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.
Hintze S, Roth E, Bachmann I, Würbel H.Judgment bias tasks for nonhuman animals are promising tools to assess emotional valence as a measure of animal welfare. In view of establishing a valid judgment bias task for horses, the present study aimed to evaluate 2 versions (go/no-go and active choice) of an auditory judgment bias task for horses in terms of acquisition learning and discrimination of ambiguous cues. Five mares and 5 stallions were randomly assigned to the 2 designs and trained for 10 trials per day to acquire different operant responses to a low-frequency tone and a high-frequency tone, respectively. Following acquisiti...
Baraúna RA, Ramos RTJ, Veras AAO, de Sá PHCG, Guimarães LC, das Graças DA, Carneiro AR, Edman JM, Spier SJ, Azevedo V, Silva A.The genomes of four strains (MB11, MB14, MB30, and MB66) of the species Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis biovar equi were sequenced on the Ion Torrent PGM platform, completely assembled, and their gene content and structure were analyzed. The strains were isolated from horses with distinct signs of infection, including ulcerative lymphangitis, external abscesses on the chest, or internal abscesses on the liver, kidneys, and lungs. The average size of the genomes was 2.3 Mbp, with 2169 (Strain MB11) to 2235 (Strain MB14) predicted coding sequences (CDSs). An optical map of the MB11 strain gen...
Padalino B, Raidal SL, Carter N, Celi P, Muscatello G, Jeffcott L, de Silva K.Horses are transported frequently and often over long distances. Transportation may represent a physiological stressor with consequential health and welfare implications. This study reports the effects of a long distance journey on immunological, clinical, haematological, inflammatory and oxidative parameters in an Experimental Group (EG) of ten horses, comparing them with six horses of similar age and breed used as a non-transported Control Group (CG). Clinical examination and blood sampling were performed twice on all horses: immediately after unloading for the EG, and at rest on the same da...
van Gennip RGP, van de Water SGP, Potgieter CA, van Rijn PA.The Reoviridae family consists of nonenveloped multilayered viruses with a double-stranded RNA genome consisting of 9 to 12 genome segments. The Orbivirus genus of the Reoviridae family contains African horse sickness virus (AHSV), bluetongue virus, and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus, which cause notifiable diseases and are spread by biting Culicoides species. Here, we used reverse genetics for AHSV to study the role of outer capsid protein VP2, encoded by genome segment 2 (Seg-2). Expansion of a previously found deletion in Seg-2 indicates that structural protein VP2 of AHSV is not essen...
Ahern BJ, Bayliss IPM, Zedler ST, Getman LM, Richardson DW.To report on a series of 4 horses with supraglenoid tubercle fractures repaired with locking compression plates. Methods: Case series. Methods: Four horses ranging in age from 6 weeks to 20 months and weighing from 121 to 425 kg with supraglenoid tubercle fractures of 1 day to 6 weeks in duration. Methods: Supraglenoid tubercle fractures were reduced and stabilized with transversely positioned locking compression plate(s) with and without additional tension band wiring. Results: All fractures reached bony union. Two postoperative surgical site infections were managed with drainage and antibiot...
Clayton HM, Schamhardt HC, Hobbs SJ.In this study, sagittal plane ground reaction forces (GRFs) in ridden elite dressage horses performing 'collected trot' and in 'passage' over ground were determined. In-ground force plates captured GRF data from four Dutch Warmblood and four Lusitano horses ridden by their trainers. At least three stance phases were analysed for forelimbs and hind limbs per horse. The variables extracted were vertical and longitudinal (braking, propulsive) force maxima, their times of occurrence and the respective impulses for forelimbs and hind limbs. Lusitanos had lower vertical impulses than Dutch Warmblood...
