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.
Oduori DO, Onyango SC, Kimari JN, MacLeod ET.Equine piroplasmosis is one of the most significant tick-borne disease of equids. The prevalence of this disease in donkeys of semi-arid Kenya remains largely unexplored. The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate the extent to which donkeys in Nuu division, Kenya have been exposed to the haemoprotozoans Babesia caballi and Theileria equi, the causative agents of equine piroplasmosis. The study also assessed the effect of age and sex on seroprevalence. A stratified sampling approach was used and three hundred and fourteen donkeys were sampled across nine sub-locations in Nuu divisi...
Destrez A, Grimm P, Cézilly F, Julliand V.The digestive system of horses is adapted to a high-fiber diet consumed in small amounts over a long time. However, during training, high-starch and low-fiber diets are usually fed which may induce hindgut microbial disturbances and intestinal pain. These diets can be described as alimentary stress. The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent changes in behavior are associated with alimentary stress and microbial composition changes of the cecal or colonic ecosystem. Six fistulated horses were used. The alimentary stress was a modification of diet from a high-fiber diet (100...
Douglas HF, Southwood LL, Meyer-Ficca ML, Hart SK, Meyer RG.To evaluate the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1) enzyme and its inhibition in horses and explore its potential as a novel therapeutic target for equine intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury by (1) identifying poly (ADP-ribose) (PAR) as an indication of PARP1 activation in equine cells using available immunoblot analytical techniques, (2) inducing PARP1 activation in an in vitro oxidative DNA damage model, (3) and demonstrating the inhibition of PARP1 in equine cells using commercially available PARP1 inhibitors. Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Blood samples were collected from sys...
Davidson SB, Blostein PA, Schrotenboer A, Sloffer CA, VandenBerg SL.The size, speed, and unpredictable nature of horses present a significant risk for injury in all equine-related activities. Objective: We sought to examine the mechanism, severity, frequency, body regions affected, surgical requirements, rehabilitation needs, safety equipment utilization, and outcomes of equine-related injured patients. Methods: Records of inpatients who sustained an equine-related injury from 2002-2011 with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes E828 and E906 were retrospectively reviewed for pertinent data. Results: Ninety patients, 70% female, age (m...
Morota G, Peñagaricano F, Petersen JL, Ciobanu DC, Tsuyuzaki K, Nikaido I.An integral part of functional genomics studies is to assess the enrichment of specific biological terms in lists of genes found to be playing an important role in biological phenomena. Contrasting the observed frequency of annotated terms with those of the background is at the core of overrepresentation analysis (ORA). Gene Ontology (GO) is a means to consistently classify and annotate gene products and has become a mainstay in ORA. Alternatively, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) offers a comprehensive life science vocabulary including additional categories that are not covered by GO. Although...
Schvartz G, Epp T, Burgess HJ, Chilton NB, Pearl DL, Lohmann KL.Equine granulocytic anaplasmosis (EGA) and Lyme borreliosis (LB) are an emerging concern in Canada. We estimated the seroprevalence of EGA and equine LB by testing 376 convenience serum samples from 3 provinces using a point-of-care SNAP(®) 4Dx(®) ELISA (IDEXX Laboratories, Westbrook, Maine, USA), and investigated the agreement between the point-of-care ELISA and laboratory-based serologic tests. The estimated seroprevalence for EGA was 0.53% overall (0.49% in Saskatchewan, 0.71% in Manitoba), while the estimated seroprevalence for LB was 1.6% overall (0.49% in Saskatchewan, 2.86% in Manitob...
Sakes A, Arkenbout EA, Jelínek F, van der Kolk JH, Breedveld P.A new paradigm of surgical treatment of equine Cushing's disease has been developed using the vascular system combined with a flexible morcellation instrument to reach the pituitary gland. Objective: The goal was twofold: (1) to design, prototype, and test an instrument that can reach the pituitary gland using the vascular system unique to equids and (2) to test the feasibility of the endovascular approach. Methods: The morcellator consists of a radial rotating cutting blade for tissue resection, a flexible shaft incorporating a cable drive for flexible actuation, and central morcellated tissu...
