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.
Nemoto M, Hata H, Higuchi T, Imagawa H, Yamanaka T, Niwa H, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Kondo T, Matsumura T.We evaluated antigen detection kits for human rotavirus with regard to their usefulness for diagnosing equine rotavirus infection. Limiting dilution analyses showed that of the seven kits investigated the Dipstick `Eiken' Rota (Dipstick) had the highest sensitivity to two serotypes of equine rotavirus. The Dipstick did not cross-react with several equine intestinal pathogens. An investigation using 249 fecal samples indicated that the sensitivity of the Dipstick was 81.9% and 47.3%, and its specificity was 98.2% and 99.0%, and its concordance rate was 92.8% and 68.3%, compared with values obta...
van Loon JP, Meertens NM, van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, van Dijk R.A 3-year-old Friesian stallion was referred to the Department of Equine Sciences at Utrecht University with signs of colic. Laparotomy was performed and the stallion was castrated bilaterally because of an incarcerated inguinal hernia. Intestinal resection was not performed. Eight days postoperatively, the horse showed signs of severe colic and was admitted for re-laparotomy. After resection of 1.5 m of strangulated jejunum and severe intraoperative hypotension, bradycardia, and electrolyte disorders, the horse showed problems during recovery with signs of hindquarter paralysis. There was no p...
Millward LM, Hamberg A, Mathews J, Machado-Parrula C, Premanandan C, Hurcombe SD, Radin MJ, Wellman ML.A 6-year-old female Rocky Mountain horse was presented for evaluation of draining tracts and distal limb subcutaneous edema on the left front and left hind limbs that had been present for 2 weeks. Direct smears of fluid collected by fine-needle aspiration of subcutaneous fluid from both limbs were highly cellular with a predominance of eosinophils accompanied by numerous, moderately atypical, variably granulated mast cells. The cytologic diagnosis was mast cell tumor (MCT) with prominent eosinophilic infiltration with a differential diagnosis of eosinophilic granuloma. Histologic evaluation of...
Dieckmann SM, Winkler M, Groebel K, Dieckmann MP, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Hoelzle K, Wittenbrink MM, Hoelzle LE.Haemotrophic mycoplasmas (HM) are parasites on the surface of red blood cells and known to infect a wide range of animals. However, there are no previous evidences of HM infections in horses. In this study HM were detected for the first time in the blood of two horses suffering from poor performance, apathy, weight loss, and anaemia. Using a HM specific PCR assay and subsequent sequencing the infective agents isolated from the blood of said horses were confirmed as closely related to the HM species Mycoplasma haemofelis and 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos'.
Zervos IA, Lavrentiadou SN, Tsantarliotou MP, Georgiadis MP, Kokolis NA, Taitzoglou IA.Plasminogen activators (PA) are proteolytic enzymes present in the spermatozoa and seminal plasma of various species. They play a role in the binding of the spermatozoon and its penetration through the layers surrounding the oocyte. Plasminogen activator activity (PAA) is modulated by hormones that have a seasonal variation, such as testosterone and melatonin. The present study investigates the seasonal variation of PA activity in sperm extracts and seminal plasma of four farm animal species: boar, buck, bull and stallion. Semen samples were collected every second week during a 12-month period...
Covaleda L, Gno BT, Fuller FJ, Payne SL.The macrophage-tropic lentivirus, equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), encodes the small auxiliary protein S2 from a short open reading frame that overlaps the amino terminus of env EIAV S2 is dispensable for virus replication in cultured cells but is required for disease production. S2 is approximately 7 kDa and has no overall amino acid sequence homology to other cellular or viral proteins. Therefore it is likely that S2 plays a role as an adaptor protein. To further investigate S2 function we performed a yeast-2-hybrid screen to identify cellular proteins that interact with EIAV S2. The s...
Veronesi F, Fioretti DP, Genchi C.A study was carried out to assess the field efficacy of moxidectin (MOX) against Parascaris equorum in foals. A total of 70 foals from 2 Italian thoroughbred (Farms 1 and 2) stud farms and one trotter stud farm (Farm 3), aged 3-5 months and with faecal egg counts (FEC) f>or=300 eggs per gram (EPG) were included in the study. On each farm, foals were divided into 2 groups (of 10, 8 and 10 foals, respectively) and treated with either moxidectin (MOX, 400 mcg/kg b.w.) or ivermectin (IVM, 200 mcg/kg b.w.) on day 0 and examined for faecal count reduction (FECR) on day 14. Five, 4 and 5 foals, re...
