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.
Henderson CS, Story MR, Nout-Lomas YS.To determine reasons for horses to have neck radiographs performed, the incidence of transposition of the ventral lamina of C6 onto C7 (TC67), and the final diagnoses for all horses. Our hypotheses were to find a similar incidence of TC67, as has been previously reported, and an increased incidence of neck pain and dysfunction in horses with TC67. Methods: 135 horses. Methods: Retrospective observational study. Medical records of 135 horses with cervical vertebral column radiographs between 2020 and 2022 were assessed. Patient signalment, reasons for radiographs, radiographic findings, and dia...
Elte Y, Wolframm I, van Grevenhof I, Nielen M, van Weeren R.Client satisfaction depends on the balance between expectations and service experience. Previous research identified seven aspects of equine veterinary professional conduct that are important for client satisfaction: quality of care, quality of service, horsemanship, transfer of knowledge, financial aspects, interpersonal skills and professionalism. Methods: By employing a cross-sectional study design through a survey-based investigation, horse owners' initial contact preferences and their perceptions of the importance of various aspects of veterinary care in different scenarios were explored....
Tallon RE, Allen SE, Bladon BM, McGovern KF.To determine the effect of a single intraoperative dose of dexamethasone on the risk of postoperative reflux (POR) in horses undergoing small intestinal surgery and to investigate its association with incisional complications and short-term survival. Methods: Retrospective cohort study over an 11-year period (2008-2019). Methods: UK-based private referral center. Methods: Two hundred and forty client-owned horses >6 months of age undergoing exploratory laparotomy for treatment of a small intestinal lesion. Methods: Ninety-seven horses received a single intraoperative dose of dexamethasone ...
Wood AD, Parker RA, Marcatili M, Anderson J, Robinson N, Stack JD.To determine the outcome of tenoscopically guided palmar/plantar annular ligament (PAL) desmotomy to treat PAL constriction without concurrent intrathecal soft-tissue injury, notably of the digital flexor tendons and manica flexoria. Methods: Retrospective multicenter cohort study. Methods: Sixty-five horses. Methods: Horses from four UK equine hospitals, with digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) tenosynovitis, which underwent tenoscopically guided PAL desmotomy for treatment of PAL constriction between 2017 and 2022 were included. All horses had lameness isolated to the DFTS/PAL, and PAL const...
Dupont J, Mignini B, Salciccia A, Serteyn D, Sandersen C.To compare the efficacy of inhaled salbutamol with salmeterol for the treatment of arterial hypoxaemia in anaesthetized horses. Methods: Prospective, randomized, clinical study. Methods: A total of 108 client-owned horses (American Society of Anesthesiologists status I-V) anaesthetized for elective and emergency procedures. Methods: Horses were premedicated with acepromazine [intramuscularly 0.1 mg kg or intravenously (IV) 0.05 mg kg] and xylazine (0.6 mg kg IV). Midazolam (0.06 mg kg IV) and ketamine (2.2 mg kg IV) were combined to induce anaesthesia, and isoflurane in oxygen/air mixture (ins...
O'Neil EK, Fogle CA, Sheats MK, Love K.To investigate potential equine clients' perceptions of equine veterinarians based on attire. Methods: 763 horse owners/lessees. Methods: Participants were invited to complete a survey shared mainly via equestrian social media pages between August and October 2022.1-3 Survey participants were shown pictures of a male veterinarian and a female veterinarian in 7 outfits ranging from casual to business attire and were asked to score the veterinarian on 7 traits: easygoing attitude, friendliness, compassion, trustworthiness, professionalism, competence, and cost of services. The survey asked which...
Labordère AL, Ruzickova P, Kamus LJ, Beauchamp G, Malo A, Richard H, Laverty S.To evaluate vascularity of the synovial membrane covered septum (SMS) separating the tarsocrural (TC) and proximal intertarsal (PIT) joints (Part 1) and compare two methods of transection, electrosurgical or Ferris Smith rongeur (FS rongeur) (Part 2). Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Part 1, 10 SMS (n = 5 horses). Part 2, six horses (n = 12 tarsi). Methods: In part 1, SMS harvested postmortem were each divided into eight regions of interest (ROIs), processed for histology, and immunostained with anti-α-actin antibody for blood vessel identification. Vascular density was calculate...
