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.
Lee H, Kim EJ, Cho IS, Song JY, Choi JS, Lee JY, Shin YK.Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV). The SFTSV appears to have a wide host range, as SFTSV-positive ticks have been isolated from both farm animals and wild rodents. Therefore, it is important to monitor SFTSV-positive animals to prevent the transmission of SFTSV from animals to humans. Previously, we developed a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) to detect SFTSV-specific antibodies from field animals and compared the cELISA results to those from an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). In this study, cELISA results were...
Flethøj M, Schwarzwald CC, Haugaard MM, Carstensen H, Kanters JK, Olsen LH, Buhl R.Prolonged exercise in human athletes is associated with transient impairment of left ventricular (LV) function, known as cardiac fatigue. Cardiac effects of prolonged exercise in horses remain unknown. Objective: To investigate the effects of prolonged exercise on LV systolic and diastolic function in horses. Methods: Twenty-six horses competing in 120-160 km endurance rides. Methods: Cross-sectional field study. Echocardiography was performed before and after rides, and the following morning, and included two-dimensional echocardiography, anatomical M-mode, pulsed-wave tissue Doppler imaging...
Dutkiewicz J, Mackiewicz B, Kinga Lemieszek M, Golec M, Milanowski J.Pantoea agglomerans, a bacterium associated with plants, is not an obligate infectious agent in humans. However, it could be a cause of opportunistic human infections, mostly by wound infection with plant material, or as a hospital-acquired infection, mostly in immunocompromised individuals. Wound infection with P. agglomerans usually follow piercing or laceration of skin with a plant thorn, wooden splinter or other plant material and subsequent inoculation of the plant-residing bacteria, mostly during performing of agricultural occupations and gardening, or children playing. Septic arthritis ...
Singleton MD, Breheny PJ.In this paper, we propose a nonlinear hierarchical model (NLHM) for analyzing longitudinal experimental infection (EI) data. The NLHM offers several improvements over commonly used alternatives such as repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) and the linear mixed model (LMM). It enables comparison of relevant biological properties of the course of infection including peak intensity, duration and time to peak, rather than simply comparing mean responses at each observation time. We illustrate the practical benefits of this model and the insights it yields using data from experimental i...
Vondran S, Venner M, Vervuert I.Feeding alfalfa hay is often recommended for its buffering components, like protein and calcium, to prevent lesions of the gastric mucosa in horses. Until now, there has been no information regarding the influence of alfalfa particle size on the gastric mucosa. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding two alfalfa preparations with different particle sizes (alfalfa chaff vs alfalfa pellets) in comparison with grass hay on the gastric mucosa in weanling horses. We hypothesized that feeding a high proportion of fine alfalfa particles would negatively impact gastric mucosa a...
McConachie E, Giguère S, Barton MH.The prevalence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in horses with acute surgical gastrointestinal (GI) disease is unknown. Currently, there are no validated criteria to confirm MODS in adult horses. Objective: To develop criteria for a MODS score for horses with acute surgical colic (MODS SGI) and evaluate the association with 6-month survival. To compare the MODS SGI score with a MODS score extrapolated from criteria used in people (MODS EQ). Methods: Adult horses that required exploratory laparotomy (n = 62) for colic. Healthy adult horses undergoing elective surgical procedures (n...
Giguère S, Berghaus LJ, Miller CD.Despite the paucity of data available, stall-side serum amyloid (SAA) assays are commonly used to make diagnostic and treatment decisions in foals with bronchopneumonia. Objective: Measurement of SAA concentrations can accurately differentiate pneumonic from healthy foals. Methods: Fifty-four pneumonic foals between 3 weeks and 5 months of age were compared to 44 healthy controls. In addition, 47 foals on a farm endemic for R. equi infections were studied. Methods: Serum samples were collected from pneumonic foals at hospital admission. Foals were categorized as having pneumonia caused by R. e...