Badenhorst M, Page P, Ganswindt A, Laver P, Guthrie A, Schulman M.The prevalence of equine herpesvirus types-1 and -4 (EHV-1 and -4) in South African Thoroughbreds at auction sales is currently undefined. Commingling of young Thoroughbreds from various populations together with physiological stress related to their transport and confinement at a sales complex, may be associated with shedding and transmission of EHV-1 and -4. This prospective cohort study sampled 90 young Thoroughbreds consigned from eight farms, originating from three provinces representative of the South African Thoroughbred breeding demographic to a sales complex. Nasal swabs for quantitat...
Unilateral orchiectomy (UO) may interfere with thermoregulation of the remaining testis caused by inflammation surrounding the incision site, thus altering normal spermatogenesis and consequently sperm quality. Two measures of sperm DNA quality (neutral comet assay and the sperm chromatin structure assay [SCSA]) were compared before UO (0 days) and at 14, 30, and 60 days after UO to determine whether sperm DNA changed after a mild testis stress (i.e., UO). The percent DNA in the comet tail was higher at 14 and 60 days compared to 0 days (P < 0.05) after UO. All other comet tail measures (i....
Rocconi RA, Carmalt JL, Sampson SN, Elder SH, Gilbert EE.This study compared in vitro monotonic and cyclic mechanical properties of equine proximal interphalangeal joint arthrodeses stabilized using an open or closed technique combined with axial 4.5 mm narrow limited-contact dynamic compression plate (LC-DCP) or 4.5 mm narrow locking compression plate (LCP). Ten forelimb pairs were randomly assigned to LCP or LC-DCP groups. One limb in each pair was assigned to either open or closed technique. Limbs were tested for cyclic fatigue at 20 000 cycles and then single-cycle to failure under 3-point dorsopalmar bending. There was no significant difference...
Modesto RB, Rodgerson DH, Masciarelli AE, Spirito M.This retrospective study describes placement of distal radial transphyseal screws in Thoroughbred yearlings with carpal varus deformities while standing, and identifes short- and long-term complications following the procedure. Data gathered from 2009 to 2013 identified 8 yearlings that met the inclusion criteria. Horses were sedated intravenously and a single 4.5-mm cortical screw was placed in the distal lateral radial physis following application of local anesthetic and surgical preparation of a pre-placed hole. All horses were evaluated weekly after surgery and screw removal was performed ...
Uzal FA, Diab SS.The gastrointestinal system of horses is affected by a large variety of inflammatory infectious and noninfectious conditions. The most prevalent form of gastritis is associated with ulceration of the pars esophagea. Although the diagnostic techniques for alimentary diseases of horses have improved significantly over the past few years, difficulties still exist in establishing the causes of a significant number of enteric diseases in this species. This problem is compounded by several agents of enteric disease also being found in the intestine of clinically normal horses, which questions the va...
Roy RC, Cockram MS.Concern has been expressed over the welfare of horses transported from the USA for slaughter in Canada. United States Department of Agriculture owner/shipper certificates for the year 2009 were analyzed to provide quantitative information on the patterns and durations of these journeys. In 2009, horses from 16 states in the northern USA were transported to 6 equine slaughter plants in Canada. Thirty-two percent of loads were from auction centers, 33% from feedlots, and 35% from horse collection centers. The median duration of the journey was 19 h. Thirty-six percent of horses were transported ...
Peña FJ, Plaza Davila M, Ball BA, Squires EL, Martin Muñoz P, Ortega Ferrusola C, Balao da Silva C.The traditional assessment of stallion sperm comprises evaluation of sperm motility and membrane integrity and identification of abnormal morphology of the spermatozoa. More recently, the progressive introduction of flow cytometry is increasing the number of tests available. However, compared with other sperm structures and functions, the evaluation of mitochondria has received less attention in stallion andrology. Recent research indicates that sperm mitochondria are key structures in sperm function suffering major changes during biotechnological procedures such as cryopreservation. In this p...
Elyasi Gorji Z, Amiri-Yekta A, Gourabi H, Hassani S, Fatemi N, Zerehdaran S, Vakhshiteh F, Sanati MH.Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) plays an essential role in reproductive physiology and follicular development. Objective: A new variant of the equine () gene was cloned, sequenced, and expressed in ) GS115 yeast expression system. Methods: The full-length cDNAs of the and chains were amplified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using the total RNA isolated from an Iranian Turkmen-thoroughbred horse's anterior pituitary gland. The amplified chains were cloned into the pPIC9 vector and transferred into The secretion of recombined eFSH using expression system was...