Aragona F, Arfuso F, Rizzo M, Fazio F, Acri G, Piccione G, Giannetto C.This study aimed to evaluate changes in body temperature in athletic horses during two different road transport distances. Six Italian Saddle horses were subjected to a 100 and 300 km transport during different times of day (am and pm). Rectal and cutaneous temperatures were recorded before (T0), immediately (following 5 min- T1) and 1 hour (T2) after transport by means of a rectal digital thermometer and a thermal infrared camera (FLIR T440) respectively, for the evaluation of left and right side of four body regions: jugular, shoulder, croup and inner thigh. There were no differences between...
Aguila L, Cabrera P, Arias ME, Silva M, Felmer R.Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in horses is currently employed for clinical and commercial uses, but the protocol could be optimized to improve its efficiency. We have hypothesized that destabilization of plasma and acrosomal membranes prior to injection would positively impact the developmental potential of equine zygotes generated by ICSI. This study evaluated effects of the sperm treatment with lysolecithin on plasma and acrosomal membranes and on oocyte activation ability, initially following heterologous ICSI on bovine oocytes and subsequently employing equine oocytes. The effect...
Pardié M, Kalpokas I, Freccero F, Castagnetti C, Meikle A.The aim of this study was to determine the effect of body condition score (BCS) on metabolic and endocrine parameters in pregnant Criollo mares (n=41), which were categorized according to their BCS as obese (7 to 9 BCS, n=26) or normal (5 to 7, n=15). Blood samples were taken during gestation in 3 periods: between 3.5 and 5 months (I), 8 and 9 months (II) and in the last month of gestation (III). The data was analyzed in the statistical model by mixed procedures, including BCS, gestational period and their interaction as fixed effects. BCS was only different in period I, as normal mares increa...
Rankins EM, Quinn A, McKeever KH, Malinowski K.Equine-assisted services (EAS) has received attention as a potential treatment strategy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as existing literature indicates that symptoms may decrease following EAS. Relatively little is known about the mechanisms at play during lessons and if physiological measures are impacted. The objectives of this pilot study were to 1) explore the effects of adaptive horsemanship (AH) lessons on symptoms of PTSD, hormone concentrations, and social motor synchrony; 2) determine if physiological changes occur as veterans interact with horses; and 3) explore if the in...
Pressanto MC, Bombonato C, Foote AK, Coomer RPC.To describe dermoid cyst formation as an uncommon complication of the pinch grafting technique in horses. Methods: Case report. Methods: A 8 year old Arabian gelding. Methods: Clinical presentation, imaging, treatment, and histopathology records were reviewed. The horse originally presented due to delayed healing of a laceration to the distal aspect of the metatarsus. The wound was treated initially with debridement and it was allowed to fill with healthy granulation tissue prior to pinch grafting. Two months after grafting, the horse started to show self-mutilation behavior targeting the woun...
Singh A, Johnson T, Wotman K, Leary D.Veterinary personnel exposure due to scattered x rays, when present during superficial radiation treatment (SRT), was evaluated. Veterinary personnel presence is needed during SRT to minimize the degree of required aesthesia to horses. Animal treatment was simulated, and exposure rates determined for 50, 70, and 100 kV x rays using eight different SRT applicators. Exposure rates at the surface of a solid water phantom (SWP) phantom ranged from 3.9 mR h-1 to 396 mR h-1 for 50 kV, from 41 mR h-1 to 2,880 mR h-1 for 70 kV, and from 235 mR h-1 to 7,500 mR h-1, for 100 kV, respectively. A horse pha...
Venter A, Vorster I, Nkosi NF, Sibeko-Matjila KP, Bhoora RV.Babesia caballi is an intra-erythrocytic parasite causing equine piroplasmosis. Three B. caballi genotypes (A, B, and C) have been identified based on the 18 S rRNA and rhoptry-associated protein (rap-1) gene sequences. These variant parasite genotypes compromise the diagnostic utility of the WOAH-recommended serological assays in declaring horses free of equine piroplasmosis. Although a gene encoding a spherical body protein 4 (sbp4) has recently been identified as a potential antigen for the serological detection of B. caballi, the ability of this antigen to detect the different geographic...
