Equine Science encompasses the study of horses and their management, health, and performance. This field integrates various scientific disciplines such as biology, genetics, nutrition, physiology, and veterinary medicine to understand and improve the well-being and capabilities of horses. Areas of focus include equine anatomy, reproduction, behavior, and disease prevention. Research in equine science aims to enhance horse care, optimize training and performance, and address health challenges. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the diverse aspects of equine science, providing insights into the latest advancements and methodologies in the field.
Murase H, Endo Y, Tsuchiya T, Kotoyori Y, Shikichi M, Ito K, Sato F, Nambo Y.It has not been common to perform regular ultrasound examination of the fetus in equine practice, due to the increasing volume of the uterus caused by fetal development. The convex three-dimensional transducer is bulb-shaped and is able to observe wide areas. In addition, its operation is simple, making it easy to create appropriate angles for various indices using a transrectal approach. The aim of this study was to measure Thoroughbred fetal growth indices throughout gestation using a convex transducer and to clarify the detectable period of some indices for clinical use. We demonstrated cha...
Park W, Kim J, Kim HJ, Choi J, Park JW, Cho HW, Kim BW, Park MH, Shin TS, Cho SK, Park JK, Kim H, Hwang JY, Lee CK, Lee HK, Cho S, Cho BW.Previous studies of horse RNA-seq were performed by mapping sequence reads to the reference genome during transcriptome analysis. However in this study, we focused on two main ideas. First, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by de novo-based analysis (DBA) in RNA-seq data from six Thoroughbreds before and after exercise, here-after referred to as "de novo unique differentially expressed genes" (DUDEG). Second, by integrating both conventional DEGs and genes identified as being selected for during domestication of Thoroughbred and Jeju pony from whole genome re-sequencing (WG...
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...
Williams S, Horner J, Orton E, Green M, McMullen S, Mobasheri A, Freeman SL.A change in management from pasture to stabling is a risk factor for equine colic. Objective: To investigate the effect of a management change from pasture with no controlled exercise to stabling with light exercise on aspects of gastrointestinal function related to large colon impaction. The hypothesis was that drinking water intake, faecal output, faecal water content and large intestinal motility would be altered by a transition from a pastured to a stabled regime. Methods: Within-subject management intervention trial involving changes in feeding and exercise using noninvasive techniques. M...
Du J, Wang X, Ma J, Wang J, Qin Y, Zhu C, Liu F, Shao Y, Zhou J, Qiao W, Liu X.The equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus of the Retrovirus family, which causes persistent infection in horses often characterized by recurrent episodes of high fever. It has a similar morphology and life cycle to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Its transmembrane glycoprotein, gp45 (analogous to gp41 in HIV), mediates membrane fusion during the infection. However, the post-fusion conformation of EIAV gp45 has not yet been determined. EIAV is the first member of the lentiviruses for which an effective vaccine has been successfully developed. The attenuated vaccine strai...
Iqbal K, Chitwood JL, Meyers-Brown GA, Roser JF, Ross PJ.Formation of the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) marks the first differentiation event in mammalian development. These two cell types have completely divergent fates for the remainder of the developmental process. The molecular mechanisms that regulate ICM and TE formation are poorly characterized in horses. The objective of this study was to establish the transcriptome profiles of ICM and TE cells from horse blastocysts using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). A total of 12 270 genes were found to be expressed in either lineage. Global analysis of the transcriptome profiles by unsupervi...
Del Rosario-Montejo O, Molina-Rueda F, Muñoz-Lasa S, Alguacil-Diego IM.Equine therapy, an intervention method that has been practiced for decades around the world, is used to treat patients susceptible to psychomotor delays. Objective: We examine development of gross motor function compared to other psychomotor skills in patients undergoing this therapy, and analyse how this improvement affects general health status and quality of life. Methods: The study includes 11 children with delayed psychomotor development (aged 8.82 ± 3.89; 6 boys, 5 girls). The main study variables were gross motor function (GMFM-88) and perceived quality of life (Pediatric Quality of ...
Desjardin C, Chat S, Gilles M, Legendre R, Riviere J, Mata X, Balliau T, Esquerré D, Cribiu EP, Betch JM, Schibler L.Osteochondrosis (OC) is a developmental bone disorder affecting several mammalian species including the horse. Equine OC is described as a focal disruption of endochondral ossification, leading to osteochondral lesions (osteochondritis dissecans, OCD) that may release free bodies within the joint. OCD lesions trigger joint swelling, stiffness and lameness and affects about 30% of the equine population. OCD is considered as multifactorial but its physiopathology is still poorly understood and genes involved in genetic predisposition are still unknown. Our study compared two healthy and two OC-a...