Albano AP, Klafke GB, Brandolt TM, Da Hora VP, Nogueira CE, Xavier MO, Meireles MC.Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is the etiological agent of the major systemic mycosis in Brazil, called paracoccidioidomycosis. Although the Rio Grande do Sul is considered an endemic area of the disease, there are few studies on the ecology of P. brasiliensis in the state. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the infection of P. brasiliensis in horses from the mesoregion of Southwest Riograndense, using these animals as sentinels. Serological techniques, such as double immunodiffusion in agar gel (AGID) and indirect ELISA, were performed to detect the anti-gp43 P. brasiliensis antibody in h...
Chintapalli SV, Bhardwaj G, Patel R, Shah N, Patterson RL, van Rossum DB, Anishkin A, Adams SH.The mechanism(s) by which fatty acids are sequestered and transported in muscle have not been fully elucidated. A potential key player in this process is the protein myoglobin (Mb). Indeed, there is a catalogue of empirical evidence supporting direct interaction of globins with fatty acid metabolites; however, the binding pocket and regulation of the interaction remains to be established. In this study, we employed a computational strategy to elucidate the structural determinants of fatty acids (palmitic & oleic acid) binding to Mb. Sequence analysis and docking simulations with a horse (E...
Peat FJ, Kawcak CE.The current understanding of pathology as it relates to common diseases of the equine musculoskeletal system is reviewed. Conditions are organized under the fundamental categories of developmental, exercise-induced, infectious, and miscellaneous pathology. The overview of developmental pathology incorporates the new classification system of juvenile osteochondral conditions. Discussion of exercise-induced pathology emphasizes increased understanding of the contribution of cumulative microdamage caused by repetitive cyclic loading. Miscellaneous musculoskeletal pathology focuses on laminitis, w...
Hewson J, Arroyo LG.Evaluation of the upper and lower respiratory tract of horses requires strategic selection of possible diagnostic tests based on location of suspected pathologic lesions and purpose of testing and must also include consideration of patient status. This article discusses the various diagnostic modalities that may be applied to the respiratory system of horses under field conditions, indications for use, and aspects of sample collection, handling, and laboratory processing that can impact test results and ultimately a successful diagnosis in cases of respiratory disease.
Al-Dissi A.A wide variety of toxins cause diseases in the horse and are investigated routinely by veterinarians and veterinary pathologists to identify the cause of illness and death. A complete investigation involves performing a thorough necropsy and requires macroscopic and microscopic examination of lesions and a variety of laboratory testing to obtain an accurate diagnosis. The identification of gross lesions by equine practitioners is often the first step in formulating a diagnostic plan. This article provides a description of selected common toxins producing detectable gross lesions in horses in N...
Wobeser BK.Skin disease in horses is a common and potentially challenging clinical problem. Information pertaining to skin disease is lacking in horses when compared with that in other companion animal species. Certainly, both horse-specific and location-specific patterns are present, but these can often be confounded by other factors. There are many possible ways in which to organize skin disease; in this article, they are organized based loosely on their most common clinical feature. Space limits the number of conditions that can be described here, and those chosen were seen relatively frequently in a ...
Kwok WH, Leung GN, Wan TS, Curl P, Schiff PJ.Androsta-1,4,6-triene-3,17-dione (ATD) is an irreversible steroidal aromatase inhibitor and is marketed as a supplement. It has been reported to effectively reduce estrogen biosynthesis and significantly increase the levels of endogenous steroids such as dihydrotestosterone and testosterone in human. ATD abuses have been reported in human sports. Its metabolism in human has been studied, and the in vitro metabolic study of ATD in horses has been reported, however, little is known about its biotransformation and elimination in horses. This paper describes the in vitro and in vivo metabolism stu...
Collas C, Dumont B, Delagarde R, Martin-Rosset W, Fleurance G.Little is known about how to manage grazing horses, including the thresholds under which energy supplementation is required. Here we investigated the effects of daily herbage allowance (DHA) and energy supplementation (ES) on daily herbage intake in lactating mares of light breeds grazing high-quality regrowth during summer. Three contrasting DHA, low (LOW), medium (MED), and high (HIGH), that is, 35.0, 52.5, and 70.0 g DM∙kg BW(-1)∙d(-1), respectively, were obtained by adjusting pasture strip width. Eighteen Anglo-Arab and French Saddle lactating mares were either supplemented with 2.6 kg...