Nagel C, Trenk L, Aurich J, Wulf M, Aurich C.In this study, peripartum changes in complete blood count, plasma electrolyte concentrations, blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV) were determined in pregnant Warmblood mares (n = 10). Blood was collected from Days 245 to 330 of gestation (phase A), 2Days 3 to 1 before foaling (phase B), repeatedly within 12 hours after foaling (phase C), and on Days 1 to 3 postpartum (phase D). On the same days as blood collection, blood pressure and cardiac beat-to-beat intervals were measured and time domain HRV variables were calculated. Blood pressure decreased during the past 3...
Regatieri IC, Eberth JE, Sarver F, Lear TL, Bailey E.Horse owners choose whether or not to train American Saddlebred horses (ASHs) to perform the 4-beat gaits called rack and slow gait. The rack and slow gait are similar to ambling gaits shown to be associated with variation in the DMRT3 gene in other breeds but are trained rather than naturally occurring gaits. A premature stop codon in the DMRT3 gene (DMRT3_Ser301STOP) caused by the Ch23:g.22999655C>A SNP has an effect on the pattern of locomotion in horses and allows for the pacing gait and strong association with performance of ambling gaits in diverse breeds. We used horse show records to i...
Benmansour P, Billinsky J, Duke-Novakovski T, Alcorn J.To determine blood remifentanil concentration in isoflurane-anesthetized horses during and after a 1h remifentanil and dexmedetomidine infusion. Methods: Prospective study. Methods: Six adult mixed breed horses with (mean±SD) bodyweight of 507±61kg and 14±4years of age. Methods: Following sedation with xylazine IV, anesthesia was induced with ketamine IV mixed with diazepam IV. Anesthesia was maintained with isoflurane in oxygen. After 52±7min for instrumentation, dexmedetomidine (0.25μgkg(-1) followed by 1.0μg(-1)kg(-1)h(-1)) and remifentanil infusions (6μgkg(-1)h(-1)) were administere...
Pirie RS, Couëtil LL, Robinson NE, Lavoie JP.In their editorial in Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) almost a quarter of a
century ago, Hall and Stark [1] referred to the inability of clinicians, both
human and veterinary, to separate and recognise the different clinical
entities responsible for chronic diseases of the airways, with the
subsequent development of several different approaches to terminology,
as well as treatment. In relation to equine nonseptic lower airway disease,
and despite many attempts to identify the most appropriate nomenclature,
this challenge remains as topical today as it did then. ‘Equine asthma’ has
...
Pusterla N, Hall TL, Wetzlich SE, Monmaney G, Collier JR, Hill JA, Tell LA.The objective of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetics of single- and multi-dose ceftiofur crystalline-free acid (CCFA) administered subcutaneously at a dose of 13.2 mg/kg to 12 neonatal foals 1-3 days of age. Six foals received a single subcutaneous dose, while 6 additional foals received 4 doses of CCFA at 48-h intervals. Blood samples were collected at pre-determined times following drug administration, and plasma concentrations of ceftiofur free acid equivalents (CFAE) were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. Following single-dose administration of CCFA, the...
Knych HK, Stanley SD, Arthur RM, McKemie DS.The use of anti-ulcer medications, such as cimetidine, ranitidine, and omeprazole, is common in performance horses. The use of these drugs is regulated in performance horses, and as such a withdrawal time is necessary prior to competition to avoid a medication violation. To the authors' knowledge, there are no reports in the literature describing repeated oral administrations of these drugs in the horse to determine a regulatory threshold and related withdrawal time recommendations. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to describe the disposition and elimination pharmacokinetics o...
Fortier LA, Chapman HS, Pownder SL, Roller BL, Cross JA, Cook JL, Cole BJ.Microfracture (MFx) remains a dominant treatment strategy for symptomatic articular cartilage defects. Biologic scaffold adjuncts, such as particulated allograft articular cartilage (BioCartilage) combined with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), offer promise in improving clinical outcomes as an adjunct to MFx. To evaluate the safety, biocompatibility, and efficacy of BioCartilage and PRP for cartilage repair in a preclinical equine model of full-thickness articular cartilage loss. Controlled laboratory study. Two 10-mm-diameter full-thickness cartilage defects were created in 5 horses in the trochle...