Findley JA, Ricci EE, Singer EE.The main aim was to describe the gross and histological appearance of the equine manica flexoria and to identify any differences between the forelimbs and hindlimbs. An additional aim was to relate the findings to diagnostic and surgical anatomy of the manica flexoria. Methods: Measurements of the manica flexoria were made on cadaveric limbs from horses free from pathology within the digital flexor tendon sheath. Histological sections, stained with haematoxylin and eosin and alcian- periodic acid schiff, were evaluated based on three micro-anatomical zones from dorsal to palmar or plantar. The...
Cruz-Lopez F, Newton R, Sanchez-Rodriguez A, Ireland J, Mughini-Gras L, Moreno MA, Fores P.Equine viral arteritis (EVA) may have a high economic impact on breeding stud farms due to the occurrence of EVA-associated abortion outbreaks and the ability of the virus to persist in carrier stallions. While the consequences of EVA in premises with sport horses are usually less severe, the first confirmed outbreak of EVA in Spain occurred in a riding club in Barcelona, but no data on the seroprevalence of EVA in sport horses have been reported in Spain. Given the importance of both Spanish Purebred (SP) breeding horses and sport horses for Spain's equine industry, the aim of this study was ...
Durward-Akhurst SA, Valberg SJ.In horses, immune-mediated muscle disorders can arise from an overzealous immune response to concurrent infections or potentially from an inherent immune response to host muscle antigens. Streptococcus equi ss. equi infection or vaccination can result in infarctive purpura hemorrhagica (IPH) in which vascular deposition of IgA-streptococcal M protein complexes produces ischemia and complete focal infarction of skeletal muscle and internal organs. In Quarter Horse-related breeds with immune-mediated myositis, an apparent abnormal immune response to muscle antigens results in upregulation of maj...
Kirisawa R, Toishi Y, Akamatsu A, Soejima K, Miyashita T, Tsunoda N.In the spring of 2015, two stallions reared in Farms A and B in Hokkaido in Japan showed symptoms of equine coital exanthema. Equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3) was isolated from penis swab samples of both stallions, and the isolates from each stallion in Farms A and B were designated as SS-1 and YS-1 strains, respectively. BamHI restriction profiles of SS-1 and Japanese reference strain Iwate-1 were indistinguishable, but the BamHI-A fragment of YS-1 was larger than those of SS-1 and Iwate-1 by 1.9 kbp because of the lack of two BamHI sites. Nucleotide sequence analyses of glycoprotein G (gG), gB, ...
Laus F, Fratini M, Paggi E, Faillace V, Spaterna A, Tesei B, Fettucciari K, Bassotti G.Abnormalities of gastrointestinal motility are often a challenge in horses; however, the use of prokinetic drugs in such conditions must be firmly established yet. For this reason we carried out a preliminary study on the effects of prucalopride on intestinal motor activity of horses with gut hypomotility. The effect of prucalopride per os by oral dose syringe (2 mg/100 kg body weight) was assessed by abdominal ultrasound (evaluating duodenal, cecal, and colonic motor activity) in six horses with gut hypomotility. After administration of prucalopride, a significant increase of contractile ...
Russell JW, Hall MS, Kelly GM.A 3-year-old Thoroughbred gelding was presented with a grade 3/5 lameness of the right forelimb and effusion of the extensor carpi radialis tendon sheath (ECRTS). Radiographic and ultrasonographic examinations revealed an osteochondroma on the cranial aspect of the distal radius projecting into the fibrous lining of the ECRTS. An open surgical approach was used to remove the osteochondroma and some of the proliferative synovial tissue. Conclusions: Six months after surgery the clinical signs had resolved and the horse raced successfully.
Lin X, Zheng HX, Davie A, Zhou S, Wen L, Meng J, Zhang Y, Aladaer Q, Liu B, Liu WJ, Yao XK.Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes the genes for respiratory chain sub-units that determine the efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. The aim of this study was to determine if there were any haplogroups and variants in mtDNA that could be associated with athletic performance of Thoroughbred horses. The whole mitochondrial genomes of 53 maternally unrelated Australian Thoroughbred horses were sequenced and an association study was performed with the competition histories of 1123 horses within their maternal lineages. A horse mtDNA phylogenetic tree was constructed based on a t...