Allombert J, Vianney A, Laugier C, Petry S, Hébert L.Taylorella equigenitalis is the causative agent of contagious equine metritis, a sexually-transmitted infection of Equidae characterised in infected mares by abundant mucopurulent vaginal discharge and a variable degree of vaginitis, cervicitis or endometritis, usually resulting in temporary infertility. The second species of the Taylorella genus, Taylorella asinigenitalis, is considered non-pathogenic, although mares experimentally infected with this bacterium can develop clinical signs of endometritis. To date, little is understood about the basic molecular virulence and persistence mechanis...
Dalla Costa E, Minero M, Lebelt D, Stucke D, Canali E, Leach MC.The assessment of pain is critical for the welfare of horses, in particular when pain is induced by common management procedures such as castration. Existing pain assessment methods have several limitations, which reduce the applicability in everyday life. Assessment of facial expression changes, as a novel means of pain scoring, may offer numerous advantages and overcome some of these limitations. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a standardised pain scale based on facial expressions in horses (Horse Grimace Scale [HGS]). Results: Forty stallions were assigned to one of ...
Bracun A, Ellis AD, Hall C.Ophthalmic examination in the horse is generally limited to crude assessment of vision and screening for ocular lesions. The refractive state of equine eyes and the potential impact on vision and performance requires further investigation. Objective: To assess the refractive state of a large, mixed-breed sample of horses and ponies in the United Kingdom (UK). Methods: The refractive state of both eyes of 333 horses and ponies was determined by streak retinoscopy, and the effect of age, height, gender, breed and management regime on the refractive state assessed. Results: Emmetropia was found i...
Koene P, Ipema B.It may become advantageous to keep human-managed animals in the social network groups to which they have adapted. Data concerning the social networks of farm animal species and their ancestors are scarce but essential to establishing the importance of a natural social network for farmed animal species. Social Network Analysis (SNA) facilitates the characterization of social networking at group, subgroup and individual levels. SNA is currently used for modeling the social behavior and management of wild animals and social welfare of zoo animals. It has been recognized for use with farm animals ...
Flores-Flores G, Velázquez-Cantón E, Boeta M, Zarco L.The effects of repeated cloprostenol administration were compared in mares impregnated by horses and mares impregnated by donkeys in order to assess the role of eCG on the development of pregnancy-associated resistance to the luteolytic and abortifacient effects of PGF2α. Eleven mares impregnated by donkey (mule pregnancy) and 9 mares impregnated by horse (horse pregnancy) were used. Six mares with mule pregnancy and four with horse pregnancy were injected with cloprostenol (0.25 mg) when they were between day 65 and day 75 of pregnancy, and the treatment was repeated 48, 72 and 96 h latter...
Steelman SM, Johnson P, Jackson A, Schulze J, Chowdhary BP.Acute laminitis is an inflammatory disease of the equine foot that often occurs secondarily to sepsis or systemic inflammation associated with gastrointestinal disease. It has been suggested that laminitis is similar to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in humans, although in horses the weight-bearing laminar epithelium of the foot appears to be the tissue most sensitive to insult and the first "organ" to fail. Metabolomics performed on serum samples collected before (Con) and after (Lmn) experimental induction of gastrointestinal-associated sepsis in six horses detected 1,177 metabolites of...
Diez de Castro E, Lopez I, Cortes B, Pineda C, Garfia B, Aguilera-Tejero E.Equine pituitary pars intermedia function can be assessed by the measurement of baseline and thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH)-induced concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH); however, these measurements may be affected by the environment. Therefore, a prospective observational study evaluated the influence of feeding, time of the day, and season on baseline and TRH-induced concentrations of ACTH in healthy horses. Baseline ACTH was measured in 50 horses before and 2 h after feeding. Six research horses were subjected to a crossover study in which 6 TRH tests were performed in ...
