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.
Flota-Burgos GJ, Rosado-Aguilar JA, Rojas-Becerril R, Rodríguez-Vivas RI, Trinidad-Martínez I.Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are a major impediment to breeding and exploitation of horses. Traditional control of GIN has generated resistance to main anthelmintics, including ivermectin. An analysis of five ranches with a history of IVM use was done to determine the efficacy and resistance of GIN to IVM treatment in horses from the Mexican southeast. Predesigned questionnaires were applied to collect information on previous treatment protocols. The fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) was applied to determine resistance. Before IVM application, a McMaster test was used to diagnose GIN ...
Luff J, Weingart S, May S, Murphy B.The aetiology of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in horses is unknown, but papillomavirus infection as well as chronic periodontal disease are suspected to play a pathogenic role. In humans, some oropharyngeal cancers develop in association with human papillomaviruses. Equus caballus papillomavirus 2 (EcPV2) is suspected to play a causal role in the development of equine genital SCC. Given that association, we hypothesized that EcPV2 is associated with the development of oral SCC in horses. We performed standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in-situ hybridization (ISH) for EcPV2 on 31...
Talluri TR, Kumaresan A, Paul N, Elango K, Raval K, Nag P, Legha RA, Pal Y.Despite the vital role of seminal plasma (SP) in maintaining sperm function and aiding gamete interaction in many species, SP is usually removed before cryopreservation of stallion sperm to improve cryosurvival of sperm. The present study assessed if the vital sperm functional parameters of genetically superior stallions producing poor quality semen can be enhanced by the supplementation of heterologous SP from the stallion producing high quality semen. Spermatozoa from poor quality semen producing stallions were divided into three aliquots: two aliquots were supplemented with SP obtained from...
Legere RM, Allegro AR, Affram Y, Silveira BPD, Fridley JL, Wells KM, Oezguen N, Burghardt RC, Wright GA, Pollet J, Bordin AI, Figueiredo P....To examine the susceptibility of cultured primary equine bronchial epithelial cells (EBECs) to a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pseudovirus relative to human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). Methods: Primary EBEC cultures established from healthy adult horses and commercially sourced human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) were used as a positive control. Methods: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression by EBECs was demonstrated using immunofluorescence, western immunoblot, and flow cytometry. EBECs were transduced with a lentivirus pseudotyped with ...
Lagounova M, MacNicol JL, Weese JS, Pearson W.Synbiotics are often provided to horses receiving antibiotics to protect against microbiome disturbances, despite a lack of evidence for efficacy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a synbiotic product in horses receiving antibiotics. Sixteen actively racing Standardbred horses were randomly allocated (four-way crossover) to one of four groups: antibiotics (10 days; AB), synbiotics (28 days; PROBIOPlusTM; PBP), PBP + AB, or Control. The fecal microbiome was investigated using 16S rRNA sequencing, and fecal dry matter (DM; %), pH, and scores (FS; 0-9) were measured. Data we...
McCarthy MB, Duesterdieck-Zellmer KF, Larson MK.To determine whether Botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) ameliorates the effects of interleukin 1 (IL-1) on equine articular cartilage, or exerts negative effects on normal equine articular cartilage homeostasis in vitro. Methods: Articular cartilage explants from 6 healthy femoropatellar joints of 3 adult horses. Methods: Explants were allocated to the IL-1 challenged or unchallenged group, then exposed to 1 of 6 concentrations of BoNT-A (0, 1, 10, 50, 100, or 500 pg/mL) for 96 hours. To assess BoNT-A's effects on inflammation, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was measured in media via ELISA. Matrix ...
Zaha C, Schuszler L, Dascalu R, Nistor P, Florea T, Rujescu C, Sicoe B, Igna C.The field of veterinary medicine lacks information on equine thermal hoof printing, and few data on the same subject are available in dogs. In human medicine, thermography is used to detect heat emitted by the foot when it comes in contact with a flat surface to detect the abnormalities of the foot balance. The hypothesis states that the thermal pattern of the hoof print in Warmblood horses is detectable and it does not vary among the four limbs in leisure and cross-country Warmblood horses in terms of mean temperature of the hoof print surface. A pilot study was conducted to investigate the a...