Helmes E, Montgomery J, Alarcio G, Mendoza HG, Blea JA, Beal PA, Moeller BC.There is great concern in equine sport over the potential use of pharmaceutical agents capable of editing the genome or modifying the expression of gene products. Synthetic oligonucleotides are short, single-stranded polynucleotides that represent a class of agents capable of modifying gene expression products with a high potential for abuse in horseracing. As these substances are not covered by most routine anti-doping analytical approaches, they represent an entire class of compounds that are not readily detectable. The nucleotide sequence for each oligonucleotide is highly specific, which m...
Ebisuda Y, Mukai K, Takahashi Y, Yoshida T, Matsuhashi T, Kawano A, Miyata H, Kuwahara M, Ohmura H.This study aimed to determine whether heat acclimation could induce adaptations in exercise performance, thermoregulation, and the expression of proteins associated with heat stress in the skeletal muscles of Thoroughbreds. Thirteen trained Thoroughbreds performed 3 weeks of training protocols, consisting of cantering at 90% maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) for 2 min 2 days/week and cantering at 7 m/s for 3 min 1 day/week, followed by a 20-min walk in either a control group (CON; Wet Bulb Globe Temperature [WBGT] 12-13°C; n = 6) or a heat acclimation group (HA; WBGT 29-30°...
Cooper LG, Benard BP, Nielsen MK, Caffe G, Arroyo F, Anziani OS.In Argentina, as in the rest of the world, cyathostomins are the most common nematodes parasitizing horses. Control is based almost exclusively on the administration of benzimidazoles, pyrimidines, and macrocyclic lactones. However, intensive use of these drugs is resulting in the development of anthelmintic resistance (AR). For example, AR to benzimidazoles is currently distributed throughout Argentina, while incipient AR to pyrimidines (pyrantel embonate) is appearing in areas where this drug is used. Macrocyclic lactones and especially ivermectin, are by far the most used drugs by the vast ...
Mól M, Garrett K, Ruby R, Janes J, Reed S.A 3-year-old American Saddlebred gelding presented for progressive tetraparesis, ataxia, and cervical hyperaesthesia. Radiographic myelography identified spinal cord compression at C6-7 in neutral, extended, and flexed positions and at C4-5 in the flexed position. CT myelography and postmortem MRI identified severe vertebral canal stenosis/compression at C6-7. MRI further identified severe intervertebral disc herniation at C6-7 with intramedullary changes. Disc protrusion was confirmed macroscopically at postmortem. Lesions consistent with compressive myelopathy were confirmed microscopically ...
Bugno-Poniewierska M, Jankowska M, Raudsepp T, Kowalska K, Pawlina-Tyszko K, Szmatola T.Chromosomal abnormalities occur in the equine population at a rate of approximately 2%. The use of molecular cytogenetic techniques allows a more accurate identification of chromosomal abnormalities, especially those with a low rate of abnormal metaphases, demonstrating that the actual incidence in equine populations is higher. Objective: Estimation of the number of carriers of karyotypic abnormalities in a sample from a population of young horses of various breeds, using molecular cytogenetic techniques. Methods: Cross-sectional. Methods: Venous blood samples were collected from 500 young hor...
Timko K.Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the horse encompasses a group of infiltrative gastrointestinal disorders resulting in malabsorption, maldigestion, weight loss, colic, and sometimes diarrhea. The type of IBD can be classified as granulomatous, lymphocytic-plasmacytic, or eosinophilic enterocolitis. The diagnosis of IBD in equids is based on consistent clinical signs and clinicopathologic findings in conjunction with confirmatory histopathology from a gastrointestinal biopsy. Treatment usually consists of a combination of immunosuppressive medications, anthelmintics, and dietary modification...
Nawrot K, Soroko-Dubrovina M, Zielińska P, Dudek K, Howell K.The study aimed to evaluate the impact of BEMER (Physical Vascular Therapy) on body surface temperature using infrared thermography (IRT) in the distal parts of the forelimbs in Thoroughbreds. The study tested the hypothesis that BEMER therapy leads to an increase in body surface temperature and blood vessel diameter in the distal parts of the forelimbs. The study involved 16 horses, split into 2 groups: active BEMER ( = 8) and sham ( = 8). The active BEMER group had BEMER boots applied to the distal parts of the forelimbs, whereas the sham group had BEMER boots applied without activation of t...