Shrestha M, Eriksson S, Schurink A, Andersson LS, Sundquist M, Frey R, Broström H, Bergström T, Ducro B, Lindgren G.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is the most common allergic skin disease in horses and is caused by biting midges, mainly of the genus Culicoides. The disease predominantly comprises a type I hypersensitivity reaction, causing severe itching and discomfort that reduce the welfare and commercial value of the horse. It is a multifactorial disorder influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, with heritability ranging from 0.16 to 0.27 in various horse breeds. The worldwide prevalence in different horse breeds ranges from 3% to 60%; it is more than 50% in Icelandic horses exported to ...
Fortier J, Deley G, Julliand V.This study aimed at quantifying energy expenditure during 4 specific training exercises, that is, promenade, jogging, parcours, and interval exercises, using field measurements of oxygen consumption and heart rate in trotters. Six animals performed 2 preliminary tests to determine their individual maximum velocity and to establish their individual oxygen consumption/heart rate relationship from an incremental test. Then, they undertook each of the 4 specific exercises separated by 1 wk to avoid fatigue. The intensity of the 4 exercises was expressed in percent of individual maximum velocity as...
Govoni KE.Equine bone fractures are often catastrophic, potentially fatal, and costly to repair. Traditional methods of healing fractures have limited success, long recovery periods, and a high rate of reinjury. Current research in the equine industry has demonstrated that stem cell therapy is a promising novel therapy to improve fracture healing and reduce the incidence of reinjury; however, reports of success in horses have been variable and limited. Stem cells can be derived from embryonic, fetal, and adult tissue. Based on the ease of collection, opportunity for autologous cells, and proven success ...
Pazzola M, Pira E, Sedda G, Vacca GM, Cocco R, Sechi S, Bonelli P, Nicolussi P.Several concerns have been raised over the health of animals used in equestrian games that have their origins in historical or religious events and are currently held in many countries. This study investigated physiological stress response and health status of horses participating in the Sartiglia, a historical horse tournament held in the city of Oristano, Italy, which is principally based on the attempts of masked horsemen at a gallop to run a sword through a hole in a suspended silver star. Blood samples were collected from 21 horses the day before the tournament (D0), during the tournament...
Pöppel N, Hopster K, Geburek F, Kästner S.To determine the influence of ketamine or xylazine constant rate infusions on isoflurane requirements, cardiovascular parameters and quality of anaesthesia in horses undergoing elective surgery. Methods: Prospective, matched paired clinical trial. Methods: Fifty four adult Warmblood horses. Methods: After premedication with acepromazine, xylazine and butorphanol, anaesthesia was induced with ketamine-midazolam and maintained with isoflurane alone (I), isoflurane with either 1 mg kg(-1) hour(-1) ketamine (IK) or same dose of xylazine (IX). End tidal concentration of isoflurane (Fe'Iso) was ...
Vasilieva NA, Tchabovsky AV.Fitness consequences of early-life conditions remain unclear and poorly studied in mammals. Based on long-term observations of yellow ground squirrels (Spermophilus fulvus), we identified early determinants of female fitness by analyzing the effects of early-life individual and environmental characteristics (weaning weight, weight gain rate, date of natal emergence, natal litter size, location of the natal burrow, local density of juveniles, population density and precipitation in the post-weaning period) on lifetime reproductive success (LRS). We found high variation and right-skewed distribu...
Johnson L.Seasonal variation in number of spermatogonia and germ cell degeneration was evaluated to determine which mechanism might explain seasonal differences in daily sperm production per testis (DSP/testis) or per g parenchyma (DSP/g) in stallions. Comparing 28 adult stallions (4 to 20 yr old) in each of the nonbreeding (December-January) and breeding (June-July) seasons, the population of type A spermatogonia was more than two times greater (P less than 0.01) in the breeding season. While the number of type B spermatogonia also was elevated (P less than 0.01) in the breeding season, the number of t...
Beard WL, Slough TL, Gunkel CD.Cecal cannulation is necessary for sampling of intestinal contents for a variety of nutritional or digestive physiology studies. This report describes a 2-stage technique for permanent cecal cannulation in standing horses. For the first procedure, a right flank laparotomy is performed and a small pouch of the cecal base exteriorized and sutured to the body wall. The second procedure is performed approximately 1 wk later. During the second procedure, the exposed cecal pouch is removed and the cannula inserted. Ten horses were cannulated using this technique. After the first procedure, 1 horse d...