Jedziniak P, Szprengier-Juszkiewicz T, Olejnik M, Zmudzki J.A confirmatory method for the determination of residues of nine non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and one metabolite in animal muscles has been developed. After enzymatic hydrolysis samples were extracted with acetonitrile and cleaned up using alumina and C(18) SPE cartridges. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used for the separation and determination of analytes. The method was validated in bovine muscles, according to the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC criteria. Applicability of the method in the analysis of swine, horse and chicken muscles was checked by precision and ...
Antoun JS, Steenberg LJ, Lee KH.Facial injuries caused by horses are relatively common among riding enthusiasts, but little is known about the nature of maxillofacial fractures sustained by those not mounted. We collected data on patients' characteristics, fractures sites, mechanisms of injury, and treatment of these fractures from the departmental records of the oral and maxillofacial unit at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand between 1996 and 2008. Of 49 patients with equine-related facial fractures, 35 (mean (SD) age 35.8 (16.7) years) had sustained their injuries while unmounted (71%). Most of the fractures occurred in w...
Müller AJ, Letelier ME, Galleguillos MA, Molina-Berríos AE, Adarmes HH.To evaluate the antioxidant effects of synovial fluid (SF) pooled from metacarpophalangeal joints of healthy horses and horses with various pathological conditions, and to compare then with the antioxidant effects of hyaluronic acid (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS). Methods: SF from 1 metacarpophalangeal joint was obtained from 42 horses immediately after humane slaughter. Samples were classified into 3 groups on the basis of origin: healthy joints or joints with chronically damaged cartilage or vascularly congested synovial membranes as detected via macroscopic evaluation. Methods: Antioxida...
Mortensen CJ, Choi YH, Ing NH, Kraemer DC, Vogelsang MM, Hinrichs K.Heat above homeothermy can be detrimental to embryonic development, and cells may produce heat shock proteins to try to mitigate these effects. The authors examined the developmental competence of equine oocytes after a single heat exposure (42 degrees C, 2 or 4 h) during early or late stages of in vitro maturation. Rates of nuclear maturation, cleavage after intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and advanced embryonic development (morula or blastocyst) were compared to those for unexposed controls. Concentrations of heat shock protein 70 (HSPA1A) mRNA were determined by real-time RT-PCR in result...
Bailey CS, Macpherson ML, Pozor MA, Troedsson MH, Benson S, Giguere S, Sanchez LC, Leblanc MM, Vickroy TW.The objective was to determine if long-term treatment with trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (antimicrobial), pentoxifylline (anti-inflammatory/anti-cytokine) and altrenogest (synthetic progestin), would improve pregnancy outcome in mares with experimentally induced placentitis. Seventeen normal, pregnant pony mares were enrolled in the study at 280-295 d of pregnancy. Placentitis was induced in all mares by intra-cervical inoculation of Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (10(7) CFU). Five mares served as infected, untreated control animals (Group UNTREAT). Twelve mares (Group TREAT) were inf...
Angelini P, Tamba M, Finarelli AC, Bellini R, Albieri A, Bonilauri P, Cavrini F, Dottori M, Gaibani P, Martini E, Mattivi A, Pierro AM, Rugna G....Following a large West Nile virus (WNV) epidemic in northeastern Italy in 2008, human and animal surveillance activities were implemented in Emilia Romagna. Human surveillance was performed by serology or genome detection on blood and cerebrospinal fluid for all suspected cases suffering from acute meningoencephalitis in the regional territory. Animal surveillance consisted of passive and active surveillance of horses and active surveillance of wild birds and mosquitoes. Between 15 June and 31 October 2009, nine of 78 possible cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease were confirmed (three fata...
Neto AC, Ball BA, Browne P, Conley AJ.Elevated blood testosterone concentrations, often accompanied by male-typical behaviors, is a common signalment of mares with granulosa-theca cell tumors (GCTCs), but no definitive information exists regarding the cellular differentiation of tumors associated with androgen secretion. This study was conducted to localize and thereby define the cellular expression of 17alpha-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase cytochrome P450 (P450c17), the enzyme most directly responsible for androgen synthesis, in 30 GTCTs and control tissues (gonads and adrenal glands) using immuno-histochemistry (IHC). Immuno-reactivity...