Mariella J, Castagnetti C, Prosperi A, Scagliarini A, Peli A.The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of IL-4, IL-8, IL-13 and IFN-γ in equine colostrum and in foals' serum. Samples were obtained from 14 mares and their healthy foals. Soon after parturition, 10ml of colostrum was collected, filtered, centrifuged and frozen until assayed. Blood samples were obtained from each foal at birth (TO) and again after 24h (T24), after which they were frozen until assayed. Serum IgG was measured at 24h of age with an immunoturbidimetric quantitative method. Cytokine concentration was determined using commercially available ELISA tests. Statistica...
Toishi Y, Tsunoda N, Kirisawa R.Equine coital exanthema (ECE) has been reported in many countries, but equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3) has been isolated only once in Japan. In 2015, symptoms of ECE were found, and EHV-3 was isolated in two stallions. Valacyclovir, an anti-herpesvirus agent, was administered orally. The stallions rested from mating for more than two weeks, causing enormous financial losses because of their high fees. This is the first study in which valacyclovir was administered for ECE. Though valacyclovir treatment did not shorten the duration of healing, the affected area did not expand after administration o...
Witkowski L, Rzewuska M, Takai S, Chrobak-Chmiel D, Kizerwetter-Świda M, Feret M, Gawryś M, Witkowski M, Kita J.Rhodococcus equi is one of the most significant bacterial pathogens affecting foals up to 6 months of age worldwide. Rhodococcosis is present in Poland however information about molecular characterization of R. equi isolates is scarce. This study describes molecular characterization of Rhodococcus equi infection on 13 horse breeding farms in Poland between 2001 and 2012. Samples were collected by tracheobronchial aspiration from pneumonic foals or during necropsy. The R. equi isolates were genotyped by plasmid profiling and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Results: Totally, 58 R. equi isolat...
Carslake HB, Pinchbeck GL, McGowan CM.Many diagnostic tests for insulin dysregulation use reference intervals established with an insulin radioimmunoassay (RIA) that is no longer available. A chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) is commonly used for the measurement of serum insulin concentration in clinical practice but requires further validation, especially at clinically relevant reference intervals. Objective: To evaluate the CLIA for measurement of equine insulin and compare it to the previously validated, but now unavailable RIA. Methods: Equine serum samples (n = 78) from clinical and experimental studies. Methods: In this ex...
Kang OD, Park YS.This study aimed to analyze the on heart rate, blood lactate concentration, packed cell volume (PCV) and hemoglobin (Hb) response after conducting exercise in endurance horses. Methods: A total of 20 healthy 3-9-years-old Jeju crossbreed mares (5.95 ± 2.24 year) of age and 312.65 ± 13.59 kg of weight) currently participating the endurance competition were used. The field tests selected for the experiment was gallop (approximately 8.3 m/s) along the selected 2.5 km course (a natural forest trail, not artificial road; a closed loop course). The horses were divided into three groups...
Ishii JB, Arenal A, Felix A, Yoshitani U, Beech R, Molento MB.Anthelmintic resistance is a serious problem for the control of equine gastrointestinal nematodes. In the present survey, 173 third stage larvae of cyathostomins were investigated from three different locations for the presence of the resistant genotype at codon 167 of the beta-tubulin gene, as this is the most prevalent mutation. The larvae from the state of Parana (n=67), Sao Paulo (n=54) and Santa Catarina (n=52), showed 61.2; 31.5 and 38.5% of the heterozygous resistant genotype - TTC/TAC, respectively. An unpublished mutation at codon 172 that results in a serine (S) to threonine (T) subs...