Shields E, Seiden-Long I, Massie S, Passante S, Leguillette R.Cardiac troponin-I assays have been validated in horses.'High-sensitivity' cardiac troponin assays are now the standard in human cardiology. Objective: Appropriately validate the'high-sensitivity' cardiac Troponin-T (hscTnT) assay for clinical use in horses, establish reference intervals, determine the biological variation, and demonstrate assay utility in selected clinical cases. Methods: Analytical validation of the Roche hscTnT assay included within- and between-run precision, linear dose response, limit of quantitation (LoQ), stability, and comparison with cTn-I (iSTAT). Reference interval...
Souza C, Villarino NF, Farnsworth K, Black ME.Electroporation is a method used to deliver poorly permeant chemotherapeutic drugs to tumor cells, potentiating the cytotoxic effects of drugs and overall clinical response. Despite existing evidence of the potential benefits of electroporation to enhance the antitumoral effects of drugs, there is a lack of understanding about the effects of electroporation on equine tumor cells. This study investigated the combined effects of electroporation and bleomycin, cisplatin, and carboplatin on an equine sarcoid cell line (EqS04b). The use of electroporation increases the cytotoxic effects of bleomyci...
Guimarães AM, Bruhn FRP, Ribeiro MJM, Rosa MHF, de Mello Garcia A, da Rocha CMBM, de Assis Rocha I.Theileria equi, a protozoon in the phylum Apicomplexa, is the causative agent of equine theileriosis. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of IgG antibodies against T. equi, by using the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) reaction and correlating the serostatus with some epidemiological variables relating to the way in which Mangalarga Marchador horses are raised in southern Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this study, 506 horses were used, all clinically healthy, on 53 horse farms distributed across 27 municipalities in southern Minas Gerais. The statistical te...
Coverdale JA.Intensive management practices in the horse industry present a unique challenge to the microbiome of the large intestine. Common management practices such as high-concentrate diets, low forage quality, meal feeding, and confinement housing have an impact on intestinal function, specifically large intestinal fermentation. The microbiome of the equine large intestine is a complex and diverse ecosystem, and disruption of microbiota and their environment can lead to increased incidence of gastrointestinal disorder. Digestion in the horse can be improved through a variety of approaches such as feed...
Julliand V, Grimm P.In the early 1990s, the equine hindgut microbial ecosystem looked like a "black box." Its vital role in hydrolyzing and fermenting fiber, thus providing energy to the host, was recognized. Although there was a critical lack of information on the hindgut microbes, their role in preventing intestinal diseases was suggested. Traditionally, the microbes of the horse hindgut were studied using culture-dependent techniques. More recently, culture-independent methods have been used and provided further insight. This review presents the history and updated knowledge regarding the microbes that live in...
Paillot R, El-Hage CM.In 2007, Australia experienced the most extensive equine influenza outbreak observed in recent years. Extraordinary measures were rapidly implemented in order to control and prevent the spread of this highly contagious disease. The control strategy involved stringent movement restriction and disease surveillance, seconded by emergency post-outbreak vaccination strategies. Sixteen months after the first case and 12 months following the last reported case, Australia regained its equine influenza-free OIE status. This systematic review reports and summarises information relating to the implementa...
Fougerolle S, Legrand L, Garrett D, Birand I, Foursin M, D'Ablon X, Bayssat P, Newton RJ, Pronost S, Paillot R.Numerous equine influenza (EI) epizooties are reported worldwide. EI vaccination is the most efficient methods of prevention. However, not all horses develop protective immunity after immunisation, increasing the risk of infection and transmission. This field study aimed to understand the poor response to primary EI vaccination. The EI antibody response was measured in 174 Thoroughbred foals set in 3 stud farms (SF#1 to SF#3) over a 2years period. All foals were immunised with a commercial recombinant canarypox-based EI vaccine. Sera were tested by single radial haemolysis against the A/equine...