Olive J, D'Anjou MA, Girard C, Laverty S, Theoret C.The purpose was to evaluate the capacity of 1.5 T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to assess articular cartilage in racehorses with naturally occurring metacarpophalangeal joint osteoarthritis. A sagittal, three-dimensional spoiled gradient-recalled echo (SPGR) with fat saturation (FS) sequence was acquired ex vivo on 20 joints. Following joint dissection, specific areas on the third metacarpal condyle were designated for subsequent sampling for histologic cartilage thickness measurement and modified Mankin scoring. Cartilage thickness was measured and cartilage signal intensity was also graded...
Fasanella A, Garofolo G, Galante D, Quaranta V, Palazzo L, Lista F, Adone R, Jones MH.Anthrax is a disease of humans and animals caused by the encapsulated, spore-forming Bacillus anthracis. In Italy, anthrax is normally a sporadic disease. During the summer 2004, anthrax broke out in the Basilicata, in southern Italy, a region with a low prevalence of anthrax in which vaccination had been suspended since 1998. The disease involved several animals in few weeks and in a large area. Over 41 days, 81 cattle died, as well as 15 sheep, 9 goats, 11 horses and 8 deer. The Multiple-locus Variable-Number Tandem Repeats Analysis (MLVA) showed that all the 53 isolates belonged to the Clus...
Trombetta MF, Accorsi PA, Falaschini A.When the mare's estrous cycle resumes in winter, the β-carotene content of hay is depleted. Sixty Italian trotter mares were randomly assigned to a Control or a Treated Group. Treated Group received 1g/d synthetic β-carotene for 15 days from parturition. Blood samples collected at parturition and on days 5, 10 and 15 after partum were analysed for β-carotene, vitamins A, progesterone, 17 β-estradiol, the energy parameters (glucose, cholesterol, NEFA), the protein profile (total protein, albumin, urea) and LDH. Some changes in these measures were attributable to treatment, which significant...
Neil KM, Charman RE, Vasey JR.Three foals aged between 21 and 44 days were presented for evaluation of pyrexia and lameness. Each had subcutaneous abscessation associated with osteomyelitis of a rib at the costochondral junction and pathological fracture of the affected rib; one foal had more than one rib affected. Other localised sites of infection included other sites of osteomyelitis, omphalophlebitis, uveitis, enterocolitis, and calcaneal bursitis. The subcutaneous abscessation and rib osteomyelitis was treated surgically in two foals. Salmonella typhimurium was isolated from the subcutaneous abscess in one foal and fr...
Stewart AA, Goodrich LR, Byron CR, Evans RB, Stewart MC.To present the technique for intra-articular catheter placement and report the clinical outcomes of 38 cases of equine synovial trauma and/or infection treated with broad-spectrum antimicrobials administered via an intrasynovial catheter (ISC). Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Medical records of 38 horses treated for synovial trauma and sepsis with frequent antimicrobial administration through an ISC from 1995 to 2008 were reviewed. Follow-up information was obtained via clinical re-evaluation or telephone contact with the owners. Results: The majority of horses (84%) received amikacin a...
van Zyl A, Daniel J, Wayne J, McCowan C, Malik R, Jelfs P, Lavender CJ, Fyfe JA.Two horses were diagnosed as having Mycobacterium ulcerans infections. The first was a 21-year-old Quarterhorse-cross mare living in Mallacoota (a coastal town near the border of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia) that presented with lichenification, hair-loss and oedema on a fetlock, which subsequently ulcerated, as well as a non-healing ulcer on the wither. The second horse was a 32 year-old Standardbred gelding from Nicholson, near Bairnsdale, Victoria, that had an ulcerated lesion on its caudal thigh. Histologically, there were characteristic changes seen with M. ulcerans infections ...
Kodaira K, Muranaka M, Naito H, Ode H, Oku K, Nukada T, Katayama Y.A 1-year-old male thoroughbred racehorse experienced swelling of the left upper lip. The swelling was attributable to enlargement around the incisive bone of the interdental space posterior to the third incisor in the left maxilla. Even after two operations to reduce the bulk of the mass, it continued to increase in size. Dyspnea caused by stenosis of the nasal cavity forced us to perform euthanasia, and a pathological examination was conducted. Macroscopic examination of a section of the mass revealed the formation of multiple areas of solid fibrous tissue, and trabeculae within the incisive ...