Sauermann CW, Leathwick DM, Lieffering M, Nielsen MK.Climate change is likely to influence livestock production by increasing the prevalence of diseases, including parasites. The traditional practice of controlling nematodes in livestock by the application of anthelmintics is, however, increasingly compromised by the development of resistance to these drugs in parasite populations. This study used a previously developed simulation model of the entire equine cyathostomin lifecycle to investigate the effect a changing climate would have on the development of anthelmintic resistance. Climate data from six General Circulation Models based on four di...
Ito M, Itou T, Sakai T, Santos MF, Arai YT, Takasaki T, Kurane I, Ito FH.Brain samples from different animal species including humans: five vampire bats, 14 cattle, 12 dogs, 11 cats, two horses, one pig, one sheep and three humans collected from various geographical regions of Brazil were found to be positive for rabies by means of the fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and the mouse inoculation test (MIT). The brain samples were retested for rabies by means of the reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with 2 primer sets (P1/P2 and RHNI/RHNS3), which amplified full or partial regions on the nucleoprotein (N) gene of the rabies virus, respectivel...
Moore RM, Eades SC, Stokes AM.To date, there is a substantial amount of data to support the hypotheses that vascular and enzymatic changes are ongoing in experimental laminitis. Furthermore, there is substantial in vitro evidence that the enzymatic changes weaken the dermo-epidermal attachments leading to mechanical failure of the hoof-bone interface of the equine digit. However, investigators of both the vascular and enzymatic theories have, to date, been unable to substantiate the effects of these pathophysiological changes in vivo on laminar tissues of horses afflicted with experimentally induced or naturally acquired l...
El-Khatib AH, Engel AM, Weigel S.Hypoglycin A (HGA) and methylenecyclpropylglycine (MCPrG) are formed by some maple trees (Acer species) and have been associated with incidences of atypical myopathy among horses in pastures. In this work, a simple and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method without derivatization was developed for the quantification of HGA and MCPrG in maple samples and validated according to EU guidelines. The LOQ presented here for HGA (16.4 µg/kg) is considerably lower than the lowest published LOQ (500 µg/kg). This method confirms that sycamore and ...
Muwanga LC, Dove AF.We report the frequency with which horse riders with a significant head injury present to a large accident and emergency department. We have also recorded details about the use of headwear and conclude that horse-riding is associated with a serious risk of head injury and 'protective' headwear may not always protect.
The Journal of nutritionJune 15, 2006
Volume 136, Issue 7 Suppl 2103S-2107S doi: 10.1093/jn/136.7.2103S
Elliott J, Bailey SR.Equine laminitis is the painful and debilitating condition resulting from cellular damage and inflammation of the tissues comprising the bonds supporting the pedal bone within the hoof capsule. One of the reasons why this condition is so complicated and enigmatic is its association with gastrointestinal disturbances, particularly a diet of lush grass at certain times of the year. Determining the link between disturbances to the hindgut flora and pathophysiology in the foot is one of the keys to preventing this condition. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges in equine laminitis research is ...
Clark CK, Merritt AM, Burrow JA, Steible CK.To assess the effect of aluminum hydroxide/magnesium hydroxide antacid and bismuth subsalicylate on gastric pH in clinically normal horses and to develop guidelines on the use of these agents for treatment of peptic ulcer disease in horses. Methods: Prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Methods: 5 clinically normal adult horses with chronically implanted gastric cannulas. Methods: Each horse received all 5 treatments (30 g of aluminum hydroxide/15 g of magnesium hydroxide, 12 g of aluminum hydroxide/6 g of magnesium hydroxide, 10.5 g of bismuth subsalicylate, 26.25 g of bismuth subsalicyl...
Hamed MA, Amin YA, Mohamed RH, El-Adl M, Bazeed SM, Elnegiry AA, Shawki HH, Al-Lethie AA.Chemical castration of male animals is an alternative to surgical castration for inducing azoospermia, consequent sterility. Intra-testicular injection of zinc gluconate has been used for chemical castration in several animal species. However, its application to equine species, such as donkeys, has yet to be reported. This study aimed to evaluate the use of zinc gluconate for the chemical castration of male donkeys and to compare its effectiveness relative to routine surgical castration. For this purpose, investigations of serum testosterone and anti-Müllerian hormone levels, testicular ultra...