Bannai H, Ochi A, Nemoto M, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T.As we reported previously, Getah virus infection occurred in horses at the Miho training center of the Japan Racing Association in 2014. This was the first outbreak after a 31-year absence in Japan. Here, we report a recurrent outbreak of Getah virus infection in 2015, sequential to the 2014 one at the same site, and we summarize its epizootiological aspects to estimate the risk of further outbreaks in upcoming years. Results: The outbreak occurred from mid-August to late October 2015, affecting 30 racehorses with a prevalence of 1.5% of the whole population (1992 horses). Twenty-seven (90.0%)...
Griffon DJ, Cho J, Wagner JR, Charavaryamath C, Wei J, Wagoner Johnson A.Chitosan opens new perspectives in regenerative medicine as it enhances the properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) through formation of spheroids. Hypoxia has also been proposed to enhance stemness and survival of MSCs after in vivo implantation. These characteristics are relevant to the development of an off-the-shelf source of allogenic cells for regenerative therapy of tendinopathies. Umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UCM-MSCs) offer an abundant source of immature and immunoprivileged stem cells. In this study, equine UCM-MSCs (eqUCM-MSCs) conditioned for 3 and 7 days on chitosan films at 5...
Hughes KJ, Rendle DI, Higgins S, Barron R, Cowling A, Love S, Durham AE.Delays between collection and laboratory analysis of equine body fluid samples are common in practice; however, the effects of delays on the accuracy of results and diagnostic interpretation are unknown. Objective: To assess the effects of storage time and temperature combination on protein and cell parameters of equine synovial and mesothelial cavity fluids and determine whether any changes affect clinicopathological interpretation. Methods: In vitro experiment. Methods: Body fluid samples obtained from horses during diagnostic investigation were divided into 7 aliquots and total protein conc...
Arroyo MG, Couëtil LL, Nogradi N, Kamarudin MM, Ivester KM.The (R)-enantiomer of racemic albuterol (levalbuterol) has bronchodilatory properties whereas the (S)-enantiomer causes adverse effects in human airways, animal models, and isolated equine bronchi. Levalbuterol is commercially available and improves pulmonary function of asthmatic patients with a longer duration of effect than albuterol. Objective: To determine the dose at which inhaled levalbuterol produces maximal bronchodilatory effect (EDmax) and determine its duration of action in recurrent airway obstruction (RAO)-affected horses in comparison to racemic albuterol. Methods: Nine horses w...
Gabner S, Hlavaty J, Velde K, Renner M, Jenner F, Egerbacher M.Osteoarthritis, a chronic and progressive degenerative joint disorder, ranks amongst the top five causes of disability. Given the high incidence, associated socioeconomic costs and the absence of effective disease-modifying therapies of osteoarthritis, cell-based treatments offer a promising new approach. Owing to their paracrine, differentiation and self-renewal abilities, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have great potential for regenerative medicine, which might be further enhanced by targeted gene therapy. Hence, the development of systems allowing transgene expression, particularly when regu...
Kern-Godal A, Brenna IH, Kogstad N, Arnevik EA, Ravndal E.A good therapeutic relationship is a strong predictor of successful treatment in addiction and other psychological illness. Recent studies of horse-assisted therapy (HAT) have drawn attention to the importance of the client's relationship to the horse in psychotherapy. Few have reported on the patient's own perspective and none have reported specifically on the human-horse relationship in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and its implications for health and well-being. Objective: This article explores SUD patients' own experience of their relationship with the horse and their perceptions ...
Einhorn L, Hofstetter G, Brandt S, Hainisch EK, Fukuda I, Kusano K, Scheynius A, Mittermann I, Resch-Marat Y, Vrtala S, Valenta R, Marti E, Rhyner C....Companion animals are also affected by IgE-mediated allergies, but the eliciting molecules are largely unknown. We aimed at refining an allergen microarray to explore sensitization in horses and compare it to the human IgE reactivity profiles. Methods: Custom-designed allergen microarray was produced on the basis of the ImmunoCAP ISAC technology containing 131 allergens. Sera from 51 horses derived from Europe or Japan were tested for specific IgE reactivity. The included horse patients were diagnosed for eczema due to insect bite hypersensitivity, chronic coughing, recurrent airway obstructio...