Barone A, Toti P, Menchini-Fabris GB, Felice P, Marchionni S, Covani U.The aim of this study was to evaluate volumetric and clinical outcomes of atrophic posterior mandibles treated with inlay or onlay bone grafting techniques. Methods: In posterior mandibles, alveolar ridges were treated either with interpositional equine cancellous bone block (inlay group) or with onlay autogenous bone block (onlay group). Bone volumes at baseline and at 4 months after surgery were measured by computed tomography. Results: A total of 20 subjects were enrolled in the present study: 10 in the inlay group and 10 in the onlay group. After surgery, atrophic posterior mandibles showe...
Ehrle A, Ressel L, Ricci E, Singer ER.Pain related to the osseous thoracolumbar spine is common in the equine athlete, with minimal information available regarding soft tissue pathology. The aims of this study were to describe the anatomy of the equine SSL and ISL (supraspinous and interspinous ligaments) in detail and to assess the innervation of the ligaments and their myofascial attachments including the thoracolumbar fascia. Ten equine thoracolumbar spines (T15-L1) were dissected to define structure and anatomy of the SSL, ISL and adjacent myofascial attachments. Morphological evaluation included histology, electron microscopy...
Bavin EP, Atkinson F, Barsby T, Guest DJ.The transcription factor scleraxis is required for tendon development and is upregulated during embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation into tenocytes. However, its role beyond early embryonic development is not defined. We utilized a short hairpin RNA to knock down scleraxis expression in ESCs and adult and fetal tenocytes. No effect on growth or morphology was observed in two-dimensional cultures. However, scleraxis knockdown in fetal tenocytes significantly reduced COL1A1, COMP, and SOX9 gene expression. Scleraxis knockdown in adult tenocytes had no effect on the expression of these genes...
Diab SS, Poppenga R, Uzal FA.In racehorses, sudden death (SD) associated with exercise poses a serious risk to jockeys and adversely affects racehorse welfare and the public perception of horse racing. In a majority of cases of exercise-associated sudden death (EASD), there are no gross lesions to explain the cause of death, and an examination of the cardiovascular system and a toxicologic screen are warranted. Cases of EASD without gross lesions are often presumed to be sudden cardiac deaths (SCD). We describe an equine SD autopsy protocol, with emphasis on histologic examination of the heart ("cardiac histology protocol...
D'Souza-Anjo M, Christensen BW, Brabender K, Zimmermann W, Kass PH, Schwarzenberger F.The aim of this study was to determine whether concentrations of reproductive steroid hormone metabolites significantly differed between harem stallions and bachelor stallions in the free ranging group of Przewalski's horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) at the Hortobágy National Park in Hungary. Throughout the study, fecal samples were collected from 21 harem stallions and 15 bachelor stallions and analyzed for immunoreactive estrogen and androgen metabolites. Harem stallions demonstrated significantly higher concentrations of estrogen (P < 0.001) and epi-androsterone (P < 0.001), ...
Bordbari MH, Penedo MCT, Aleman M, Valberg SJ, Mickelson J, Finno CJ.In the horse, the term occipitoatlantoaxial malformation (OAAM) is used to describe a developmental defect in which the first cervical vertebra (atlas) resembles the base of the skull (occiput) and the second cervical vertebra (axis) resembles the atlas. Affected individuals demonstrate an abnormal posture and varying degrees of ataxia. The homeobox (HOX) gene cluster is involved in the development of both the axial and appendicular skeleton. Hoxd3-null mice demonstrate a strikingly similar phenotype to Arabian foals with OAAM. Whole-genome sequencing was performed in an OAAM-affected horse (O...
Waddington B, Penitente-Filho JM, Neves J, Pinho RO, Chaya AY, Maitan PP, Silveira CO, Neves MG, Guimarães S, de Carvalho GR, Guimarães JD.This study was conducted to characterize the daily profile of testosterone secretion and its mean concentrations in the four seasons as well as to evaluate the semen characteristics and testicular biometry of Mangalarga Marchador stallions throughout the year in a tropical region. Three stallions were submitted to semen collections and evaluation of testicular biometry every 14 days along a year. Blood samples were collected once at the middle of each season, in a 20-min interval during 24 hr in order to evaluate the testosterone secretion profiles among seasons. Testosterone concentrations ...