Hampson BA, Ramsey G, Macintosh AM, Mills PC, de Laat MA, Pollitt CC.The present study investigated the foot health of the Kaimanawa feral horse population and tested the hypotheses that horses would have a large range of foot morphology and that the incidence of foot abnormality would be significantly high. Methods: Abnormality was defined as a variation from what the two veterinarian assessors considered as optimal morphology and which was considered to impact negatively on the structure and/or function of the foot. Fifteen morphometric variables were measured on four calibrated photographic views of all four feet of 20 adult Kaimanawa feral horses. Four morp...
Noble P, Lumay G, Coninx M, Collin B, Magnée A, Lecomte-Beckers J, Denoix JM, Serteyn D.An equine fetlock joint pendulum test was studied and the influence of post mortem time and intra-articular lipid solvent on the viscous frictional response examined. Fresh equine digits (group 1, n=6 controls; group 2, n=6 lipid solvent) were mounted on a pendulum tribometer. Assuming that pendular joint damping could be modelled by a harmonic oscillator fluid damping (HOFD), damping time (τ), viscous damping coefficient (c) and friction coefficient (μ) were monitored for 5h under experimental conditions (400N; 20°C). In all experiments, pendular joint damping was found to follow an expone...
Kannegieter NJ, Schaaf KL, Lovell DK, Simon CD, Stone BM.We describe a fibrosarcoma in a 12-year-old Quarterhorse x Arabian gelding as a sequela to equine influenza vaccination. Shortly after the second vaccination, swelling at the site was noticed by the owner and it continued to increase in size over the following 6 months. Biopsy of the mass indicated a fibrosarcoma had developed at the vaccination site. It was approximately 20 cm in diameter and elevated well above the level of the skin. There was no clinical evidence of metastases to the lungs or local lymph nodes. Surgical resection of the mass was performed and the wound healed by first and s...
Acosta TJ, Beg MA, Ginther OJ.Color Doppler transrectal ultrasound was used to evaluate blood flow area in the wall of dominant anovulatory follicles versus ovulatory follicles in mares during the transition between anovulatory and ovulatory seasons. Daily examinations were done in 11 control mares toward the end of the anovulatory season. In 13 separate mares, follicular fluid was collected from 30-mm follicles, and blood flow areas from control mares were used as a basis for designating the sampled follicle as either anovulatory or ovulatory. Blood flow area in the controls ranged from 0.18 to 0.35 cm(2) in six mares on ...
Groenendyk S, English PB, Abetz I.The components of the daily external water and electrolyte balances of five normal Standardbred geldings with a mean body weight of 427 kg, were determined over 14 day periods. The mean value of daily total water intake (a summation of free, combined and metabolic water intake) for the group was 27.6 litres, that is, 64.4 ml/kg body weight, while mean values for ambient temperature and humidity ranged from 16 to 25 degrees C and 55.4 to 75.5 per cent, respectively. The mean daily urine volume of 9.9 litres (23.2 ml/kg) for the group, was found to exceed the mean faecal water output of 7.2 litr...
Pugliese BR, Carballo CT, Connolly KM, Mazan MR, Kirker-Head CA.The objective was to validate a scientific method for characterizing equine metacarpophalangeal joint (MCPJ) motion in the nonfatigued and fatigued states using a single horse at trot, slow canter, and fast canter. One healthy Thoroughbred gelding exercised on a treadmill to exhaustion (fatigued state) (heart rate >190 BPM and blood lactate >10 mmol/L) while bilateral MCPJ angular data were acquired using electrogoniometry. Blood lactate and heart rate reflected transition from nonfatigued to fatigued states with increasing exercise duration and treadmill speed. Electrogoniometry consis...
Franklin SH, Price C, Burn JF.To develop the technique of respiratory sound analysis for the diagnosis of dorsal displacement of the equine soft palate. Objective: To show that 1) the displaced soft palate can spontaneously vibrate in the presence of expiratory airflow; 2) the observed frequency of vibration can be detected in respiratory sound recordings; and 3) the frequency of vibrations measured in cadaveric specimens are similar to those obtained from audio spectra in exercising horses with DDSP. Methods: Palatal movements and respiratory sounds were recorded from artificially ventilated cadaveric heads. The fundament...