Arkoun B, Gautier C, Delalande C, Barrier-Battut I, Guénon I, Goux D, Bouraïma-Lelong H.Among mammals, the stallion produces the largest amount of testicular estrogens. These steroid hormones are produced mainly by Leydig and Sertoli cells in the testis and also in the epididymis. Their role in horse testicular physiology and their ability to act on spermatozoa are still unknown. In order to determine if spermatozoa are targets for estrogens, the presence of estrogen receptors in mature ejaculated spermatozoa has been investigated. The presence of a single isoform of ESR1 (66kDa) and ESR2 (61kDa) was found by Western-blot analysis in samples from seven stallions. Confocal analysi...
Carrade Holt DD, Wood JA, Granick JL, Walker NJ, Clark KC, Borjesson DL.Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are used in both human clinical trials and veterinary medicine for the treatment of inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. MSCs modulate inflammation by decreasing the cells and products of the inflammatory response. Stimulated equine MSCs from bone marrow (BM), adipose tissue (AT), cord blood (CB), and umbilical cord tissue (CT) inhibit lymphocyte proliferation and decrease inflammatory cytokine production. We hypothesized that equine MSCs inhibit T cell proliferation through secreted mediators and that MSCs from different tissue sources decrease T cell proli...
Stefanetti V, Marenzoni ML, Lepri E, Coletti M, Casagrande Proietti P, Agnetti F, Crotti S, Pitzurra L, Del Sero A, Passamonti F.Ascending infections of equine uterus frequently result in placentitis and abortions; most of these infections are bacterial and are less commonly due to fungi. This report describes an abortion case in an Arab mare due to Candida guilliermondii that was diagnosed via cytological, histological, cultural and biomolecular assays. The histological lesions found were severe necrotizing placentitis associated with fetal pneumonia. To our knowledge this is the first case of C. guilliermondii abortion reported in equine species.
Ho EN, Kwok WH, Lau MY, Wong AS, Lam KK, Stewart BD, Wan TS.Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a hematopoietic growth factor regulating granulopoiesis. The recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) is widely used for the treatment of granulopenia in humans. Filgrastim is a rhG-CSF analogue and is marketed under various brand names, including Neupogen(®) (Amgen), Imumax(®) (Abbott Laboratories), Neukine(®) (Intas Biopharmaceuticals) and others. It is banned in both human and equine sports owing to its potential for misuse. In order to control the abuse of filgrastim in equine sports, a method to identify unequivo...
Kampmann S, Hampson BA, Pollitt CC.Recent record rainfall in much of semi-arid Central Australia is the most likely reason for a feral horse population increase in excess of normal. Uncontrolled numbers of feral horses have habitat degradation and animal welfare implications. Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate the social structure of feral horses and assess their population growth rate following unseasonably high rainfall. Methods: The study area was 4000 km(2) of unmanaged, semi-arid country in Central Australia (latitude 24.50°S, longitude 132.10°E). Horses were identified by descriptive features from g...
Greve L, Dyson SJ.Saddle slip is usually blamed on saddle fit, crooked riders or horse shape, but may reflect hindlimb lameness. There are no studies of the frequency of occurrence of saddle slip and risk factors within a tested sample population of the general sports horse population. Objective: To quantify the frequency of saddle slip and to describe the association with lameness, thoracolumbar shape/symmetry, crooked riders and ill-fitting saddles. Methods: Nonrandom, cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling. Methods: Five hundred and six sports horses in normal work were assessed prospectively. Tho...
Mercati F, Pascucci L, Curina G, Scocco P, Tardella FM, Dall'aglio C, Marini C, Ceccarelli P.The transplantation of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) is a potentially promising therapy for the treatment of tendon and ligament injuries and some forms of articular pathology in horses. This study investigated the effects of storage conditions on MSCs. Equine adipose tissue-derived MSCs (eAd-MSCs) were stored at 4 °C and at room temperature (RT) for 24 and 48 h, and viability, doubling time, expression of CD44 and CD90 antigens, clonogenic/differentiation potentials, and karyotype were subsequently evaluated. The eAd-MSC viability was significantly affected by the storage ...
Grint NJ, Beths T, Yvorchuk K, Taylor PM, Dixon M, Whay HR, Murrell JC.To evaluate a mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT) testing device in the donkey, and to investigate the influence of potential confounders on MNTs generated. Methods: Prospective, randomised. Methods: Sixteen castrated male donkeys aged 4-9 years, weighing 105-170 kg. Methods: Mechanical nociceptive thresholds were measured using an actuator with three pins placed on the dorsal aspect of the distal limb, connected to a force meter. The pins (surface area 15 mm(2) ) were extruded onto the limb by pressurising an air-filled syringe, until the MNT force (when foot-lift was observed) or 25 N (cu...