Charvat RA, Breitenbach JE, Ahn B, Zhang Y, O'Callaghan DJ.Defective interfering particles (DIP) of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) inhibit standard virus replication and mediate persistent infection. The DIP genome is comprised of only three genes: UL3, UL4, and a hybrid gene composed of portions of the IR4 (EICP22) and UL5 (EICP27) genes. The hybrid gene is important for DIP interference, but the function(s) of the UL3 and UL4 genes are unknown. Here, we show that UL4 is an early gene activated solely by the immediate early protein. The UL4 protein (UL4P) was detected at 4hours post-infection, was localized throughout the nucleus and cytoplasm, and was...
Witonsky S, Gogal RM, Buechner-Maxwell V, Ahmed SA.To determine whether immune function can be accurately assessed in blood samples obtained from horses and refrigerated overnight and whether a nonradioactive lymphocyte proliferation assay can be used to evaluate samples obtained from horses. Methods: 224 blood samples from 28 clinically normal adult horses. Methods: Heparinized blood samples were collected. Each sample was divided into 2 equal aliquots. One aliquot was refrigerated overnight to simulate overnight shipping of blood samples, and the other aliquot was evaluated on the day of blood collection. Lymphocytes were isolated and enumer...
Ono K, Inui K, Hasegawa T, Matsuki N, Watanabe H, Takagi S, Hasegawa A, Tomoda I.The change in activities of 3 major antioxidative enzymes in equine erythrocytes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSHpx), and catalase, was investigated in order to evaluate the effect of exercise. Blood samples were obtained from 11 thoroughbred horses before and immediately after vigorous exercise which induced the increase of plasma lipid peroxide (Lpx) concentration from 1.16 +/- 0.40 nmol/ml to 1.29 +/- 0.34 nmol/ml. Following the exercise, the GSHpx activity in erythrocytes was significantly reduced from 69 +/- 10 IU/gHb to 65 +/- 8 IU/gHb, whereas SOD and catalase ac...
Payne SE, Kotze AC, Durmic Z, Vercoe PE.Anthelmintic resistance in gastrointestinal parasites of horses is an increasing problem, particularly in cyathostomins, and there is a need to find alternative means for the control of these parasites. We screened crude extracts from 37 species of Australian native plants for their anthelmintic activity in vitro against cyathostomin larvae (development from egg to third larval stage), with the aim of identifying those species that may be suitable for incorporation into sustainable parasite management programs. Water extracts from seven species, namely Acacia baileyana, Acacia melanoxylon, Aca...
Barone A, Benktander J, Whiddon C, Jin C, Galli C, Teneberg S, Breimer ME.Pericardial tissue from various animal species is utilized for the production of the bioprosthetic heart valves (BHV) used clinically. Experimental data show that the eventual breakdown of BHV is partly due to immunological interactions with carbohydrate tissue antigens. To understand these processes, we have examined the glycolipid-based carbohydrate antigens in naïve porcine, bovine, and equine pericardia. Total non-acid and acid glycosphingolipid fractions were isolated from porcine, bovine, and equine pericardia, and individual glycolipid compounds were characterized by thin-layer chromat...
Toribio RE, Kohn CW, Chew DJ, Sams RA, Rosol TJ.To evaluate calcium balance and parathyroid gland function in healthy horses and horses with enterocolitis and compare results of an immunochemiluminometric assay (ICMA) with those of an immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) for determination of serum intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations in horses. Methods: 64 horses with enterocolitis and 62 healthy horses. Methods: Blood and urine samples were collected for determination of serum total calcium, ionized calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+), phosphorus, BUN, total protein, creatinine, albumin, and PTH concentrations, venous blood gases, and...
Liu L, Zhang Y, Ma H, Cao H, Liu W.Horse Milk has important quantitative characteristics and high economic value. However, the DNA methylation regulators involved in horse milk traits have not been clarified. To explore the important role of genome-wide DNA methylation in regulating equine milk yield, this study systematically investigated the genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of Kazakh horse blood by comparing a high-production group (HP, average daily milk yield of 7.5 kg) and low-production group (LP, average daily milk yield of 3.2 kg) using deep whole-genome bisulfite sequencing. First, both groups showed similar prop...