Read AJ, Finlaison DS, Gu X, Davis RJ, Arzey KE, Kirkland PD.During the equine influenza (EI) outbreak, two assays were used in parallel to diagnose the disease, to demonstrate freedom from infection in disease control zones and ultimately to demonstrate that EI virus had been eliminated from the Australian horse population. A longitudinal study of a population of naturally infected horses was established to determine the performance characteristics of these assays.
Ruohoniemi M, Mäkelä O, Eskonen T.Research on the clinical significance of ossification of the cartilages of the foot has been limited, despite the common nature of the condition and conflicting reports in previous literature. Objective: Some radiographic features in the ossification of the cartilages, such as incomplete fusion lines between separate centres of ossification and the ossified base, are of clinical significance. Methods: The relationships between radiopharmaceutical uptake in bone phase nuclear scintigraphy at the heels (palmar processes of the distal phalanx, including ossification of the cartilages of the foot)...
Ginther OJ.One of the most profound theriogenology applications of transrectal diagnostic ultrasonography in mares involves the imaging of ovarian follicles and corpora lutea. The resolving capabilities (frequency) and quality of the scanner directly affect the minimal size of a structure that can be imaged and the quality of the image. High-frequency scanners (5 or 7.5 MHz) of good quality can image a 2-mm follicle and the corpus luteum throughout its functional life. A low-frequency scanner (3 or 3.5 MHz) can image a 6-mm follicle and the corpus luteum for several days after ovulation. Equine follicles...
Satué K, Fazio E, Ferlazzo A, Medica P.The hypothesis that a local serotonergic network might also exist in the follicle of mares remains poorly documented, with exception for humans and laboratory species. For this reason, the aim of the present study was to clarify this possibility, investigating intrafollicular serotonin concentrations of the cycling mare at ovulation time. Sixty ovaries collected from 30 clinically healthy mares of slaughterhouse meat production with clinically normal reproductive tracts after slaughtering were evaluated. Blood samples were taken prior to sacrifice. Follicles were classified in three categories...
Deichsel K, Pasing S, Erber R, Ille N, Palme R, Aurich J, Aurich C.The use of breeding stallions for equestrian competitions requires that fertility is not negatively affected by competition or transport to the competition site. In this study, effects of cortisol release induced by road transport (600 km), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) administration (3 × 0.5 mg synthetic ACTH) and placebo treatment on semen quality and testosterone release were investigated in Shetland stallions (N = 13) using a crossover design. Saliva for cortisol and blood for testosterone analysis were collected for 10 weeks after treatments. Semen was collected daily for 5 days di...
Art T, Desmecht D, Amory H, Lekeux P.The aim of the present experiment was to investigate the hypothesis that there is a respiration-locomotion coupling in trotting equines. Therefore the respiratory airflow (V), the gastric pressure (Pga) and pleural pressure (Ppl) changes and the step frequency (SF) were simultaneously recorded in 5 trotting ponies (body weight: 255 +/- 15 kg; age: 3.5 +/- 0.4 years). Airflow was measured using a Fleisch pneumotachograph fixed on a face mask. Esophageal and gastric balloon catheters coupled to pressure transducers allowed the recording of Ppl and Pga. The exercise was performed on a treadmill a...
Vargas A, Peltier A, Dubé J, Lefebvre-Lavoie J, Moulin V, Goulet F, Lavoie JP.OBJECTIVE To develop a method to maintain the initial phenotype of airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells isolated from equine endobronchial biopsy specimens in long-term cell culture. SAMPLE Endobronchial tissue specimens (8 to 10/horse) collected from the lungs of previously healthy horses at necropsy (n = 12) and endobronchial biopsy specimens collected from standing, sedated, heaves-affected horses in clinical remission of the disease (5) and control horses (4). PROCEDURES A sampling protocol was developed to recover and maintain a contractile phenotype in ASM cells from endobronchial specimens ...