Bonomelli N, Höglund OV, Bonilla AG.To report the use and feasibility of a self-locking resorbable loop device for cryptorchidectomy. Methods: Clinical prospective study. Methods: Twenty horses. Methods: Horses suspected to have an abdominal testicle/s after admission work-up were enrolled. Horses were anesthetized in dorsal recumbency and a standard laparoscopic technique was performed. The looped device was inserted into the abdomen, glided around the testis/cord and tightened. Then, the spermatic cord was transected prior testis removal. Surgical procedure details and remarks, perioperative complications and total surgical ti...
Manzoori S, Farahani AHK, Moradi MH, Kazemi-Bonchenari M.The assignment of an individual to the true population of origin using a low-panel of discriminant SNP markers is one of the most important applications of genomic data for practical use. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of different Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) approaches consisting Deep Neural Networks (DNN), Garson and Olden methods for feature selection of informative SNP markers from high-throughput genotyping data, that would be able to trace the true breed of unknown samples. The total of 795 animals from 37 breeds, genotyped by using the Illumina SNP 50k Bead ch...
Triant DA, Walsh AT, Hartley GA, Petry B, Stegemiller MR, Nelson BM, McKendrick MM, Fuller EP, Cockett NE, Koltes JE, McKay SD, Green JA, Murdoch BM....Current genome sequencing technologies have made it possible to generate highly contiguous genome assemblies for non-model animal species. Despite advances in genome assembly methods, there is still room for improvement in the delineation of specific gene features in the genomes. Here we present genome visualization and annotation tools to support seven livestock species (bovine, chicken, goat, horse, pig, sheep, and water buffalo), available in a new resource called AgAnimalGenomes. In addition to supporting the manual refinement of gene models, these browsers provide visualization tracks for...
Pearson GB, Papa B, Mosaddegh A, Cooper H, Aprea M, Pigott J, Altier C, Cazer CL, Reesink HL.To investigate (1) variables associated with the likelihood of obtaining a positive culture, (2) commonly isolated microorganisms, and (3) antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolates from horses with presumptive synovial sepsis. Methods: Synovial fluid, synovium, and bone samples from equine cases with presumptive synovial sepsis submitted to the Cornell University Animal Health Diagnostic Center from 2000 to 2020 for microbial culture and antimicrobial sensitivity testing. Methods: Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to determine the effect of variables on the likelihood o...
Li H, Kim JV, Pickering BS.Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV) are biosafety level 4 zoonotic pathogens causing severe and often fatal neurological and respiratory disease. These agents have been recognized by the World Health Organization as top priority pathogens expected to result in severe future outbreaks. HeV has caused sporadic infections in horses and a small number of human cases in Australia since 1994. The NiV Malaysia genotype (NiV-M) was responsible for the 1998-1999 epizootic outbreak in pigs with spillover to humans in Malaysia and Singapore. Since 2001, the NiV Bangladesh genotype (NiV-B) has been t...
Collery A, Browne JA, O'Brien C, Sheridan JT, Murphy BA.Hair follicles (HF) represent a useful tissue for monitoring the circadian clock in mammals. Irregular light exposure causes circadian disruption and represents a welfare concern for stabled horses. We aimed to evaluate the impact of two stable lighting regimes on circadian clock gene rhythmicity in HF from racehorses. Two groups of five Thoroughbred racehorses in training at a commercial racehorse yard were exposed to standard incandescent light or a customized LED lighting system. The control group received light from incandescent bulbs used according to standard yard practice. The treatment...
Barrett MF, Goorchenko GE, Frisbie DD.Damage to the soft tissue structures of the digit is a common source of equine lameness. While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows for the most complete diagnostic imaging of the equine digit, ultrasound is more readily available and less expensive. This prospective diagnostic accuracy study compares ultrasound to MRI for the diagnosis of injuries visible with ultrasound within the digit, including the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT), collateral sesamoidean ligament (CSL), and navicular bursa. Clinical patients underwent an MRI of the digit and a blinded ultrasound of the digit between t...
Holguin-Rocha AF, Calle-Tobon A, Vásquez GM, Astete H, Fisher ML, Tobon-Castano A, Velez-Tobon G, Maldonado-Ruiz LP, Silver K, Park Y....Ticks are obligatory hematophagous ectoparasites that transmit pathogens among various vertebrates, including humans. The microbial and viral communities of ticks, including pathogenic microorganisms, are known to be highly diverse. However, the factors driving this diversity are not well understood. The tropical horse tick, Dermacentor nitens, is distributed throughout the Americas and it is recognized as a natural vector of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi, the causal agents of equine piroplasmosis. In this study, we characterized the bacterial and viral communities associated with partial...