Brumund L, Wittenberg-Voges L, Rohn K, Kästner SBR.An accurate risk score that can predict peri-anesthetic morbidity and mortality in equine patients could improve peri-operative management, outcome and client communication. Unassigned: Three hunded horses underwent pre-anesthetic risk assessment using the American Society of Anesthesiologists-Physical Status augmented with equine-specific diseases (ASA-PS-Equine), a multifactorial 10-part rubric risk scale (10-RS), and a combination of both, the Combined horse anesthetic risk identification and optimization tool (CHARIOT). Intra-and post-anesthetic complications, the recovery phase and mortal...
Burron S, Richards T, Krebs G, Trevizan L, Rankovic A, Hartwig S, Pearson W, Ma DWL, Shoveller AK.Both n-6 and n-3 fatty acids (FA) have numerous significant physiological roles for mammals. The interplay between these families of FA is of interest in companion animal nutrition due to the influence of the n-6:n-3 FA ratio on the modulation of the inflammatory response in disease management and treatment. As both human and animal diets have shifted to greater consumption of vegetable oils rich in n-6 FA, the supplementation of n-3 FA to canine, feline, and equine diets has been advocated for. Although fish oils are commonly added to supply the long-chain n-3 FA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), ...
Reis IL, Lopes B, Sousa P, Sousa AC, Rêma A, Caseiro AR, Briote I, Rocha AM, Pereira JP, Mendonça CM, Santos JM, Lamas L, Atayde LM, Alvites RD....Here, we describe a case of a 5-year-old show-jumping stallion presented with severe lameness, swelling, and pain on palpation of the left metacarpophalangeal joint (MCj). Diagnostic imaging revealed full and partial-thickness articular defects over the lateral condyle of the third metacarpus (MC3) and the dorsolateral aspect of the first phalanx (P1). After the lesion's arthroscopic curettage, the patient was subjected to an innovative regenerative treatment consisting of two intra-articular injections of equine synovial membrane mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (eSM-MSCs) combined with umbilic...
Kuzmina TA, Königová A, Burcáková L, Babjak M, Syrota Y.This study aimed to examine the species diversity and structure of the strongylid community in domestic horses in Eastern Slovakia. Also, an analysis of the impact of age, sex, and collection location factors on the strongyid communities was performed. Methods: Twenty-seven horses 1.5-21 years old from two farms in eastern Slovakia with different horse-management conditions were studied. Strongylids were collected after horse treatments with Noromectin (0.2 mg ivermectin); 66,170 specimens were collected and identified. Faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) was performed following fenbendaz...
Argüelles D, Saitua A, Miraz R, Calle-González N, Requena F, Nocera I, Vitale V, Sgorbini M, Muñoz A.It has been reported that capacitive resistive electric transfer (CRET) increases blood circulation, hemoglobin oxygenation and temperature in muscles. The attributed benefits of these changes have been linked to improved athletic performance, enhanced muscle flexibility and fastening recovery from exercise-induced fatigue. For all of this, the present research aims to investigate whether the application of CRET 24 h before exercise affects the accelerometric pattern in horses during exercise. Six sound Standardbred trotters were subjected to a CRET session of 40 min of duration, applied on ...
Birkmann K, Jebbawi F, Waldern N, Hug S, Inversini V, Keller G, Holm A, Grest P, Canonica F, Schmid-Grendelmeier P, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.Urticaria, independent of or associated with allergies, is commonly seen in horses and often shows a high reoccurrence rate. Managing these horses is discouraging, and efficient treatment options are lacking. Due to an incidental finding in a study on horses affected by insect bite hypersensitivity using the eosinophil-targeting eIL-5-CuMV-TT vaccine, we observed the prevention of reoccurring seasonal urticaria in four subsequent years with re-vaccination. In an exploratory case series of horses affected with non-seasonal urticaria, we aimed to investigate the role of eosinophils in urticaria....
Miglio A, Falcinelli E, Mezzasoma AM, Busechian S, Rueca F, Gresele P, Antognoni MT.Physical exercise has an activating effect on platelet function that differs between trained and untrained subjects, depending on the type of exercise and training status. In humans, soluble P-selectin (sP-sel) and platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEVs) are considered reliable markers of platelet activation during exercise. In untrained humans, they increase after transient physical exercise, whereas long-term training induces a decrease in their resting levels due to an improved ability to adapt to hemodynamic changes. The aim of this study was to assess whether circulating levels of...
