthetics on the EEG of healthy horses. Methods: Six healthy horses. Methods: Prospective study. After the sole administration of one of either isoflurane or halothane at 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6 times the minimum alveolar concentration, EEG was recorded d...
Padalino B, Rogers CW, Guiver D, Thompson KR, Riley CB.Injuries resulting from road transport are common in horses and are a potential welfare concern, as well as, a source of economic loss. An online cross sectional survey was used to determine the prevalence of road transport related injuries to horses in New Zealand and the association of human factors including demographics, industry background, training and the horse handling experience of the respondents with transport related injury. The survey generated 1133 valid responses that were analyzed using descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. At least o...
Brosnan RJ, Steffey EP, LeCouteur RA, Imai A, Farver TB, Kortz GD.Inhalant anesthetics may interfere with normal cerebrovascular autoregulation. It was, therefore, hypothesized that intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) in isoflurane-anesthetized horses would be especially sensitive to body and head position because of the potential for large hydrostatic gradients between the brain and heart in this species. Anesthesia was induced and maintained in six clinically healthy, unmedicated geldings with 1.57% isoflurane in O(2); mechanical ventilation was used to maintain normocapnia. ICP was measured by using a subarachnoid strain-gaug...
Kutzler MA, Baker RJ, Mattson DE.To determine humoral responses to an equine West Nile virus (WNV) vaccine in healthy alpacas and llamas and compare responses in alpacas and llamas with responses in horses. Methods: Clinical trial. Methods: 28 alpacas, 56 llamas, and 16 horses. Methods: Horses received 2 vaccinations at 4-week intervals, and alpacas and llamas received 3 vaccinations at 3-week intervals. Fifty-five llamas received a fourth vaccination 3 weeks after the third. Blood samples were collected immediately prior to each vaccination, 3 weeks after the last vaccination for alpacas and llamas, and 4 weeks after the las...
Daly JM, Newton JR, Mumford JA.Influenza A viruses of the H3N8 subtype are a major cause of respiratory disease in horses. Subclinical infection with virus shedding can occur in vaccinated horses, particularly where there is a mismatch between the vaccine strains and the virus strains circulating in the field. Such infections contribute to the spread of the disease. Rapid diagnostic techniques are available for detection of virus antigen and can be used as an aid in control programmes. Improvements have been made to methods of standardising inactivated virus vaccines, and a direct relationship between vaccine potency measur...
Macgregor J, Graf von Schweinitz D.Myofascial trigger points are commonly described in humans, and many studies have shown abnormal spontaneous electrical activity, spike activity and local twitch responses at these sites. Myofascial trigger points have only rarely been described in horses, and studies of their electrophysiological characteristics have not previously been published. The objective of this study was to explore the electromyographic (EMG) and other characteristics of myofascial trigger points in equine muscle, and to compare them with normal muscle tissue. Methods: Four horses with chronic pain signs and impaired ...
Nagarajan MM, Simard C.A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifying a region of the gag gene of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) was developed for the rapid and direct detection of proviral DNA from the peripheral blood of naturally infected horses and was compared with the Coggins test. DNA prepared from white blood cells of 122 field horses from 15 stables with reported cases of EIAV and one seronegative stable were analysed. Amplifications of expected size fragments were obtained by nested PCR for 88 horses using two different sets of primers targeting the gag region. The specificity of the amplified ...
Jochle W, Moore JN, Brown J, Baker GJ, Lowe JE, Fubini S, Reeves MJ, Watkins JP, White NA.Detomidine hydrochloride, butorphanol tartrate, flunixin meglumine and xylazine hydrochloride were evaluated in a blind multi-centre clinical trial in 152 horses with abdominal pain. The drugs were administered as follows: detomidine 20 or 40 micrograms/kg bodyweight (bwt); butorphanol 0.1 mg/kg bwt; flunixin meglumine 1.0 mg/kg bwt; xylazine hydrochloride 0.5 mg/kg bwt. Each centre compared responses to the two doses of detomidine with those to one of the other analgesics. The drugs were administered intravenously (i.v.) after clinical assessment of the degree of sweating, kicking, pawing, he...
Ma J, Wang SS, Lin YZ, Liu HF, Liu Q, Wei HM, Wang XF, Wang YH, Du C, Kong XG, Zhou JH, Wang X.The Chinese attenuated equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vaccine has successfully protected millions of equine animals from EIA disease in China. Given that the induction of immune protection results from the interactions between viruses and hosts, a better understanding of the characteristics of vaccine strain infection and host responses would be useful for elucidating the mechanism of the induction of immune protection by the Chinese attenuated EIAV strain. In this study, we demonstrate in equine monocyte-derived macrophages (eMDM) that EIAVFDDV13, a Chinese attenuated EIAV strain, indu...