Famoso NA, Davis EB.Four groups of equids, "Anchitheriinae," Merychippine-grade Equinae, Hipparionini, and Equini, coexisted in the middle Miocene, but only the Equini remains after 16 Myr of evolution and extinction. Each group is distinct in its occlusal enamel pattern. These patterns have been compared qualitatively but rarely quantitatively. The processes influencing the evolution of these occlusal patterns have not been thoroughly investigated with respect to phylogeny, tooth position, and climate through geologic time. We investigated Occlusal Enamel Index, a quantitative method for the analysis of the comp...
Reardon RJ, Boden L, Stirk AJ, Parkin TD.Accurate diagnosis of racing injuries can be difficult. The objectives of this study were to describe the postmortem (PM) defined distribution of fatal distal limb fractures (DLF) affecting Thoroughbreds racing in Great Britain between February 1999 and August 2005 and then assess the accuracy of veterinary racecourse diagnoses and examine whether these improved following introduction of a computerised recording system. PM examinations were performed on limbs distal to radius or tibia from all cases of fatal DLF occurring on British racecourses during the study period. Results of these examina...
Nielsen TD, Dean RS, Robinson NJ, Massey A, Brennan ML.The practice of evidence-based veterinary medicine involves the utilisation of scientific evidence for clinical decision making. To enable this, research topics pertinent to clinical practice need to be identified, and veterinary clinicians are best placed to do this. The main aim of this study was to describe the veterinary population, the common species and conditions veterinary clinicians nominated they saw in practice and how much information clinicians perceived was available in the literature for these. A questionnaire was distributed to all Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons registere...
Dohrmann J, Hildebrand F, Straub J, Wadephul R, Pusterla N, Freise F, Venner M.The goal of the current report was to describe the clinical signs, therapy and outcome of foals with suspected equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) due to an infection with Lawsonia intracellularis. Forty foals, born on the same breeding farm, were diagnosed with suspected clinical EPE between September 2019 and January 2020. Data of these cases were analyzed retrospectively regarding the course of the disease, treatment, outcome and long-term prognosis. All horses, including randomly selected control horses, were reassessed about nine months after the suspicion of EPE. The horses affected w...
The Journal of heredityJuly 1, 1990
Volume 81, Issue 4 323-331 doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110997
Sponenberg DP, Carr G, Simak E, Schwink K.The leopard complex of white spotting patterns in horses consists of the leopard, few-spot leopard, blanket, blanket with spots, varnish roan (or marble), snowflake, frosted, speckled, and mottled patterns. Horses with any of these patterns can produce the other patterns when mated to nonpatterned horses. Twenty-two horses of the Welsh Pony, Noriker, Appaloosa, and Pony of the Americas breeds produced 270 foals in a distribution consistent with a single dominant allele being responsible for the patterns. The symbol for this dominant allele, Lp, is retained from previous work on the leopard pat...
Saville WJA, Reed SM, Dubey JP, Granstrom DE, Morley PS, Hinchcliff KW, Kohn CW, Wittum TE, Workman JD.The diagnosis of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) relies heavily on the clinical examination. The accurate identification of neurologic signs during a clinical examination is critical to the interpretation of laboratory results. Objective: To investigate the level of agreement between board-certified veterinary internists when performing neurologic examinations in horses. Methods: Ninety-seven horses admitted to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at The Ohio State University from December 1997 to June 1998. Methods: A prospective epidemiologic research design was used. Horses enrolled in...
Kingston JK, Bayly WM.Exercise in horses is associated with a wide variety of physiological changes in fluid, electrolyte and acid base balance. The integration of physiologic and physiochemical mechanisms acts to minimize alterations in pH and enhance removal of carbon dioxide produced by exercising muscles. This article provides a description of the changes that take place during exercise and how these changes affect acid-base balance in the horse.
Zellner A, Bockstahler B, Peham C.The present study aimed to investigate the effects of Kinesio Taping on the trajectory of the forelimb and the muscle activity of the M. brachiocephalicus and the M. extensor carpi radialis in horses. 19 horses and ponies of different breeds (body weight: 496±117 kg), gender (8 mares, 10 geldings and 3 stallions) and ages (14.9±6.9 years old) were analysed without Kinesio Tape ("no tape"), with Kinesio Tape (muscle facilitation application on both muscles of both sides, "with tape") and immediately after Kinesio Taping ("post tape") through kinematic motion analysis and surface electromyogra...