Cirak VY, Güleğen E, Bauer C.A cross-sectional survey was performed on ten stud farms in western Anatolia, Turkey, in order to provide the first information on the problem of anthelmintic resistance in equine strongyles in this country. Benzimidazole (BZ) resistant cyathostomin populations were detected on seven farms if pre- and post-treatment egg counts are compared in treated animals and the resistance is defined as a mean faecal egg count reduction (FECR) of <95% with a lower 95% confidence limit of <90%. Egg hatch tests using an ED(50) of 0.1 microg/ml thiabendazole as the cut-off value confirmed BZ resistance on fou...
Mandal S, Denham MM, Spencer SJ, Denham J.Ageing causes a gradual deterioration of bodily functions and telomere degradation. Excessive telomere shortening leads to cellular senescence and decreases tissue vitality. Six proteins, called shelterin, protect telomere integrity and control telomere length through telomerase-dependent mechanisms. Exercise training appears to maintain telomeres in certain somatic cells, although the underlying molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here, we examined the influence of a single bout of vigorous exercise training on leukocyte telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and shelterin gene...
Bousfield GR, Butnev VY, Butnev VY.The O-glycosylation sites for equine LHss (eLHss) and eCGss were identified by solid-phase Edman degradation of four glycopeptides derived from the C-terminal region. Both subunits were O-glycosylated at the same 12 positions, rather than the 4-6 sites anticipated. These sites were partially glycosylated, with carbohydrate attachment ranging from 20% to 100% for eCGss and from 10% to 100% for eLHss. When the C-terminal peptide containing all but one of the O-linked oligosaccharides was removed by mild acid hydrolysis of either eLHss or eCGss, hybrid hormones could be obtained by reassociating ...
Nelson BB, Lordan EE, Hassel DM.Gastrointestinal dysfunction occurs commonly following elective anaesthesia. Identification of risk factors may allow implementation of preventative measures to reduce the prevalence of colic following elective anaesthetic procedures. Objective: To examine risk factors associated with gastrointestinal dysfunction or post anaesthetic colic for horses undergoing elective surgical or diagnostic procedures under general anaesthesia. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Medical records were collected from adult horses undergoing general anaesthesia from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010 us...
Yasui T, Tsukise A, Fukui K, Kuwahara Y, Meyer W.The distribution of complex glycoconjugates and antimicrobial substances in the ceruminous glands of the horse (Equus przewalskii f. dom., type: pony) was studied using carbohydrate histochemical and immunohistochemical methods. The epithelial cells and luminal secretion of these glands exhibited considerable amounts of glycoconjugates with various saccharide residues, such as alpha-D-mannose, alpha-L-fucose, beta-D-galactose, beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and sialic acid, including O-acetylated sialic acid. Several sugars (alpha-D-mannose, alpha-L-fucose, and beta-D-galactose) were also detecta...
Allison K, Taylor NM, Wilsmore AJ, Garforth C.An online survey was conducted to establish horse owners' beliefs, attitudes and practices relating to the use of anthelmintic drugs. Out of a total of 574 respondents, 89 per cent described themselves as 'leisure riders', most of whom took part in a variety of activities including eventing, show jumping, dressage, hunter trials, hunting, driving, endurance and showing. Overall, respondents were generally aware and concerned about the issue of anthelmintic resistance. Less than 60 per cent of all respondents were comfortable with their existing anthelmintic programme, and 25 per cent would lik...