Bezdekova B, Jahn P, Vyskocil M.Gastroduodenal ulceration is a prevalent disease in foals and adult horses. Decreased performance as well as fatal complications relate to this syndrome. The objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of gastric ulceration in a mixed population of horses by postmortem examination and to evaluate a possible association between equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) and sex or age of the examined horses, to evaluate the localisation of lesions in the proximal part of the gastrointestinal tract and to determine the occurrence of gastric parasites. Postmortem examinations were performed ...
Trim CM, Hanson RR.The intravenous administration of xylazine (1.1 mg/kg bodyweight) in six ponies resulted in a significant increase in urine output over two hours, with maximum flow occurring between 30 and 60 minutes after injection. Urine specific gravity, osmolality and glucose concentration decreased. Renal clearance of endogenous creatinine was unchanged. Significant increases in the excretion of potassium and chloride occurred. Plasma glucose concentration was increased 30 minutes after the administration of xylazine by a mean value of 37 per cent. Serum osmolality and sodium, potassium and chloride conc...
Bastos RG, Sears KP, Dinkel KD, Kappmeyer L, Ueti MW, Knowles DP, Fry LM.The apicomplexan parasite is one of two known causative agents of equine theileriosis. It causes milder clinical disease than its more virulent counterpart, , in experimentally infected horses, and can superinfect -positive horses. The current equi merozoite antigen 1 (EMA1)-based competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)used in the U.S. to detect equine theileriosis detects but not , and the complexity of molecular assays precludes widespread use for epidemiologic studies. In order to facilitate urgently needed studies on the prevalence of , the goal of this study was to develop...
Bozlak E, Radovic L, Remer V, Rigler D, Allen L, Brem G, Stalder G, Castaneda C, Cothran G, Raudsepp T, Okuda Y, Moe KK, Moe HH, Kounnavongsa B....The Y chromosome carries information about the demography of paternal lineages, and thus, can prove invaluable for retracing both the evolutionary trajectory of wild animals and the breeding history of domesticates. In horses, the Y chromosome shows a limited, but highly informative, sequence diversity, supporting the increasing breeding influence of Oriental lineages during the last 1500Â years. Here, we augment the primary horse Y-phylogeny, which is currently mainly based on modern horse breeds of economic interest, with haplotypes (HT) segregating in remote horse populations around the wor...
Carlin JI, Harris RC, Cederblad G, Constantin-Teodosiu D, Snow DH, Hultman E.Treadmill exercise of 2-min duration and increasing intensity resulted in increased formation of acetyl-CoA and acetylcarnitine in working muscle of Thoroughbred horses. At high work intensities a plateau was reached for both acetyl-CoA (approximately 50 mumols/kg dry muscle) and acetylcarnitine (approximately 20 mmol/kg dry muscle). Postexercise concentrations were significantly (P less than 0.001) correlated; [acetylcarnitine] = 349.[acetyl-CoA] + 2.4. The results indicate that approximately 350 mumols acetylcarnitine were accumulated for every 1 mumol acetyl-CoA. Under the conditions of exe...
von Samson-Himmelstjerna G, Traversa D, Demeler J, Rohn K, Milillo P, Schurmann S, Lia R, Perrucci S, di Regalbono AF, Beraldo P, Barnes H, Cobb R....For the control of worm infections, the strategic use of anthelmintics, often accompanied by additional farm and/or pasture management procedures, is currently applied on most horse farms in industrialized countries. However, the particular effects of the specific worm control procedures are often unclear and have only been investigated to a limited extent. We examined faecal egg count (FEC), faecal egg count reduction (FECR) and questionnaire data on farm and pasture management procedures. The aim of this study was to determine whether specific worm control practices reported to be applied in...
Taylor SE, Weaver MP, Pitsillides AA, Wheeler BT, Wheeler-Jones CP, Shaw DJ, Smith RK.Quantification of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) levels within synovial fluid from the tarsometatarsal joint has not previously been reported and an effective synovial fluid marker would allow monitoring of disease progression and treatment. Objective: To quantify levels of COMP and hyaluronan (HA) in synovial fluid from the tarsometatarsal joint, identify differences in levels from horses with osteoarthritis (OA) of the tarsometatarsal joint compared to a control population and to correlate levels with radiographic changes in horses with OA. Methods: Synovial fluid was collected f...
Vidrine M, Owen-Smith P, Faulkner P.In this day of high-tech, managed-care service delivery with an emphasis on medication and brief treatment, it is important for nurses to be aware of nontraditional treatment options that may be uniquely beneficial for some clients. Although it may still be considered a novelty, including animals in the healing milieu is not a new idea. Florence Nightingale herself suggested that "a small pet animal is often an excellent companion for the sick, for long chronic cases especially" (Nightingale, 1969, p. 102). Healing, according to one recent nursing article, can be seen as "a gradual awakening t...