Dahlgren LA.Wound management in horses can strike fear in some and passion in others. Wounds are common injuries in horses of all descriptions and requires exceptional knowledge and care to achieve a successful outcome. New treatments to overcome the critical challenges with equine wounds are always desired: managing dehisced and/or nonhealing wounds, managing exuberant granulation tissue, and ultimately achieving a functional tissue coverage. Regenerative medicine represents a broad set of tools with great promise to manipulate the deficiencies recognized in equine wound healing and improve the outcome.
Hernández-Quiroz F, Murugesan S, Flores-Rivas C, Piña-Escobedo A, Juárez-Hernández JI, García-Espitia M, Chávez-Carbajal A, Nirmalkar K....Horses are non-ruminant, herbivorous mammals, been used through history for various purposes, with a gut microbiota from cecum to the colon, possessing remarkable fermentative capacity. We studied the fecal microbiota of Azteca, Criollo, Frisian, Iberian, Pinto, Quarter and Spanish horse breeds living in Mexico by next-generation DNA sequencing of 16S rRNA gene libraries. Dominant phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Spirochaetes, Fibrobacteres, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia have different relative abundances among breeds, with contrasted alpha and beta diversities as well. He...
Kinoshita Y, Niwa H, Katayama Y, Hariu K.Obligate anaerobes are important etiological agents in pneumonia or pleuropneumonia in horses, because they are isolated more commonly from ill horses that have died or been euthanized than from those that survive. We performed bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing for obligate anaerobes to establish effective antimicrobial therapy. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to identify 58 obligate anaerobes and compared the results with those from a phenotypic identification kit. The identification results of 16S rRNA gene sequencing were more reliable than those of the comm...
Lindinger MI, Ecker GL.Horses lose considerably more electrolytes through sweating during prolonged exercise than can be readily replaced through feeds. The present study tested an oral electrolyte supplement (ES) designed to replace sweat electrolyte losses. We measured gastric emptying of 3 litres of ES (using gamma imaging of (99)Tc-sulfide colloid), the absorption of Na(+) and K(+) from the gastrointestinal tract using (24)Na(+) and (42)K(+), and the distribution of these ions in the body by measuring radioactivity within plasma and sweat during exercise. Three litres of ES emptied from the stomach as fast as wa...
Olstad K, Ekman S, Björnsdóttir S, Fjordbakk CT, Hansson K, Sigurdsson SF, Ley CJ.Recently, the central and third tarsal bones of 23 equine fetuses and foals were examined using micro-computed tomography. Radiological changes, including incomplete ossification and focal ossification defects interpreted as osteochondrosis, were detected in 16 of 23 cases. The geometry of the osteochondrosis defects suggested they were the result of vascular failure, but this requires histological confirmation. The study aim was to examine central and third tarsal bones from the 16 cases and to describe the tissues present, cartilage canals, and lesions, including suspected osteochondrosis le...
Kronfeld DS, Holland JL, Rich GA, Meacham TN, Fontenot JP, Sklan DJ, Harris PA.The digestibility of ether extract varies greatly from forages to grains and further to added fats consisting mainly of triglycerides. This variation has been attributed to two main factors, the presence of nonhydrolyzable substances in the ether extract, especially in leafy foods, and the dilution of endogenous fecal fat. A compilation of results from 188 equine digestion balance observations on five basal feeds and 18 test feeds with added fats demonstrated a true digestibility of fat approaching 100% and an endogenous fecal fat of 0.22 g x d(-1) x kg BW(-1). The results revealed that nonhyd...
Storey ES, Gerding PA, Scherba G, Schaeffer DJ.To determine survival over time of infectious equine herpesvirus-4, feline herpesvirus-1, and feline calicivirus in three commercially available and commonly used ophthalmic solutions (eyewash, fluorescein, and proparacaine HCl). Methods: Viruses used in this study were originally isolated from eyes of animals referred to the University of Illinois. Equine herpesvirus-4 was propagated in MDBK cells and feline herpesvirus-1 and feline calicivirus in CRFK cells. Methods: After separately inoculating a designated solution with a specific titer of an individual virus, solutions were incubated per ...
Schryver HF, Craig PH, Hintz HF.Calcium metabolism of young, growing ponies fed diets containing 1.5, 0.8 and 0.15% calcium was studied using combined balance and kinetic methods. Variations in calcium intake produced large differences in excretion and retention but had no effect on the level of plasma calcium or on the size of the exchangeable pool. Intestinal absorption, renal excretion and calcium removal from bone responded to the dietary level of calcium to maintain calcium homeostasis. The rates of intestinal absorption and the removal of calcium from the skeleton increased while renal excretion decreased in response t...