Pownder S, Scrivani PV, Bezuidenhout A, Divers TJ, Ducharme NG.In people, specific classifications of temporal bone fractures are associated with clinical signs and prognosis. In horses, similar classifications have not been evaluated and might be useful establishing prognosis or understanding pathogenesis of certain types of trauma. Objective: We hypothesized associations between temporal bone fracture location and orientation in horses detected during computed tomography (CT) and frequency of facial nerve (CN7) deficit, vestibulocochlear nerve (CN8) deficit, or temporohyoid osteoarthropathy (THO). Complex temporal region anatomy may confound fracture id...
Maia L, de Moraes CN, Dias MC, Martinez JB, Caballol AO, Testoni G, de Queiroz CM, Peña RD, Landim-Alvarenga FC, de Oliveira E.To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study describing the proteome of equine umbilical cord intervascular matrix mesenchymal stem cells (UCIM-MSCs) in a global and functional manner. The aim of this work was to analyze the proteome of previously characterized UCIM-MSCs to determine protein abundance and classify the identified proteins according to Gene Ontology (GO) terms. Protein classification analysis according to biological process, molecular function and cellular component was performed using the PANTHER (Protein ANalysis THrough Evolutionary Relationships) Classification Syst...
Asadollahpour Nanaei H, Ayatollahi Mehrgardi A, Esmailizadeh A.The primary objective of most horse breeding operations was to maximize reproductive efficiency and minimize the cost of producing live foals. Here, we compared individual horses from the Thoroughbred population (n = 17), known as a horse breed with poor reproductive performance, with other six horse populations (n = 28), to detect genomic signatures of positive selection underlying of reproductive traits. A number of protein-coding genes with significant (p-value <.01) higher F values (616 genes) and a lower value for nucleotide diversity (π) (310 genes) were identified. The results of o...
Ortiz-Rodríguez JM, Martín-Cano FE, Gaitskell-Phillips G, Silva A, Tapia JA, Gil MC, Redondo E, Masot J, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Peña FJ.Spermatozoa are redox-regulated cells, and stallion spermatozoa, in particular, present an intense mitochondrial activity in which large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced. To maintain the redox potential under physiological conditions, sophisticated mechanisms ought to be present, particularly in the mitochondria. In the present study, we investigated the role of the SLC7A11 antiporter. This antiporter exchanges intracellular glutamate for extracellular cystine. In the spermatozoa, cystine is reduced to cysteine and used for GSH synthesis. The importance of the antiporter f...
Rodgerson DH, Hanson RR.Suture ligature failure is a potential complication during laparoscopic ovariectomy techniques utilizing ligatures as a means of hemostasis. This complication in the standing mare and the successful use of laparoscopic electrosurgical instrumentation as the sole means of providing hemostasis to the mesovarium of a mare are described.
Casella S, Giudice E, Giannetto C, Marafioti S, Piccione G.The purpose of this study was to evaluate in vitro the effects of hydrocortisone and aminophylline on adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation in horses. Blood samples from 30 healthy Thoroughbred horses were collected by via jugular venipuncture to assess platelet aggregation. Platelet-rich and platelet-poor plasma were prepared from all samples by centrifugation and divided into three different aliquots. In the first aliquot, platelet aggregation was measured after platelet activation with 1 µM and 0.5 µM ADP (Group A). In the other two aliquots, the effect of a 10 min prei...
Pinto NI, McMullen RJ, Linder KE, Cullen JM, Gilger BC.To describe the clinical, histopathologic and immunohistochemical characteristics of an equine ocular inflammatory disease resulting in anterior uveitis and corneal endothelial inflammation associated with iris pigment dispersion and retrocorneal fibrous membrane (RFM) formation. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Sixteen horses with evidence of pigmented keratic precipitates (KPs), corneal edema, and/or iris depigmentation. Information collected from the medical records included signalment, clinical signs, prereferral treatment duration and response to therapy, ophthalmic examination find...