Chen Q, Wang Z, Chen H.Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) can indirectly cause increased testosterone in animals, which leads to the improvement of the athletic ability of horses. For the protection of horses and the consideration of fair competition, AIs were listed as prohibited drugs by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI). There were several disadvantages using traditional pretreatment methods before analyzing these drugs from biological samples. A rapid and green pretreatment method has been developed by utilizing the hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (DES)-based vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction (D...
Bordin C, Raspa F, Harris P, Ellis AD, Roggero A, Palestrini C, Bergero D, Valle E.The application of hay feeding devices, such as the use of hay nets or slow feeders, can help with the management of weight in ponies; however, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding their effect on equine posture. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess the effect of different feeding devices on the posture of ponies using morphometric analysis. Two different breed types, Shetland type (SH, n = 5) versus Welsh Cob type (WC, n = 4), were fed the same forage in four different ways: on the ground (G), using a fully filled haynet (HF), using a partially filled haynet (HL) and...
St George L, Spoormakers TJP, Roy SH, Hobbs SJ, Clayton HM, Richards J, Serra Bragança FM.The reliability of surface electromyography (sEMG) has not been adequately demonstrated in the equine literature and is an essential consideration as a methodology for application in clinical gait analysis. This observational study investigated within-session, intra-subject (stride-to-stride) and inter-subject reliability, and between-session reliability of normalised sEMG activity profiles, from triceps brachii (triceps), latissimus dorsi (latissimus), longissimus dorsi (longissimus), biceps femoris (biceps), superficial gluteal (gluteal) and semitendinosus muscles in n = 8 clinically non-lam...
Bergmann R, Schroedl W, Müller U, Baums CG.Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (SEZ) is a major equine pathogen that causes pneumonia, abortion, and polyarthritis. It can also cause invasive infections in humans. SEZ expresses the M-like protein SzM, which recruits host proteins such as fibrinogen to the bacterial surface. Equine SEZ strain C2, which binds only comparably low amounts of human fibrinogen in comparison to human SEZ strain C33, was previously shown to proliferate in equine and human blood. As the expression of SzM_C2 was necessary for survival in blood, this study investigated the working hypothesis that SzM_C2 inhibi...
Pielok A, Kępska M, Steczkiewicz Z, Grobosz S, Bourebaba L, Marycz K.Medicinal signaling cells (MSC) exhibit distinct molecular signatures and biological abilities, depending on the type of tissue they originate from. Recently, we isolated and described a new population of stem cells residing in the coronary corium, equine hoof progenitor cells (HPCs), which could be a new promising cell pool for the treatment of laminitis. Therefore, this study aimed to compare native populations of HPCs to well-established adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) in standard culture conditions and in a pro-inflammatory milieu to mimic a laminitis condition. ASCs and HPCs were either...
Janicka W, Wilk I, Próchniak T.Living in a herd has multiple advantages for social species and is a primary survival strategy for prey. The presence of conspecifics, identified as a social buffer, may mitigate the individual stress response. Social isolation is, therefore, particularly stressful for horses, which are gregarious animals. However, they are not equally vulnerable to separation from the group. We tested whether more and less socially dependent horses and independent individuals would differ in their responses to novel and sudden sounds occurring in two contexts: non-social and social motivation. Twenty warmbloo...
Bolz NM, Sánchez-Andrade JS, Torgerson PR, Bischofberger AS.The purpose of the study was to determine the diagnostic performance of computed tomographic arthrography (CTA) and 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting artificial cartilage lesions in equine femorotibial and femoropatellar joints. Methods: A total of 79 cartilage defects were created arthroscopically in 15 cadaver stifles from adult horses in eight different locations. In addition, 68 sites served as negative controls. MRI and CTA (80-160 mL iodinated contrast media at 87.5 mg/mL per joint) studies were obtained and evaluated by a radiologist unaware of the lesion distributi...