Marntell S, Nyman G, Funkquist P.The principal aim of this study was to evaluate dissociative anaesthesia for castration of colts during field conditions. Three dissociative anaesthetic protocols were evaluated during castration of colts in an animal hospital. The protocol considered to be the most suitable was thereafter evaluated during castration of colts under field conditions. Respiratory and haemodynamic parameters and the response to surgery were determined during anaesthesia. All horses breathed air spontaneously during anaesthesia. Under hospital conditions 26 colts were randomised to receive one of three anaesthetic...
Inui T, Haneda S, Sasaki M, Furuoka H, Ito M, Yanagawa M, Hiyama M, Tabata Y, Sasaki N.In human cartilage tissue engineering, three-dimensional zirconia substrata have the potential advantage of producing many uniform cell clusters of controlled size without xenobiotic material, allowing easy clinical application. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using zirconia porous three-dimensional microwell substrata for chondrogenic differentiation of equine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) in vitro. In regular medium, 8 × 10, 2 × 10, and 5 × 10 equine BMMSCs from five thoroughbred horses were cultured on zirconia microwell su...
Cruz A, Sullivan DB, Doty KF, Hess RA, Canisso IF, Reddi PP.The acrosome plays a critical role in sperm-oocyte interactions during fertilization. SP-10 is an acrosomal matrix protein, which is evolutionarily conserved among mammals. The SP-10 antibody has been shown to be useful for staging the seminiferous cycle in the mouse and human. A canonical acrosomal marker; however, has never been used for staging in the horse. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the presence of SP-10 within the horse acrosome using an anti-mouse SP-10 antibody, to classify spermatids based on the shape of the acrosome, and then to use that information to a...
Busechian S, Turini L, Sgorbini M, Bonelli F, Pisello L, Pieramati C, Orvieto S, Rueca F.Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS) is a worldwide disease of the stomach that can be found in different categories of horses. Different clinical signs may be present, but a large number of horses are asymptomatic. The aim of this study was to identify a possible correlation between body condition score (BCS) and EGUS in a population of horses. A total of 203 non-athlete horses were submitted for gastroscopies, and the presence and severity of lesions of the glandular and squamous mucosa were recorded. A board-certified veterinarian blinded to the gastroscopy results assessed the BCS of the h...
Clay CM, Squires EL, Amann RP, Pickett BW.To investigate the influence of daylength on the seasonal reproductive cycle of stallions, 21 stallions were assigned to one of three treatments: control, ambient (natural) photoperiod; S-L, 8 h light and 16 h dark (8:16) for 20 wk beginning July 16, 1982 then 16:8 from December 2, 1982 until March 5, 1984; S-S, 8:16 from July 16, 1982 until March 1984. Temperature was not controlled and was similar for all groups. Total scrotal width (TSW) was measured every 4 wk throughout the experiment. During 10 periods, semen was collected and evaluated every other day for 3 wk and sexual behavior was as...
Specht TE, Colahan PT.Medical records of 48 equids (47 horses, 1 pony) with surgical sand colic were reviewed. The diagnosis of sand colic was made if a sand impaction(s) was palpated during exploratory abdominal surgery or if a large quantity of sand was found during colotomy. Most equids did not experience a previous episode of sand diarrhea or sand colic. Clinical findings and results of clinicopathologic determinations were not diagnostic. Rectal palpation findings in 40 of 46 horses were compatible with large-colon and/or cecal distention. Impactions were palpable per rectum in only 7 horses, but emergency abd...
Geor RJ, McCutcheon LJ, Hinchcliff KW.To compare effects of low and high intensity warm-up exercise on oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2) in horses. Methods: 6 moderately conditioned adult Standard-breds. Methods: Horses ran for 2 minutes at 115% of maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max), 5 minutes after each of the following periods: no warm-up (NoWU); 10 minutes at 50% of VO2max (LoWU); or 7 minutes at 50% VO2max followed by 45-second intervals at 80, 90, and 100% VO2max (HiWU). Oxygen consumption and VCO2 were measured during exercise, and kinetics of VO2 and VCO2 were calculated. Accumulated O2 deficit ...