Marshall AE, Byars TD, Whitlock RH, George LW.Brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) testing was done to evaluate inner ear/VIIIth cranial nerve (CN8) function in the horse. The BAER test consisted of stimulating the auditory system with clicks and recording far-field responses of the brainstem auditory components via cutaneous electrodes and a signal averaging system. The normal response was shown to be a series of waves occurring within the first 10 msec after the stimulus click. Functional loss of the auditory receptor organ (cochlea) or CN8 results in loss of the entire response on the side of the injury. Because of the anatomic re...
Rojer H, Aurich C.Recently, successful treatment of mares with a history of persistent mating-induced endometritis (PMIE) with dexamethasone has been reported. As systemic treatment of horses with glucocorticoids should be handled with caution, we tested the hypothesis that treatment with the non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) vedaprofen, an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2, may have comparative, positive effects on fertility. Barren mares with a history of repeated PMIE were treated with vedaprofen (n = 8; initially 2 mg/kg bodyweight followed by 1 mg/kg orally twice daily) from 1 day before the first ins...
Canesin HS, Brom-de-Luna JG, Choi YH, Ortiz I, Diaw M, Hinrichs K.We evaluated the meiotic and developmental competence of GV-stage equine oocytes vitrified under different conditions. In a preliminary study, using dimethyl sulfoxide (D), ethylene glycol (EG) and sucrose (S) as cryoprotectants, the maturation rate was higher for cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) held overnight before vitrification (37%) than for those vitrified immediately (14%; P < 0.05). Thereafter, all COCs were held overnight before vitrification. In Experiment 1 we compared 1 min (1m) and 4 min (4m) exposure to vitrification and warming solutions; oocytes that subsequently matured wer...
Leathwick DM, Sauermann CW, Reinemeyer CR, Nielsen MK.A model was developed to reproduce the dynamics of the parasitic stages of equine cyathostomins. Based on a detailed review of published literature, a deterministic simulation model was constructed using the escalator boxcar-train approach, which allows for fully-overlapping cohorts of worms and approximately normally distributed variations in age/size classes. Key biological features include a declining establishment of ingested infective stage larvae as horses age. Development rates are constant for all the parasitic stages except the encysted early third stage larvae, for which development ...
Willette JA, Pitta D, Indugu N, Vecchiarelli B, Hennessy ML, Dobbie T, Southwood LL.An association between equine gastrointestinal disease causing colic signs and changes in faecal bacterial microbiota has been identified. The reasons for these changes and their clinical relevance has not been investigated. Withholding feed, which is an integral part of managing horses with colic, may contribute to the observed changes in the microbiota and impact interpretation of findings in horses with colic. Study objectives were, therefore, to determine the effect of withholding feed for 24 h on equine faecal bacterial microbiota in healthy mares to differentiate the effects of withhol...
Awosile BB, Heider LC, Saab ME, McClure JT.This study determined the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and trends for selected bacteria isolated from horses using diagnostic data from the Atlantic Veterinary College Diagnostic Services Bacteriology Laboratory, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island over a 20-year period. subsp. and were the most commonly isolated bacteria over the study period. Clinical samples were most frequently submitted from respiratory and reproductive systems. Most bacterial isolates were susceptible to ceftiofur. Resistance was most common in Gram-negative enteric bacteria, while streptococci were frequentl...
Issouf M, Vargas A, Boivin R, Lavoie JP.Smooth muscle has a central role in bronchospasm-induced airway obstruction in asthma. Alternative mRNA splicing of the smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (myh11) gene produces four different isoforms, one of which (SMB) is characterized by the inclusion of the exon5b, which doubles the smooth muscle cells contraction velocity. Deciphering the regulation of the expression levels of the SMB isoform would represent a major step for the understanding of the triggers and pathways leading to airway smooth muscle contraction in asthma. Our objective was therefore, to study the splicing regulation mech...