Roberts JH, Zhang J, David F, McLean A, Blumenshine K, Müller-Alander E, Halper J.Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (DSLD) negatively impacts connective tissues in horses, which often leads to progressive chronic pain and lameness. DSLD has been shown to be a systemic disorder that affects multiple body systems, including tendons, sclerae, and the aorta. Currently, the diagnosis is confirmed by post mortem histological examination of a tendon or suspensory ligament. Histology reveals inappropriate accumulations of proteoglycans in the tendons and other tissues in DSLD-affected horses. Unfortunately, there is no reliable method to diagnose DSLD in living horses. Rece...
Zahradnik E, Sander I, Lotz A, Liebers V, Thullner I, Tacke S, Raulf M.The study aimed to determine the allergen, endotoxin and β-(1,3)-glucan concentrations at various areas on a university campus of veterinary medicine. Methods: Dust samples were collected four times a year for three years using electrostatic dust collectors (EDC) at 25 different locations on a campus of veterinary medicine and in laboratories of inorganic chemistry as a control area representing animal-free environment. Major animal allergens from dog, cat, horse, cattle and mouse, domestic mite (DM) allergens, and β-(1,3)-glucan were measured using enzyme immunoassays and endotoxin using th...
Trsan J, Nottle BF, Pusterla N.This study was designed to determine the effect of PPG and/or flunixin meglumine on SAA response when used at clinical dosing regimens in healthy adult horses. Six healthy adult horses were enrolled in a crossover study design including one control and three treatment groups: no treatment (control); PPG alone (intramuscularly q12h for 72h); flunixin meglumine alone (intravenously q24h for 72h); and PPG (intramuscularly q12h for 72h) and flunixin meglumine (intravenously q24h for 72h). Whole blood was collected at 0, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours post-initial drug administration to measure SAA u...
Knych HK, McKemie DS, Kass PH, Stanley SD, Blea J.Ketoprofen is an anti-inflammatory drug that is commonly administered to racehorses for the alleviation of musculoskeletal pain and inflammation. This study represents a comprehensive examination of the metabolism (in vivo and in vitro), pharmacokinetics and ex vivo pharmacodynamics, of ketoprofen in horses. The in vitro metabolism as well as specific enzymes responsible for metabolism was determined by incubating liver microsomes and recombinant CYP450 and UGT enzymes with ketoprofen. For the in vivo portion, 15 horses were administered a single intravenous dose of 2.2-mg/kg ketoprofen. Blood...
Cheng X, Zhen K, Fan Y, Tang Q, Wu H.This study examines the effects of equine-assisted activity (EAA) training on executive functioning (EF) (inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) in children aged 7-8 years. Methods: Twenty-Four healthy children aged 7-8 years with a 1:1 ratio of boys to girls were randomly divided into EAA group (EAAG) or control group (CG). The subjects in EAAG were trained for 12 weeks, and CG participated in normal daily activities. All subjects conducted the Flanker, 1-Back, and More-odd shifting tasks at rest and recorded the average reaction times (RTs) and accuracy data of each t...
Gonzálvez M, Franco JJ, Barbero-Moyano J, Caballero-Gómez J, Ruano MJ, Martínez R, Cano-Terriza D, García-Bocanegra I.The largest epidemic of West Nile virus (WNV) reported ever in Spain in both humans and equines occurred in 2020, affecting 77 humans and 139 equine herds. Here, we aimed to monitor the outbreaks detected in equid herds in Andalusia (southern Spain), the Spanish region where 89.9% of the outbreaks were reported, and to evaluate the virus circulation and risk factor associated with WNV exposure in the affected herds. The first WNV case was detected in mid-July 2020, the number of outbreaks peaked in mid-August and the last one was confirmed on 26th October 2020. WNV lineage 1 was detected in 12...
Fletcher KA, Limon G, Padalino B, Hall GK, Chancellor N, Grist A, Gibson TJ.Current legislation in the United Kingdom stipulates that horses should not be slaughtered within sight of one another. However, abattoir personnel anecdotally report that, for semi-feral horses unused to restraint, co-slaughtering alongside a conspecific could reduce distress through social buffering and improve safety, but there is a lack of evidence to support this. CCTV footage from an English abattoir was assessed retrospectively with welfare indicators from when horses entered the kill pen until they were killed. Of 256 horses analysed, 12% (32/256) were co-slaughtered (alongside a consp...