Relf VE, Morgan ER, Hodgkinson JE, Matthews JB.Few studies have described the combined effect of age, gender, management and control programmes on helminth prevalence and egg shedding in grazing equines. Here, fecal samples collected from 1221 Thoroughbred horses, residing at 22 studs in the UK, were analysed. The distribution of strongyle eggs amongst individuals in relation to age, gender and management practices was investigated. Fecal worm egg counts (FWECs), described as the number of eggs per gramme (epg) of feces, were determined using a modification of the salt flotation method. The FWEC prevalence (mean%) of strongyles, Parascaris...
The Journal of traumaApril 26, 2000
Volume 48, Issue 4 740-744 doi: 10.1097/00005373-200004000-00025
Norwood S, McAuley C, Vallina VL, Fernandez LG, McLarty JW, Goodfried G.Injuries from encounters with large animals represent a significant health risk for rural communities. We evaluated our regional trauma centers' experience with large-animal injuries to determine whether certain mechanisms and patterns of injury predicted either major head/craniofacial or torso (chest/abdomen/pelvis) trauma. Methods: The hospital courses of 145 patients with injuries related to large animals were reviewed retrospectively to determine patterns of injury, specific injury mechanisms, species-specific injuries, and predictors of multiple body region trauma. Results: Seventy-nine p...
Rossi SL, Russell-Lodrigue KE, Killeen SZ, Wang E, Leal G, Bergren NA, Vinet-Oliphant H, Weaver SC, Roy CJ.Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is an arbovirus endemic to the Americas that is responsible for severe, sometimes fatal, disease in humans and horses. We previously described an IRES-based VEE vaccine candidate based up the IE serotype that offers complete protection against a lethal subtype IE VEEV challenge in mice. Here we demonstrate the IRES-based vaccine's ability to protect against febrile disease in cynomolgus macaques. Vaccination was well tolerated and elicited robust neutralizing antibody titers noticed as early as day 14. Moreover, complete protection from disease chara...
Vick MM, Sessions DR, Murphy BA, Kennedy EL, Reedy SE, Fitzgerald BP.In mares, obesity is associated with continuous reproductive activity during the non-breeding season. To investigate the effect of obesity and associated alterations in metabolic parameters on the oestrous cycle, two related studies were conducted. In Experiment 1, obese (body condition score > 7) mares were fed ad libitum or were moderately feed restricted during the late summer and autumn months. Feed restriction did not alter the proportion of mares entering seasonal anoestrus. However, obese mares exhibited a significantly longer duration of the oestrous cycle, significant increases in ...
Camacho AT, Guitian FJ, Pallas E, Gestal JJ, Olmeda AS, Habela MA, Telford SR, Spielman A.The control of equine piroplasmosis is becoming increasingly important to maintain the international market open to the horse industry. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the occurrence of equine piroplasmosis (Theileria equi and Babesia caballi) in Galicia, north-west Spain, and to compare haematological and serum biochemistry parameters between non-parasitaemic horses and horses parasitaemic with T. equi and B. caballi. Sixty serum samples (control group) were taken from healthy horses pastured on two farms, and examined for evidence of equine T. equi and B. caballi infection by in...
Le Moyec L, Robert C, Triba MN, Billat VL, Mata X, Schibler L, Barrey E.During long distance endurance races, horses undergo high physiological and metabolic stresses. The adaptation processes involve the modulation of the energetic pathways in order to meet the energy demand. The aims were to evaluate the effects of long endurance exercise on the plasma metabolomic profiles and to investigate the relationships with the individual horse performances. The metabolomic profiles of the horses were analyzed using the non-dedicated methodology, NMR spectroscopy and statistical multivariate analysis. The advantage of this method is to investigate several metabolomic path...
Tessier L, Côté O, Clark ME, Viel L, Diaz-Méndez A, Anders S, Bienzle D.Severe equine asthma is a naturally occurring lung inflammatory disease of mature animals characterized by neutrophilic inflammation, bronchoconstriction, mucus hypersecretion and airway remodeling. Exacerbations are triggered by inhalation of dust and microbial components. Affected animals eventually are unable of aerobic performance. In this study transcriptomic differences between asthmatic and non-asthmatic animals in the response of the bronchial epithelium to an inhaled challenge were determined. Results: Paired endobronchial biopsies were obtained pre- and post-challenge from asthmatic ...