Decloedt A, de Clercq D, van der Vekens N, Verheyen T, van Loon G.Atrial fibrillation cycle length (AFCL) is an indicator of atrial electrical remodelling during atrial fibrillation (AF). Objective: To compare AFCL measured invasively from an intra-atrial electrogram (AFCLEGM ) with AFCL measured noninvasively by atrial colour tissue Doppler imaging (AFCLTDI ). Methods: Prospective descriptive clinical study. Methods: Measurements were performed in 31 episodes of AF or flutter in 29 horses (588 ± 61 kg bwt, 9 ± 3 years old) admitted for transvenous electrical cardioversion. The AFCLEGM was measured from an intracardiac electrogram using a bipolar sensi...
Silva SR, Payan-Carreira R, Quaresma M, Guedes CM, Santos AS.In equids, health and welfare depend on body composition. A growing number of equids are now used as leisure and companion animals, and often found overfeed. The need for a close monitoring of body fatness led to the search for tools allowing a rapid and non-invasive estimation of fatness. This study intends to assess real-time ultrasonography (RTU) usefulness in establishing a relationship between ultrasound measures of subcutaneous fat-plus-skin thickness (SF-Skin) and body condition score (BCS) in horses and donkeys. Forty-three healthy animals (16 donkeys and 27 horses) were used in this s...
Nagel C, Aurich J, Aurich C.Heart rate is an important parameter of fetal well-being. We have analyzed fetal heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) by fetomaternal electrocardiography (ECG) in the horse (Equus caballus) from midpregnancy to foaling. It was the aim of the study to detect changes in the regulation of fetal cardiac activity over time and to establish normal values in undisturbed pregnancies. A total of 22 mares were available for the study. Fetomaternal electrocardiography was a reliable technique to detect cardiac signals in fetuses between Day 173 of gestation and foaling. Fetal HR decreased fro...
Ianella P, Albuquerque MSM, Paiva SR, Egito AA, Almeida LD, Sereno FTPS, Carvalho LFR, Mariante AS, McManus CM.The first horses were brought to Brazil by the colonizers after 1534. Over the centuries, these animals evolved and adapted to local environmental conditions usually unsuitable for exotic breeds, thereby originating locally adapted Brazilian breeds. The present work represents the first description of maternal genetic diversity in these horse breeds based on D-loop sequences. A D-Loop HSV-I fragment of 252 bp, from 141 horses belonging to ten Brazilian breeds / genetic groups (locally adapted and specialized breeds) were analysed. Thirty-five different haplotypes belonging to 18 haplogroups we...
Smith G, Bertone AL, Kaeding C, Simmons EJ, Apostoles S.To evaluate the effect of topically applied dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced synovitis in the mid-carpal joint. Methods: 6 sound, healthy, adult horses (12 carpi). Methods: In a double-blinded, crossover, paired study with a 1-week washout period, mid-carpal joints were allocated to group 1 (DMSO, n = 6) or group 2 (control, n = 6). Each joint was injected with 1.3 ml (0.0125 ng/dl) of LPS to induce synovitis. For group-1 joints, DMSO gel (15 g; 90%) was applied after injection of LPS and at 12-hour intervals for 60 hours. Joints of group 2 received LPS, but not DMS...
Pearl CA, Roser JF.Lactoferrin is one of the most abundant proteins secreted by the stallion epididymis, but its cellular localization and regulation remain unknown. This study was designed to address the following objectives: (1) identify the epididymal cell types producing lactoferrin in pre-pubertal, peri-pubertal and post-pubertal animals; (2) demonstrate that lactoferrin binds to stallion sperm; and (3) determine if testosterone and estradiol regulate lactoferrin secretion in vitro. Using an immunohistochemical method, lactoferrin was localized in the cytoplasm of principal cells in the corpus and cauda of ...
Trumble TN.In horses, lameness is often attributable to some degree of osteoarthritis (OA), a complex disease process that is highlighted by eventual degradation of articular cartilage. Conventional therapies for OA in horses are designed to relieve pain and discomfort and often include pharmacologic intervention with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or intra-articular steroids. Oral administration of nutraceutical products to the horse is common and easy and is perceived to be a benign treatment for OA in horses. The main goal for use of nutraceuticals is to use them in OA cases to attempt to lower ...