Ishikawa S, Horinouchi C, Mizoguchi R, Senokuchi A, Kamikakimoto R, Murata D, Hatazoe T, Tozaki T, Misumi K, Hobo S.The sizes of Japanese native horses have drastically decreased, and protection of these populations is important for Japanese horse culture. Social trials as well as scientific attempts are necessary for maintaining the breed. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have potential as a cell source for various cell therapies. However, there have been no reports on MSCs of Japanese native horses. We aimed to isolate and characterize MSCs from a Japanese native horse, the Noma horse. Plastic-adherent and self-replicating cells were isolated from a Noma horse's peripheral blood (PB). The isolated cells had ...
Carstanjen B, Balali M, Gajewski Z, Furmanczyk K, Bondzio A, Remy B, Hartmann H.The purpose of this study was to analyze the acute effect of whole body vibration exercise (WBVE) on clinical parameters and blood values in horses. Seven horses were exposed to a 10 min WBVE at a frequency of 15-21 Hz. Clinical parameters and venous blood samples were taken before and directly after WBVE. Acute short-term WBVE produced a decrease in serum cortisol (p = 0.02) and creatine-kinase (p = 0.02) values. Clinical parameters, hematology, fibrinogen, lactate, IGF-I, GGT, creatinine, myeloperoxidase activity and bone marker values were not significantly changed by WBVE. In adult sound h...
Watrous BJ, Hultgren BD, Wagner PC.Thirty-six of 50 young equids examined at necropsy for gross pathologic and histopathologic evidence of osteochondrosis were determined to have lesions characteristic of this disorder in the distal joints of the tarsus. Abnormalities ranged from retained endochondral cores underlying undisturbed articular cartilage surfaces to clefts, subchondral osseous cyst-like lesions, and cartilage ulceration. Our findings supported the conclusion that osteochondrosis may cause spavin in the juvenile equid.
DePew CL, Thompson DL, Fernandez JM, Sticker LS, Burleigh DW.Experiment 1 was conducted to characterize the concentrations of prolactin, growth hormone (GH), cortisol, insulin, glucagon, glucose, nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), urea N, and 10 indispensable amino acids in the plasma of mares (n = 8) and stallions (n = 8) during the last 4 h of a 19-h period of feed deprivation and for 8 h after a noon meal. Experiment 2 was similar to Exp. 1 except that only stallions (n = 8) were used, and they were either fed (n = 4) or not fed (n = 4) at noon in a 2 x 2 Latin square design conducted over two sampling days 7 d apart. In Exp. 1, increases (P < .01)...
Lauková A, Styková E, Kubašová I, Strompfová V, Gancarčíková S, Plachá I, Miltko R, Belzecki G, Valocký I, Pogány Simonová M.The effects of non-authochtonous Enterococcus faecium AL41 = CCM 8558, enterocin M-producing and probiotic strain were tested on the microbiota, phagocytic activity, hydrolytic enzymes, biochemical parameters and dry matter in horses based on its previous benefits demonstrated in other animals. E. faecium CCM 8558 sufficiently colonized the digestive tract of horses. At day 14, its counts reached 2.35 ± 0.70 CFU/g (log 10) on average. The identity of CCM 8558 was confirmed by means of PCR after its re-isolation from horse faeces. The inhibition activity of CCM 8558 was demonstrated a...
Manohar M, Goetz TE, Hassan AS.Strenuously exercising horses exhibit arterial hypoxemia and exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), the latter resulting from stress failure of pulmonary capillaries. The present study was carried out to examine whether the structural changes in the blood-gas barrier caused by a prior bout of high-intensity short-term exercise capable of inducing EIPH would affect the arterial hypoxemia induced during a successive bout of exercise performed at the same workload. Two sets of experiments, double- and single-exercise-bout experiments, were carried out on seven healthy, sound Thoroughbred h...
Decourt C, Caraty A, Briant C, Guillaume D, Lomet D, Chesneau D, Lardic L, Duchamp G, Reigner F, Monget P, Dufourny L, Beltramo M, Dardente H.Kisspeptin has emerged as the most potent gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretagogue and appears to represent the penultimate step in the central control of reproduction. In the sheep, we showed that kisspeptin could be used to manipulate gonadotropin secretion and control ovulation. Prompted by these results, we decided to investigate whether kisspeptin could be used as an ovulation-inducing agent in another photoperiodic domestic mammal, the horse. Equine kisspeptin-10 (eKp10) was administered intravenously as bolus injections or short- to long-term perfusions to Welsh pony mares, ei...