Canisso IF, Stewart J, Coutinho da Silva MA.Endometritis was rated as the third most common medical problem encountered in adult horses in North America. It is the leading cause of subfertility in broodmares and is a major contributor to economic loss in the horse breeding industry, with pregnancy rates reported to be as low as 21% in mares with severe endometritis. Endometritis may be categorized as: endometrosis (chronic degenerative endometritis), acute, chronic, active, dormant, subclinical, clinical, and persistent post-breeding. These classifications are not mutually exclusive, and mares may change categories within breeding seaso...
Weaver SC, Bellew LA, Gousset L, Repik PM, Scott TW, Holland JJ.We evaluated genetic and phenotypic diversity within natural populations of the alphavirus, Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus. RNA fingerprinting revealed that most populations within infected hosts (unpassaged isolates) contained a consensus genotype along with minority genotypes differing in one to three T1-resistant oligonucleotides. Mutation frequencies appeared to be similar to those reported for other RNA viruses, suggesting that the slow rate of EEE virus evolution is not limited by fidelity of genome replication. Within a given year, genetic diversity was generally greater a...
Fureix C, Pagès M, Bon R, Lassalle JM, Kuntz P, Gonzalez G.Handling is a crucial component of the human-horse relationship. Here, we report data from an experiment conducted to assess and compare the effect of two training methods. Two groups of six Welsh mares were trained during four sessions of 50 min, one handled with traditional exercises (halter leading, grooming/brushing, lifting feet, lunging and pseudo-saddling (using only girth and saddle pad) and the second group with natural horsemanship exercises (desensitization, yielding to body pressure, lunging and free-lunging). Emotional reactivity (ER) and the human-horse relationship (HHR) were as...
Knowles DP, Perryman LE, Goff WL, Miller CD, Harrington RD, Gorham JR.Babesiosis is a tick-borne hemoparasitic disease affecting horses worldwide. To investigate mechanisms of immunity to this parasite, the antibody response of infected horses to Babesia equi merozoite proteins was evaluated. Immunoprecipitation of B. equi merozoite antigens with sera from infected horses revealed 11 major proteins of 210, 144, 108, 88, 70, 56, 44, 36, 34, 28, and 25 kDa. Monoclonal antibody (MAb) 36/133.97, which binds to live merozoites, immunoprecipitated proteins of 44, 36, 34, and 28 kDa. When immunoprecipitations were performed with in vitro translation products of merozoi...
Taffarel MO, Luna SP, de Oliveira FA, Cardoso GS, Alonso Jde M, Pantoja JC, Brondani JT, Love E, Taylor P, White K, Murrell JC.Quantification of pain plays a vital role in the diagnosis and management of pain in animals. In order to refine and validate an acute pain scale for horses a prospective, randomized, blinded study was conducted. Twenty-four client owned adult horses were recruited and allocated to one of four following groups: anaesthesia only (GA); pre-emptive analgesia and anaesthesia (GAA,); anaesthesia, castration and postoperative analgesia (GC); or pre-emptive analgesia, anaesthesia and castration (GCA). One investigator, unaware of the treatment group, assessed all horses at time-points before and afte...
Flecknell P.The last decade has seen continued progress in both the recognition and management of animal pain. This upsurge in the use of analgesics in animals is welcome, but the main areas of use continue to be the control of postoperative or post-trauma pain, and the management of musculoskeletal pain, in companion animals and horses. The management of pain associated with other conditions, such as soft-tissue inflammation or cancer, is still relatively neglected. Pain management in farm animals, and in animals used in biomedical research could also be improved further. Apart from providing some intere...
Andersson L.The melanocortin system is of considerable interest in domestic animals because their energy metabolism and pigmentation have been under strong selection. This article reviews our work on MC1R variants in horse, pig, and chicken, as well as a study on MC4R polymorphism in the pig. The chestnut coat color in horses is caused by an MC1R missense mutation (S83F). In the pig, we have described seven MC1R alleles controlling four different coat color phenotypes (wild type, dominant black, black spotting, and recessive red). The most interesting allele is the one causing black spotting because it ca...