Mitchell CF, Richbourg HA, Goupil BA, Gillett AN, McNulty MA.To describe a biopsy technique in standing horses with minimal morbidity that consistently provides a substantial bone biopsy with intact, undamaged architecture. Methods: Experimental, prospective study. Methods: Ten Thoroughbred horses. Methods: Biopsies were obtained from the tuber coxae of 10 sedated, standing horses using an oscillating saw. Bilateral biopsies, separated by 60 days, were evaluated with micro-computed tomography (microCT). The first biopsy was prepared for decalcified histology; the second for undecalcified histology. Both biopsies were evaluated qualitatively for histolog...
Wagnerová P, Sak B, Květoňová D, Maršálek M, Langrová I, Kváč M.A total of 9 (8 stallions and 1 mare) 1 year old ponies were used for the experimental infection caused by Encephalitozoon cuniculi genotype II (10(7) spores per animal). Subsequently, individual horses were slaughtered 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, and 63 days post infection. Immediately after slaughter, tissues samples of stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, caecum, colon, spleen, liver, kidney, bladder, heart, lungs, and brain were sampled. In addition, urine, feces and blood specimens were collected. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used for determination of humoral immune response and...
Kruluc P, Nemec A.Clinically, the use of detomidine and butorphanol is suitable for sedation and deepening of analgosedation. The aim of our study was to establish the influence of detomidine used alone and a butorphanol-detomidine combination on brain activity and to evaluate and compare brain responses (using electroencephalography, EEG) by recording SEF90 (spectral edge frequency 90%), individual brain wave fractions (beta, alpha, theta and delta) and electromyographic (EMG) changes in the left temporal muscle in standing horses. Ten clinically healthy cold-blooded horses were divided into two groups of five...
Muir WW, Lerche P, Robertson JT, Hubbell JA, Beard W, Miller T, Badgley B, Bothwell V.To evaluate anesthetic effects of 4 drug combinations used for total intravenous anesthesia of horses undergoing surgical removal of an abdominal testis. Methods: Clinical trial. Methods: 32 healthy cryptorchid horses. Methods: Horses were sedated with xylazine and butorphanol and were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: induction of anesthesia with ketamine and diazepam and maintenance with bolus administration of ketamine and xylazine (KD/KX); induction and maintenance of anesthesia with bolus administration of tiletamine-zolazepam, ketamine, and detomidine (TKD); induction and maintenance o...
Potgieter AC, Cloete M, Pretorius PJ, van Dijk AA.The outer capsid protein VP2 of African horsesickness virus (AHSV) is a major protective antigen. We have cloned full-length VP2 genes from the reference strains of each of the nine AHSV serotypes. Baculovirus recombinants expressing the cloned VP2 genes of serotypes 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 were constructed, confirming that they all have full open reading frames. This work completes the cloning and expression of the first full set of AHSV VP2 genes. The clones of VP2 genes of serotypes 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8 were sequenced and their amino acid sequences were deduced. Our sequencing data, together with t...
Banks KL.The monocytes of horses infected with equine infectious anemia virus were shown by their failure to migrate from capillary tubes and their increased adherence to erythrocytes to be activated.
de Laat MA, McGowan CM, Sillence MN, Pollitt CC.Laminitis occurring in association with hyperinsulinemia is frequently encountered in today's equine population. New evidence suggests that hyperinsulinemia is the direct cause of this form of laminitis, rather than insulin resistance per se. The mechanism by which elevated serum insulin concentrations result in lamellar dysfunction is currently under investigation by many researchers and the use of a new insulin infusion model for investigating the pathogenesis of insulin-associated laminitis will doubtless enhance progress in this field of research. By focusing on the metabolic and vascular ...