Tallon RE, Gough RL, McGovern KF.To describe the use of an equine compression suit to manage a deep axillary wound in a Thoroughbred filly with bilateral pneumothorax. Methods: A 2-year-old Thoroughbred filly was referred for management of a deep wound to the left axilla. Packing and bandaging of the area were initially attempted, but this became repeatedly dislodged, and bandaging was discontinued. The filly subsequently developed widespread subcutaneous emphysema, and the wound was slow to granulate. Acute onset respiratory distress occurred 11 days after admission, secondary to bilateral worsening pneumothorax, and requir...
Cappelli K, Felicetti M, Capomaccio S, Spinsanti G, Silvestrelli M, Supplizi AV.Adequate stress response is a critical factor during athlete horses' training and is central to our capacity to obtain better performances while safeguarding animal welfare. In order to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this process, several studies have been conducted that take advantage of microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) technologies to analyse the expression of candidate genes involved in the cellular stress response. Appropriate application of qRT-PCR, however, requires the use of reference genes whose level of expression is not affected by the test, by ge...
Ehlers B, Borchers K, Grund C, Frölich K, Ludwig H, Buhk HJ.A consensus primer PCR approach was used to (i) investigate the presence of herpesviruses in wild and zoo equids (zebra, wild ass, tapir) and to (ii) study the genetic relationship of the herpesvirus of pigeons (columbid herpesvirus 1) to other herpesvirus species. The PCR assay, based on degenerate primers targeting highly conserved regions of the DNA polymerase gene of herpesviruses, was modified by using a mixture of degenerate and deoxyinosine-substituted primers. The applicability of the modification was validated by amplification of published DNA polymerase genes of 16 herpesvirus specie...
Li L, Giannitti F, Low J, Keyes C, Ullmann LS, Deng X, Aleman M, Pesavento PA, Pusterla N, Delwart E.Metagenomics was used to characterize viral genomes in clinical specimens of horses with various organ-specific diseases of unknown aetiology. A novel parvovirus as well as a previously described hepacivirus closely related to human hepatitis C virus and equid herpesvirus 2 were identified in the cerebrospinal fluid of horses with neurological signs. Four co-infecting picobirnaviruses, including an unusual genome with fused RNA segments, and a divergent anellovirus were found in the plasma of two febrile horses. A novel cyclovirus genome was characterized from the nasal secretion of another fe...
Puffer BA, Watkins SC, Montelaro RC.We have identified an interaction between the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) late assembly domain and the cellular AP-2 clathrin-associated adapter protein complex. A YXXL motif within the EIAV Gag late assembly domain was previously characterized as a sequence critical for release of assembling virions. We now show that this YXXL sequence interacts in vitro with the AP-50 subunit of the AP-2 complex, while the functionally interchangeable late assembly domains carried by the Rous sarcoma virus p2b protein and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 p6 protein, which utilize PPPY and PTAPP ...
Chindera K, Mahato M, Sharma AK, Horsley H, Kloc-Muniak K, Kamaruzzaman NF, Kumar S, McFarlane A, Stach J, Bentin T, Good L.To combat infection and antimicrobial resistance, it is helpful to elucidate drug mechanism(s) of action. Here we examined how the widely used antimicrobial polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) kills bacteria selectively over host cells. Contrary to the accepted model of microbial membrane disruption by PHMB, we observed cell entry into a range of bacterial species, and treated bacteria displayed cell division arrest and chromosome condensation, suggesting DNA binding as an alternative antimicrobial mechanism. A DNA-level mechanism was confirmed by observations that PHMB formed nanoparticles whe...
Criado-Fornelio A, Martinez-Marcos A, Buling-Saraña A, Barba-Carretero JC.Molecular epizootiology of piroplasmids (Babesia spp., Theileria spp.) and Hepatozoon canis was studied in mammals from southern Europe (mainly from Spain, but also from Portugal and France). Partial amplification and sequencing of the 18s rRNA gene was used for molecular diagnosis. In some particular cases (B. ovis and B. bovis) the complete 18s rRNA gene was sequenced. Blood samples were taken from domestic animals showing clinical symptoms: 10 dogs, 10 horses, 10 cows, 9 sheep and 1 goat. In addition, DNA samples were isolated from blood of 12 healthy dogs and from spleen of 10 wild red fox...
Mitchell CM, Davy BM, Hulver MW, Neilson AP, Bennett BJ, Davy KP.The objective of this systematic review of literature was to evaluate and summarize published research that has investigated the association between exercise and gut microbial composition in mammals. This review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The databases searched for this review included: PubMed; PubMed Central; Medline; Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature; Web of Science; Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux Direct; Health Source: Nursing Academic Edition; Clinicaltrials.gov; International Prosp...