Finley MR, Li Y, Hua F, Lillich J, Mitchell KE, Ganta S, Gilmour RF, Freeman LC.In dogs and in humans, potassium channels formed by ether-a-go-go-related gene 1 protein ERG1 (KCNH2) and KCNQ1 alpha-subunits, in association with KCNE beta-subunits, play a role in normal repolarization and may contribute to abnormal repolarization associated with long QT syndrome (LQTS). The molecular basis of repolarization in horse heart is unknown, although horses exhibit common cardiac arrhythmias and may receive drugs that induce LQTS. In horse heart, we have used immunoblotting and immunostaining to demonstrate the expression of ERG1, KCNQ1, KCNE1, and KCNE3 proteins and RT-PCR to det...
Beerts C, Suls M, Broeckx SY, Seys B, Vandenberghe A, Declercq J, Duchateau L, Vidal MA, Spaas JH.Poor healing of tendon and ligament lesions often results in early retirement of sport horses. Therefore, regenerative therapies are being explored as potentially promising treatment for these injuries. In this study, an intralesional injection was performed with allogeneic tenogenically induced mesenchymal stem cells and platelet-rich plasma 5-6 days after diagnosis of suspensory ligament (SL) (n = 68) or superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) (n = 36) lesion. Clinical, lameness and ultrasonographic evaluation was performed at 6 and 12 weeks. Moreover, a survey was performed 12 ...
Van de Walle GR, May ML, Sukhumavasi W, von Einem J, Osterrieder N.Glycoprotein G (gG) of alphaherpesviruses has been described to function as a viral chemokine-binding protein (vCKBP). More recently, mutant viruses devoid of gG have been shown to result in increased virulence, but it remained unclear whether the potential of gG to serve as a vCKBP is responsible for this observation. In this study, we used equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) as a model to study the pathophysiological importance of vCKBP activity. First, in vitro chemotaxis assays studying migration of immune cells, an important function of chemokines, were established. In such assays, supernat...
Allen G, Yeargan M, Costa LR, Cross R.An experimental system that permits sensitive and reproducible detection of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1)-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity in the horse was developed. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) collected from immune horses were restimulated in vitro by culture with live EHV-1. Cytotoxic activity against virus-infected, pokeweed mitogen-stimulated lymphoblast targets was assessed in a 4-h 51Cr release assay. The optimal conditions for in vitro stimulation of equine memory CTLs and for preparation of EHV-1-infected target cells expressing viral antigens were systemati...
Schöniger S, Schoon HA.Mares are seasonally polyestric. The breeding season in spring and summer and the winter anestrus are flanked by transitional periods. Endometrial diseases are a frequent cause of subfertility and have an economic impact on the horse breeding industry. They include different forms of endometrosis, endometritis, glandular maldifferentiation, and angiosis. Except for suppurative endometritis, these are subclinical and can only be diagnosed by the microscopic examination of an endometrial biopsy. Endometrosis is characterized by periglandular fibrosis and nonsuppurative endometritis by stromal in...
Rebordão MR, Amaral A, Lukasik K, Szóstek-Mioduchowska A, Pinto-Bravo P, Galvão A, Skarzynski DJ, Ferreira-Dias G.Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are DNA complexes carrying nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins, such as elastase (ELA), cathepsin-G (CAT) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). Mare endometrosis is a chronic degenerative process characterized by excessive collagen in endometrium. While NETs fight bacteria that cause endometritis, they may trigger endometrial fibrogenesis. The aim was to evaluate the in vitro effect of some NETs components on mare endometrial fibrogenesis and determine its relationship with histopathology or estrous cycle. Endometrial explants were incubated with NETs components (ELA, ...
Hoshino Y, Wyatt RG, Greenberg HB, Kalica AR, Flores J, Kapikian AZ.A rotavirus, designated as the H-1 strain, was isolated from a diarrheic foal in primary African green monkey kidney cells and MA104 cells. This cell culture-adapted strain hemagglutinated erythrocytes of human group O, rhesus monkeys, guinea pigs, and sheep. It was found to be similar, if not identical, to porcine rotaviruses (strains OSU, EE, and A-580) by plaque reduction neutralization and hemagglutination inhibition tests, and, in addition, it was found to belong to subgroup 1. This equine rotavirus has an RNA electrophoretic migration pattern which was distinct from those of the three st...