Genovese RL, Rantanen NW, Hauser ML, Simpson BS.In our 3 years of clinical experience, we have found that diagnostic ultrasound provides the veterinarian with a valuable diagnostic tool. It allows the clinician to quantify morphologic change that has occurred as a result of soft-tissue injuries, even when the clinical findings are ambiguous or insufficient. In cases in which aggressive postinjury therapy has been instituted prior to presentation, diagnostic ultrasound is often the only noninvasive method that can ascertain the extent of the horse's injury. Diagnostic ultrasound provides the technology to detect injuries before they become p...
REBERS PA, HURWITZ E, HEIDELBERGER M.Rebers, Paul A. (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N. J.), Esther Hurwitz, and Michael Heidelberger. Immunochemistry of pneumococcal types II, V, and VI. II. Inhibition tests in the type VI precipitating system. J. Bacteriol. 82:920-926. 1961.-As in other immune systems involving polysaccharides, rabbit antibodies but not those engendered in the horse were found sensitive to degradation of type VI pneumococcal (Pn) polysaccharide (SVI), and were readily inhibited by fragments of SVI. Large amounts, 30 to 111 mumoles, of most sugars gave up to 15% inhibition, while sugar and polyol phosphates ...
Yao C.The kinetoplastid protozoan Leishmania spp. cause leishmaniasis, which clinically exhibit mainly as a cutaneous, mucocutanous or visceral form depending upon the parasite species in humans. The disease is widespread geographically, leading to 20 000 annual deaths. Here, leishmaniases in both humans and animals, reservoirs and sand fly vectors on the Caribbean islands are reviewed. Autochthonous human infections by Leishmania spp. were found in the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and Martinique as well as Trinidad and Tobago; canine infections were found in St. Kitts and Grenada; and equine infe...
Hassel DM, Rakestraw PC, Gardner IA, Spier SJ, Snyder JR.A prospective, unmatched case control study was performed to identify dietary and environmental risk factors for enterolithiasis in horses in California and to determine whether colonic ingesta analyses differed between horses with and without enteroliths. Forty-three horses with enterolithiasis were compared with 19 horses with surgical colic attributable to nonstrangulating obstruction of the colon without enteroliths. Colonic ingesta samples were collected at surgery from horses with enteroliths and control horses. Colonic pH and colonic concentrations of magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodi...
Merrifield-Jones M, Tabor G, Williams J.Back pain is a significant factor for horses and is challenging for professionals to diagnose, with assessment frequently using subjective tools such as manual palpation. Reliable and valid objective measures are required and use of a pressure algometer (PA) has been investigated as an assessment tool; however, it has limitations, and other more realistic methods may be better suited for the task. The aim of the study was to establish inter- and intra-rater reliability for PA, FlexiForce Sensor (FFS), and manual palpation for equine epaxial soft tissue, measuring mechanical nociception thresho...
Skedros JG, Kiser CJ, Mendenhall SD.Using circularly polarized light microscopy,we described a weighted-scoring method for quantifying regional distributions of six secondary osteon morphotypes(Skedros et al.: Bone 44 (2009) 392-403). This osteon morphotype score (MTS) strongly correlated with "tension" and "compression" cortices produced by habitual bending. In the present study, we hypothesized that the osteon MTS is superior to a relatively simpler method based on the percent prevalence (PP) of these osteon morphotypes. This was tested in proximal femoral diaphyses of adult chimpanzees and habitually bent bones: calcanei from...
Podoll KL, Bernard JB, Ullrey DE, DeBar SR, Ku PK, Magee WT.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...
Padilla DJ, McDonough P, Kindig CA, Erickson HH, Poole DC.Despite enormous rates of minute ventilation (Ve) in the galloping Thoroughbred (TB) horse, the energetic demands of exercise conspire to raise arterial Pco(2) (i.e., induce hypercapnia). If locomotory-respiratory coupling (LRC) is an obligatory facilitator of high Ve in the horse such as those found during galloping (Bramble and Carrier. Science 219: 251-256, 1983), Ve should drop precipitously when LRC ceases at the galloptrot transition, thus exacerbating the hypercapnia. TB horses (n = 5) were run to volitional fatigue on a motor-driven treadmill (1 m/s increments; 14-15 m/s) to study the ...