Frisbie DD, Morisset S, Ho CP, Rodkey WG, Steadman JR, McIlwraith CW.Microfracture of full-thickness articular defects has been shown to significantly enhance the amount of repair tissue. However, there is a suggestion that leaving calcified cartilage inhibits this repair response. Objective: Removal of the calcified cartilage with retention of subchondral bone enhances the amount of attachment of the repair tissue compared with retention of the calcified cartilage layer. Methods: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: There were 1-cm(2) articular cartilage defects made in 12 skeletally mature horses on the axial weightbearing portion of both medial femoral cond...
McCracken MJ, Kramer J, Keegan KG, Lopes M, Wilson DA, Reed SK, LaCarrubba A, Rasch M.Subjective evaluation of mild lameness has been shown to have poor interobserver reliability. Traditional methods of objective lameness evaluation require specialised conditions and equipment. Wireless inertial sensor systems have been developed to allow for simple, rapid, objective lameness detection in horses trotted over ground. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivities of an inertial sensor system and subjective evaluation performed by experienced equine practitioners at detecting lameness in horses. We hypothesised that the inertial sensor system would identify...
Lindgren G, Backström N, Swinburne J, Hellborg L, Einarsson A, Sandberg K, Cothran G, Vilà C, Binns M, Ellegren H.Genetic studies using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have identified extensive matrilinear diversity among domestic horses. Here, we show that this high degree of polymorphism is not matched by a corresponding patrilinear diversity of the male-specific Y chromosome. In fact, a screening for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 14.3 kb of noncoding Y chromosome sequence among 52 male horses of 15 different breeds did not identify a single segregation site. These observations are consistent with a strong sex-bias in the domestication process, with few stallions contributing genetically to the do...
Nedland H, Wollman J, Sreenivasan C, Quast M, Singrey A, Fawcett L, Christopher-Hennings J, Nelson E, Kaushik RS, Wang D, Li F.Influenza D virus (IDV) is a newly described influenza type of the Orthomyxoviridae virus family that was first isolated from diseased swine in 2011 and has subsequently been detected in cattle around the world in 2014. In addition, serological evidence for IDV infection in humans has been recently established. Despite all the progress, the full range of susceptible hosts for this novel virus has yet to be determined, but includes swine, bovine, small ruminants and human. This study was designed to determine if equine is a possible host to this newly emerging influenza virus. Three hundred and...
Dyson SJ.There is a lack of long-term follow-up data for outcome of medical treatment of superficial digital flexor (SDF) tendonitis. Objective: To determine whether intralesional injection of hyaluronan, beta aminoproprionitrile fumarate (BAPN) or polysulphated glycosaminoglycans (PSGAG) or systemic administration of PSGAG yielded better results than a controlled exercise programme alone in the management of SDF tendonitis, with a minimum follow-up period of 2 years after resumption of full work; and to determine whether reinjury rate was related to sports discipline and whether fibre alignment score ...
Marfin AA, Gubler DJ.In 1999, an epidemic of West Nile virus (WNV) encephalitis occurred in New York City (NYC) and 2 surrounding New York counties. Simultaneously, an epizootic among American crows and other bird species occurred in 4 states. Indigenous transmission of WNV had never been documented in the western hemisphere until this epidemic. In 2000, the epizootic expanded to 12 states and the District of Columbia, and the epidemic continued in NYC, 5 New Jersey counties, and 1 Connecticut county. In addition to these outbreaks, several large epidemics of WNV have occurred in other regions of the world where t...
Stewart HL, Kawcak CE.Subchondral bone plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of osteochondral disease across veterinary species. The subchondral bone is highly adaptable, with the ability to model and remodel in response to loading stresses experienced by the joint. Repetitive stress injuries within the joint can result in primary or secondary pathologic lesions within the subchondral bone, which have been recognized to contribute to the development and progression of osteoarthritis. Recent advances in diagnostic imaging, particularly volumetric imaging modalities have facilitated earlier identification of subc...