Grilz-Seger G, Druml T, Neuditschko M, Dobretsberger M, Horna M, Brem G.The sample ascertainment bias due to complex population structures remains a major challenge in genome-wide investigations of complex traits. In this study we derived the high-resolution population structure and levels of autozygosity of 377 Lipizzan horses originating from five different European stud farms utilizing the SNP genotype information of the high density 700 k Affymetrix Axiom™ Equine genotyping array. Scanning the genome for overlapping runs of homozygosity (ROH) shared by more than 50% of horses, we identified homozygous regions (ROH islands) in order to investigate the gene ...
Serrano AL, Quiroz-Rothe E, Rivero JL.Twenty-four 4-year-old Andalusian (Spanish breed) stallions were used to examine the plasticity of myosin heavy chain (MHC) phenotype and the metabolic profile in horse skeletal muscle with long-term endurance-exercise training and detraining. Sixteen horses underwent a training programme based on aerobic exercises for 8 months. Afterwards, they were kept in paddocks for 3 months. The remaining eight horses were used as controls. Three gluteus medius muscle biopsy samples were removed at depths of 20, 40 and 60 mm from each horse before (month 0), during (month 3) and after (month 8) training,...
Freeman K, Woods E, Welsby S, Percival SL, Cochrane CA.Evidence of biofilms in human chronic wounds are thought to be responsible for preventing healing in a timely manner. However, biofilm evidence in horse wounds has not yet been documented. Consequently, this study aimed to determine whether biofilms could be detected in wounds, and to investigate the microbiology of chronic wounds in horses. Prior to analysis, wound surfaces were irrigated with 5 mL of sterile saline to remove debris. All wounds were swabbed twice (1 cm2 area) using sterile cotton-tipped swabs. In addition to this, 2 tissue biopsies were taken to investigate evidence of biofil...
Malalana F, Stylianides A, McGowan C.Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is a spontaneous disease characterised by repeated episodes of intraocular inflammation. The epidemiology of ERU has not been fully elucidated, but the condition appears to be much more common in horses than is recurrent uveitis in humans, especially in certain breeds and geographical regions. Both humans and horses show a similarly altered immune response and a marked autoimmune response as the primary disease pathophysiology. However, an inciting cause is not always clear. Potential inciting factors in horses include microbial agents such as Leptospira spp. Mic...
Pusterla N, Vin R, Leutenegger C, Mittel LD, Divers TJ.Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is an emerging virus associated clinically and epidemiologically with fever, depression, anorexia and less frequently colic and diarrhoea in adult horses. Sporadic cases and outbreaks have been reported with increased frequency since 2010 from Japan, the USA and more recently from Europe. A faeco-oral transmission route is suspected and clinical or asymptomatic infected horses appear to be responsible for direct and indirect transmission of ECoV. A presumptive clinical diagnosis of ECoV infection may be suggested by clinical presentation, haematological abnormalities ...
Deregt D, de Vries AA, Raamsman MJ, Elmgren LD, Rottier PJ.Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to equine arteritis virus (EAV) proteins were produced and characterized. The protein specificities of eight MAbs were determined definitively by immunoprecipitation of EAV proteins expressed from vaccinia virus recombinants (VVRs). Included were two new VVRs produced for this study, expressing the M and the GL proteins, respectively. Three MAbs were determined to be N-specific and five MAbs recognized the GL protein. One GL-specific MAb, 17F5, of the IgA class, efficiently neutralized EAV infectivity. In competitive binding assays (CBAs), the N-specific MAbs defin...
Carlson CS, Cullins LD, Meuten DJ.The objectives of this study were to determine in horses 1) the ages at which viable cartilage canal vessels are present in the articular-epiphyseal cartilage complex of three predilection sites and one nonpredilection site of osteochondrosis (OC), 2) the prevalence of lesions of OC in these sites, and 3) whether there was an association of lesions of OC with necrotic cartilage canal blood vessels. The medial femoral condyle, lateral femoral trochlear ridge, and distal ends of the tibia and proximal phalanx were examined grossly, microradiographically, and histologically in 35 horses 18 months...
Adney DR, Brown VR, Porter SM, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Hartwig AE, Bowen RA.The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first recognized in 2012 and can cause severe disease in infected humans. Dromedary camels are the reservoir for the virus, although, other than nasal discharge, these animals do not display any overt clinical disease. Data from in vitro experiments suggest that other livestock such as sheep, goats, and horses might also contribute to viral transmission, although field data has not identified any seropositive animals. In order to understand if these animals could be infected, we challenged young goats and horses and adult sheep wi...