Meershoek LS, Lanovaz JL, Schamhardt HC, Clayton HM.To calculate forces in the flexor tendons and the influence of heel wedges in affected and contralateral (compensating) forelimbs of horses with experimentally induced unilateral tendinitis of the superficial digital flexor (SDF) tendon. Methods: 5 Warmblood horses. Procedure-Ground reaction force and kinematic data were obtained during a previous study while horses were trotting before and after induction of tendinitis in 1 forelimb SDF and after application of 6 degrees heel wedges to both forehooves. Forces in the SDF, deep digital flexor (DDF), and the suspensory ligament (SL) and strain i...
Takahashi T, Hiraga A, Ohmura H, Kai M, Jones JH.To determine the frequency of epistaxis during or after racing among racehorses and identify factors associated with development of epistaxis. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 247,564 Thoroughbred and 4,045 Anglo-Arab race starts. Methods: Race start information (breed, age, sex, racing distance, and race type) was obtained for Thoroughbred and Anglo-Arab horses racing in Japan Racing Association-sanctioned races between 1992 and 1997. All horses that raced were examined by a veterinarian within 30 minutes of the conclusion of the race; any horse that had blood at the nostrils was examin...
Acland HM, Gunson DE, Gillette DM.Seven foals aged 18 days to 3 1/2 months had either single or multiple full-circumference segments or long antimesenteric bands of necrotizing duodenitis, sharply delineated from adjacent viable duodenum. Perforation of the necrotic wall had occurred in all foals, leading to acute fibrinous peritonitis. On the mucosal surface severe diffuse, acute inflammation and ulceration involved the anterior half of the duodenum. Two further foals, aged 28 and 30 days, had lesions that are believed to be a chronic form of this disease. Both foals had a thickened duodenal wall, with large areas of mucosa r...
Naves JHFF, Oliveira FG, Bicalho JM, Santos PS, Machado-de-Ávila RA, Chavez-Olortegui C, Leite RC, Reis JKP.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) is a disease caused by a Lentivirus that is currently controlled exclusively by identification of seropositive animals. In most countries, including Brazil, the official diagnostic test for EIA is the agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGID). Although this assay has a high specificity it can produce false negative reactions or equivocal results due to weak precipitation lines, especially in samples from donkeys, mules or newly infected equids. In this pioneering study, it was used overlapping synthetic peptide pools to map and identify a consensus, widely recognised ...
Kilcoyne I, Dechant JE, Spier SJ, Spriet M, Nieto JE.To determine the influence of radiographic quantification of sand accumulation on the medical versus surgical management of large colon sand accumulations. To compare short- and long-term outcomes and complications associated with medical and surgical management of these horses. Methods: Retrospective. Methods: A total of 153 horses. Methods: Medical records and abdominal radiographs of horses presented for colic between 2004 and 2014 were reviewed. Severity of sand accumulation was quantified by tracing and measuring a region of interest with a commercial software program. Breed, weight, amou...
Uzal FA, Robles CA, Olaechea FV.'Mal seco' is a grass sickness-like syndrome of horses in Argentina. A histopathological study was made of the coeliaco-mesenteric ganglia of four horses with 'mal seco' and of four horses that died from other causes. The severity and extent of the lesions found in the horses with 'mal seco' was greatest in the two with the shortest clinical course. Degenerative changes consisted mainly in the loss of Nissl substance, cytoplasmic vacuoles, neuronophagia, intercellular and intracytoplasmic eosinophilic bodies, and pyknotic and eccentric nuclei. The coeliaco-mesenteric ganglia of the control hor...