Goodrich LR, Hidaka C, Robbins PD, Evans CH, Nixon AJ.Gene therapy with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) increases matrix production and enhances chondrocyte proliferation and survival in vitro. The purpose of this study was to determine whether arthroscopically-grafted chondrocytes genetically modified by an adenovirus vector encoding equine IGF-1 (AdIGF-1) would have a beneficial effect on cartilage healing in an equine femoropatellar joint model. A total of 16 horses underwent arthroscopic repair of a single 15 mm cartilage defect in each femoropatellar joint. One joint received 2 x 10(7) AdIGF-1 modified chondrocytes and the contralateral...
Dougal K, Harris PA, Edwards A, Pachebat JA, Blackmore TM, Worgan HJ, Newbold CJ.The microbiome and associated metabolome of faecal samples were compared to those from the caecum and right dorsal colon of horses and ponies euthanised for nonresearch purposes by investigating the microbial population community structure as well as their functional metabolic products. Through the use of 16S rRNA gene dendrograms, the caecum microbiome was shown to cluster separately from the other gut regions. 16S rRNA gene-based quantitative PCR (q-PCR) also demonstrated differences between the caecum and the other gut regions. Metabolites as identified by Fourier transform infrared cluster...
Koch TG, Heerkens T, Thomsen PD, Betts DH.There are no published studies on stem cells from equine cord blood although commercial storage of equine cord blood for future autologous stem cell transplantations is available. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been isolated from fresh umbilical cord blood of humans collected non-invasively at the time of birth and from sheep cord blood collected invasively by a surgical intrauterine approach. Mesenchymal stem cells isolation percentage from frozen-thawed human cord blood is low and the future isolation percentage of MSCs from cryopreserved equine cord blood is therefore expectedly low. The...
Bullone M, Lavoie JP.Animal models have been studied to unravel etiological, immunopathological, and genetic attributes leading to asthma. However, while experiments in which the disease is artificially induced have helped discovering biological and molecular pathways leading to allergic airway inflammation, their contribution to the understanding of the causality of the disease has been more limited. Horses naturally suffer from an asthma-like condition called "heaves" which presents sticking similarities with human asthma. It is characterized by reversible airway obstruction, airway neutrophilic inflammation, an...
Hardefeldt LY, Gilkerson JR, Billman-Jacobe H, Stevenson MA, Thursky K, Bailey KE, Browning GF.Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs are yet to be widely implemented in veterinary practice and medical programs are unlikely to be directly applicable to veterinary settings. Objective: To gain an in-depth understanding of the factors that influence effective AMS in veterinary practices in Australia. Methods: A concurrent explanatory mixed methods design was used. The quantitative phase of the study consisted of an online questionnaire to assess veterinarians' attitudes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial use in animals, and the extent to which AMS currently is implemente...
Ross PF, Nelson PE, Richard JL, Osweiler GD, Rice LG, Plattner RD, Wilson TM.Fumonisin B1 (FB1) and FB2 were isolated from corn cultures of both Fusarium moniliforme and Fusarium proliferatum. Respective concentrations in culture materials of FB1 and FB2 ranged from 960 to 2,350 and 120 to 320 micrograms/g for F. moniliforme and from 1,670 to 2,790 and 150 to 320 micrograms/g for F. proliferatum. Thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography, and liquid secondary ion mass spectroscopy were used for detection. Fumonisins from F. proliferatum have not previously been reported.
Gu J, Orr N, Park SD, Katz LM, Sulimova G, MacHugh DE, Hill EW.Thoroughbred horses have been selected for exceptional racing performance resulting in system-wide structural and functional adaptations contributing to elite athletic phenotypes. Because selection has been recent and intense in a closed population that stems from a small number of founder animals Thoroughbreds represent a unique population within which to identify genomic contributions to exercise-related traits. Employing a population genetics-based hitchhiking mapping approach we performed a genome scan using 394 autosomal and X chromosome microsatellite loci and identified positively selec...
de Laat MA, McGowan CM, Sillence MN, Pollitt CC.Hyperinsulinaemia is known to induce laminitis experimentally in healthy ponies with no history of the condition. Horses are more insulin sensitive than ponies and whether prolonged hyperinsulinaemia and euglycaemia would have a similar laminitogenic effect requires study. Objective: To determine if laminitis results when the prolonged euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp technique (p-EHC) is applied to clinically normal Standardbred horses, and to monitor hoof wall temperature seeking an association between vascular activity and laminitis development. Methods: Eight young, clinically normal St...