Valle E, Giusto G, Penazzi L, Giribaldi M, Bergero D, Fradinho MJ, Lamas LRGP, Gandini M.Colic is a serious disease for horses and the nutritional management of postoperative colic patients is an extremely important field. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyse the different factors, especially related to nutritional management, that may be associated with recovery length during hospitalization after a surgical intervention for colic, using a multivariate model. Data were collected from the records of horses presented to two hospitals and undergoing surgery for colic. The length (days) of recovery was the outcome of interest and was taken into account as a reference pa...
Forbes G, Feary DJ, Savage CJ, Nath L, Church S, Lording P.A 10-week-old Thoroughbred filly was referred for anaemia of 4 weeks' duration. Haematology revealed severe anaemia and panleucopenia. Cytological examination of bone marrow smears revealed a myeloid to erythroid ratio <0.02:1 (reference range 0.5-2.4:1.0) and an abundance of erythroid precursor cells. The erythroid cell population included rubriblasts, prorubricytes and rubricytes, with only scant numbers of metarubricytes present. There were numerous mitotic erythroid cells, some of which were atypical and megaloblastic. These cytomorphological changes are consistent with pure acute eryth...
Dall'aglio C, Pascucci L, Mercati F, Giontella A, Pedini V, Ceccarelli P.The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence and the distribution of cells containing orexin A and orexin type 2 receptor in the horse stomach and gut, by means of immunohistochemical techniques. Orexin A was identified in the stomach fundic and pyloric regions and in the duodenum. In the same stomach regions, a large subset of orexin A-positive cells also showed orexin type 2 receptor-like immunoreactivity. Moreover, in the duodenum, many of them, seemed to store serotonin. Characteristically, enteric neurons or ganglia also displayed orexin A and, sometimes, orexin type 2 rec...
Gagnon NA, Hartley C, Gilger BC.Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), a chronic, immune-mediated intraocular inflammatory disease, is a common cause of blindness in horses. The severity and recurrent nature of ERU makes it difficult to treat with current therapeutics leading to a poor visual prognosis. The suprachoroidal space (SCS), a potential space between the choroid and sclera surrounding the ocular posterior segment, offers a promising alternative site for drug application to the eye. Corticosteroid administration within this space is hypothesized to be safe and effective at controlling intraocular inflammation, especially i...
Baumgärtner W, Frese K, Elmadfa I.Neuroaxonal dystrophy and minimal diffuse degenerative myelopathy was diagnosed in two female full sibling, 1- and 2-year-old, Haflinger horses. Both animals developed slowly progressive ataxia from the age of 4 months. Clinical signs, which were more prominent in the hind legs, included hypermetria and dysmetria. Histological examination revealed neuroaxonal dystrophy characterized by spheroid formation, vacuolation, astrogliosis and lipofuscin pigment deposition in macrophages and neuronal perikarya. These changes were restricted to the gracilis and cuneate nuclei, nucleus of the solitary tr...
Guidi EE, Thomas A, Cadoré JL, Smith AB.Endocarditis is a rare pathology in horses and the clinical signs can be misleading. We describe the clinical, echocardiographic, and pathological features of Citrobacter freundii induced bacterial endocarditis in a horse. This bacterium has never been reported before as an agent of vegetative endocarditis in the horse. L’endocardite est une pathologie rare chez les chevaux et les signes cliniques peuvent être trompeurs. Nous décrivons les caractéristiques cliniques, échographiques et pathologiques d’une endocardite bactérienne induite par chez un cheval. Cette bactérie n’a jamai...
Rocchigiani G, Verin R, Uzal FA, Singer ER, Pregel P, Ressel L, Ricci E.Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) is a common condition of Thoroughbred racehorses that is usually responsible for reduced performance, while exercise-associated fatal pulmonary hemorrhage (EAFPH) is characterized by severe pulmonary bleeding of unknown pathogenesis resulting in sudden death during strenuous exercise. The aim of the study was to characterize and compare anamnestic data together with pulmonary gross, histologic, and ultrastructural findings in racehorses with EIPH (n = 10), EAFPH (n = 10), and control horses (n = 5). No differences in anamnesis were identified betwee...