Han H, Chen Q, Gao Y, Li J, Li W, Dang R, Lei C.In the biological process of testicular spermatogenesis, the expression and interaction of many genes are regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs). However, comparisons of miRNA expression between descended testes (DTs) and undescended testes (UDTs) are rarely done in horses. In this study, we selected two UDTs (CKY2b and GU4b) from Chakouyi (CKY) and Guanzhong (GU) horses and eight DTs (GU1-3, CKY1, CKY3, CKY2a, GU4a, and GU5). Three groups were compared to evaluate expression patterns of testicular miRNA in stallion testes. Group 1 compared normal CKY horses and GU horses (CKY1 and CKY3 vs. GU1-3). G...
Roy Chowdhury P, DeMaere M, Chapman T, Worden P, Charles IG, Darling AE, Djordjevic SP.Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) are a significant health problem to humans and food animals. Clostridial toxins ToxA and ToxB encoded by genes tcdA and tcdB are located on a pathogenicity locus known as the PaLoc and are the major virulence factors of C. difficile. While toxin-negative strains of C. difficile are often isolated from faeces of animals and patients suffering from CDI, they are not considered to play a role in disease. Toxin-negative strains of C. difficile have been used successfully to treat recurring CDI but their propensity to acquire the PaLoc via lateral gene transfe...
De Cock HE, MacLachlan NJ.Neoplastic and hyperplastic disorders that affect multiple endocrine tissues in a single individual are well described in humans but less so in domestic animals. Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) in humans is a genetically determined syndrome characterized by the appearance of benign or malignant proliferations within two or more endocrine glands. The primary endocrine tumors that are characteristic of MEN arise from cells that share the capacity for amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation. Here we describe the case of a 22-year-old Thoroughbred mare that died during an unattended parturit...
Song Y, Massart C, Chico-Galdo V, Jin L, De Maertelaer V, Decoster C, Dumont JE, Van Sande J.In the literature, data obtained in signal transduction from various species thyroids and cells lines are often integrated in a common model. We investigate qualitatively and systematically, using the same protocol, the control by TSH of the two main functions of the thyrocytes, the synthesis and the secretion of thyroid hormones. In all species investigated, the TSH receptor activates both. In some species, including humans, rats and mice, the TSH receptor activates both the cAMP and phospholipase C-PIP2 cascades, in others (e.g. dog) it only stimulates the first. The cAMP pathway activates t...
Valdéz-Cruz MP, Hernández-Gil M, Galindo-Rodríguez L, Alonso-Díaz MA.The east coast of Veracruz, Mexico, has an important equine population used for working in rural production systems. The objectives of this study were (1) to calculate the prevalence of tropical working equids (donkeys, mules and horses) infected with gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) and the GINs involved, and (2) to measure the body condition score (BCS) and haematological values for each working equid and its relationship with faecal worm egg count (EPG). One hundred and forty working equids were randomly selected from five different villages along the central coast of the state of Veracruz...
Bouré L, Marcoux M, Laverty S.The purposes of this study were to develop a technique of paralumbar fossa laparoscopic ovariectomy using Endoloop ligatures and to avoid a laparotomy incision for ovary removal by using a 33-mm diameter muscle spreader trocar-cannula unit. Methods: Seven mares. Methods: Bilateral laparoscopic ovariectomy was performed under general anesthesia in two horses and under neuroleptanalgesia and local anesthesia in five standing mares. Ovaries were approached from the ipsilateral paralumbar fossa through two portal sites located in the paralumbar fossa and a third between the 17th and 18th ribs. Ins...
Barber MR, Lee SM, Steffens WL, Ard M, Fayrer-Hosken RA.A comparative evaluation of the location of immunoreactive porcine zona pellucida (pZP) glycoproteins was performed with polyclonal rabbit anti-pZP antibodies on ovarian sections of the dog, cat, horse, and elephant. For this, formalin (light microscopy) and glutaraldehyde (transmission electron microscopy [TEM]) fixed ovarian sections were incubated with antibodies raised against highly purified pZP. Staining patterns were determined with diaminobenzidine (DAB) at the light level. The dog ZP had a distinct staining distribution that is characterized by intense staining around the periphery of...