Marycz K, Kornicka K, Basinska K, Czyrek A.Currently, equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), an endocrine disease linked to insulin resistance, affects an increasing number of horses. However, little is known about the effect of EMS on mesenchymal stem cells that reside in adipose tissue (ASC). Thus it is crucial to evaluate the viability and growth kinetics of these cells, particularly in terms of their application in regenerative medicine. In this study, we investigated the proliferative capacity, morphological features, and accumulation of oxidative stress factors in mesenchymal stem cells isolated from healthy animals (ASCN) and horses s...
Paz S, Malkinson D, Green MS, Tsioni G, Papa A, Danis K, Sirbu A, Ceianu C, Katalin K, Ferenczi E, Zeller H, Semenza JC.In the summer of 2010, Europe experienced outbreaks of West Nile Fever (WNF) in humans, which was preceded by hot spells. The objective of this study was to identify potential drivers of these outbreaks, such as spring and summer temperatures, relative humidity (RH), and precipitation. Methods: Pearson and lag correlations, binary and multinomial logistic regressions were used to assess the relationship between the climatic parameters and these outbreaks. Results: For human morbidity, significant (<0.05) positive correlations were observed between a number of WNF cases and temperature, with...
Pezzanite LM, Fortier LA, Antczak DF, Cassano JM, Brosnahan MM, Miller D, Schnabel LV.This study tested the hypothesis that Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) incompatible equine mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) would induce cytotoxic antibodies to donor MHC antigens in recipient horses after intradermal injection. No studies to date have explored recipient antibody responses to allogeneic donor MSC transplantation in the horse. This information is critical because the horse is a valuable species for assessing the safety and efficacy of MSC treatment prior to human clinical application. Methods: Six MHC heterozygote horses were identified as non-ELA-A2 haplotype by microsat...
Turton JF, Baklan H, Siu LK, Kaufmann ME, Pitt TL.A multiplex PCR using targets within the serotype-specific region of the capsular polysaccharide synthesis gene cluster of serotypes K1, K2 and K5 was evaluated using the 77 reference serotype strains of Klebsiella, and a panel of clinical isolates subjected previously to conventional serotyping. The PCR was highly specific for these serotypes, which are those most associated with virulence in humans and horses. PCR confirmed that isolates of the K5 serotype had cross-reacted with antiserum for other serotypes, particularly for K7. K5 isolates received by our laboratory were almost exclusively...
Treiber KH, Kronfeld DS, Hess TM, Byrd BM, Splan RK, Staniar WB.To evaluate genetic and metabolic predispositions and nutritional risk factors for development of pasture-associated laminitis in ponies. Methods: Observational cohort study. Methods: 160 ponies. Methods: A previous diagnosis of laminitis was used to differentiate 54 ponies (PL group) from 106 nonlaminitic ponies (NL group). Pedigree analysis was used to determine a mode of inheritance for ponies with a previous diagnosis of laminitis. In early March, ponies were weighed and scored for body condition and basal venous blood samples were obtained. Plasma was analyzed for glucose, insulin, trigly...
Sivaguru M, Durgam S, Ambekar R, Luedtke D, Fried G, Stewart A, Toussaint KC.Fourier transform-second harmonic generation (FT-SHG) imaging is used as a technique for evaluating collagenase-induced injury in horse tendons. The differences in collagen fiber organization between normal and injured tendon are quantified. Results indicate that the organization of collagen fibers is regularly oriented in normal tendons and randomly organized in injured tendons. This is further supported through the use of additional metrics, in particular, the number of dark (no/minimal signal) and isotropic (no preferred fiber orientation) regions in the images, and the ratio of forward-to-...
Dougal K, de la Fuente G, Harris PA, Girdwood SE, Pinloche E, Geor RJ, Nielsen BD, Schott HC, Elzinga S, Newbold CJ.Faecal samples were collected from seventeen animals, each fed three different diets (high fibre, high fibre with a starch rich supplement and high fibre with an oil rich supplement). DNA was extracted and the V1-V2 regions of 16SrDNA were 454-pyrosequenced to investigate the faecal microbiome of the horse. The effect of age was also considered by comparing mature (8 horses aged 5-12) versus elderly horses (9 horses aged 19-28). A reduction in diversity was found in the elderly horse group. Significant differences between diets were found at an OTU level (52 OTUs at corrected Q<0.1). The ma...