Mittelholzer C, Stadejek T, Johansson I, Baule C, Ciabatti I, Hannant D, Paton D, Autorino GL, Nowotny N, Belák S.To determine a conclusive phylogeny, equine arteritis viruses from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Sweden, South Africa and other parts of the world were analysed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction amplification and direct sequencing. The nucleotide sequences corresponding to the variable part of the large glycoprotein GP5, specified by open reading frame 5, were compared and added to a previously published phylogenetic tree in which a clear division between 'European' and 'American' type viruses had been established. Adding the sequences determined in this study and new sequences ret...
Bhoora RV, Pienaar R, Cornelius F, Josemans A, Matthee O, Marumo R, Troskie C, Mans BJ.Quantitative real-time PCR assays previously developed for the detection of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi, were combined in a single multiplex TaqMan qPCR platform for the simultaneous detection of both heamoprotozoan parasites in equids. The multiplex equine piroplasmosis (M-EP) qPCR assay was shown to be efficient and specific. The detection limit was determined to be 1.4 × 10 % parasitized erythrocytes (PE) for T. equi and 2.8 × 10 % PE for B. caballi. The effect of differential DNA concentrations on the outcome of the M-EP qPCR for each target species was also investigated. ...
Li H, Zhang X, Fan X, Shen T, Tong X, Shen R, Shao Y.Both HIV and EIAV belong to the retroviridae family and lentivirus genus. Two variable regions (V3 and V4) of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) gp90 and two variable regions (V1 and V2) of HIV gp120 possibly adopt the same topology. We have studied the N-glycosylation properties and B cell linear epitope distribution profile of these two regions. Our results indicated that V3 and V4 of EIAV gp90 are very similar to V1 and V2 of HIV gp120. The differences between EIAV virulent and vaccine strains are mainly located at these two regions. Vaccine strains lose two N-glycosylation sites at thes...
Lauder RM, Huckerby TN, Nieduszynski IA.Fibromodulin has been isolated from bovine and equine articular cartilage and the attached keratan sulphate chains subjected to digestion by keratanase II. The oligosaccharides generated have been reduced and subsequently isolated by strong anion-exchange chromatography. Their structures have been determined by high-field 1H-NMR spectroscopy and high-pH anion-exchange chromatography. Both alpha(2-6)- and alpha(2-3)-linked N-acetylneuraminic acid have been found in the capping oligosaccharides, and, fucose which is alpha(1-3)-linked to N-acetylglucosamine has been found as a branch in both repe...
Xu Y, Jia Z, Zhou L, Wang L, Li J, Liang Y, Zhao T, Ni B, Wu Y.To warrant potential clinical testing, the equine anti-SARS-CoV F(ab')(2) requires evaluation in as many animal models as possible and a safety test in a primate model. In this study, we evaluated the pharmacokinetics, tolerance and immunity of this kind of antibody in macaques and rats. Results showed that the F(ab')(2) fragments had a normal metabolism in injected animals. The general physiological indexes did not differ between animals injected with anti-SARS-CoV F(ab')(2) or saline. However, a mild inflammatory response in local injection site and a moderate immune response against this an...
Wilson JW, Stevens JB.Data were obtained from 190 cerebrospinal fluid samples collected from both clinically normal and diseased dogs, cats, cows, and horses. Red blood cells, indicating blood contamination, were identified in 115 samples. White blood cells were a rare finding in normal animals. Blood contamination appeared to have little effect on white blood cell numbers even though, in several samples, thousands of red blood cells were identified. An accepted formula to correct for blood contamination was found to be an unreliable method to determine "uncontaminated" values for white blood cells, total protein, ...
Ramery E, Fraipont A, Richard EA, Art T, Pirottin D, van Delm W, Bureau F, Lekeux P.Inflammatory airway disease (IAD) affects performance and well-being of horses. Diagnosis is primarily reached by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cytology which is invasive and requires sedation. Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify differential gene expression in peripheral blood of horses with IAD using species-specific expression microarrays. Methods: Equine gene expression microarrays were used to investigate global mRNA expression in circulating leukocytes from healthy, IAD-affected, and low-performing Standardbred and endurance horses. Results: Nine genes in Standardbred and...