Quist EM, Dougherty JJ, Chaffin MK, Porter BF.A 1.5-year-old Quarter Horse gelding with a history of chronic nasal discharge and leukocytosis presented with signs of increased lethargy and muscular pain. The horse quickly became recumbent and unable to rise and was euthanized due to a poor prognosis. At necropsy, severe bilateral guttural pouch empyema was observed, as well as numerous well-demarcated areas of pallor within the skeletal muscles of all major muscle groups. Polymerase chain reaction testing of the guttural pouch exudate confirmed an infection with Streptococcus equi subsp. equi, and an S. equi-associated immune-mediated rha...
Perryman LE, Bue CM, Magnuson NS, Mottironi VD, Ochs HS, Wyatt CR.Thirty-eight foals with combined immunodeficiency (CID) received transplanted fetal liver cells, fetal liver and thymus cells, histocompatible bone marrow cells, or equine lymphocyte antigen (ELA) haploidentical bone marrow cells in an attempt to reconstitute their deficient immune systems. Engraftment was infrequent, partial, and unpredictable when fetal cells were employed. Three of five CID foals receiving ELA haploidentical bone marrow cells demonstrated partial reconstitution, but engraftment was only temporary. Administration of histocompatible bone marrow cells resulted in rapid, full a...
Steven DH, Samuel CA.The study of the equine placenta, which began in Venice in 1598, has a long but discontinuous history. Early observations were purely morphological, but new techniques have stimulated a broader and more functional approach. Histological and ultrastructural observations at various stages of pregnancy have shown that the fetal side of the placenta comes to acquire certain features in common with the air-blood barrier of the mammalian lung. These changes may reflect the increasing O2 requirements of the fetus as gestation proceeds.
Smith HT, Millett F.Spectrophotometric titrations of five singly modified horse heart ferricytochromes c, specifically (trifluoromethyl)phenylcarbamylated (CF3PhNHCO-) or trifluoroacetylated (CF3CO-) at lysines-13, -72, and -79, were carried out. The CF3PhNHCO-Lys-13, Lys-79, and CF3CO-Lys-79 derivatives all underwent alkaline isomerization with loss of the 695-nm band to low-spin species with an apparent pK of about 8.9, as did the unmodified cytochrome. However, modification of lysine-72 appeared to alter the reaction pathway since the CF3PhNHCO-Lys-72 derivative isomerized to a high-spin form with an apparent ...
Kim NY, Son JK, Cho IC, Shin SM, Park SH, Seong PN, Woo JH, Park NG, Park HB.Temperament can be defined as a type of behavioral tendency that appears in a relatively stable manner in responses to various external stimuli over time. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for the records of temperament testing that are used to improve the temperament of Jeju crossbred (Jeju×Thoroughbred) horses. Methods: This study was conducted using 205 horses (101 females and 104 males) produced between 2010 and 2015. The experimental animals were imprinted and tamed according to the Manual for Horse Taming and Evaluation for Therapeutic Riding Horses and evaluated ...
Serwotka-Suszczak AM, Marcinkowska KA, Smieszek A, Michalak IM, Grzebyk M, Wiśniewski M, Marycz KM.Insulin resistance (IR) is one of the characteristic features of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). Presently, the only therapies of choice are caloric restrictions combined with mineral supplementation, which might improve insulin sensitivity. In this study we investigated the effect of Haematococcus pluvialis algae water extract enriched in bioaccumulation process in magnesium ions (Hp_Mg(II)) on equine adipose derived mesenchymal stromal stem cells, in which insulin resistance was induced by palmitic acid (IR-EqASCs). For this purpose, chemical characterization of H. pluvialis was performed w...
Oliver A, Conrado FO, Nolen-Walston R.Equine granulocytic anaplasmosis is a clinically significant and common disease of equids that has a broader prevalence than was once thought. The most common clinical signs include high fever and edema, with mild to mderate thrombocytopenia and lymphopenia typically noted on complete blood count. Subclinical cases are reported and many are self-limiting. Rare clinical presentations include neurologic disease, vasculitis, dysphagia, rhabdomyolysis, or bicavitary effusion. Most cases resolve rapidly with appropriate antimicrobial intervention.
