Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of horses, where it typically exists as part of the normal microbial flora. While many strains are harmless, certain pathogenic variants can cause disease in equine populations. E. coli is known to be associated with a range of conditions in horses, including colic, diarrhea, and septicemia, particularly in foals. It can also contribute to uterine infections in mares, which may impact reproductive health. This topic compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the prevalence, pathogenic mechanisms, and clinical implications of E. coli infections in horses, as well as strategies for prevention and management.
Toribio RE, Kohn CW, Hardy J, Rosol TJ.Hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia are common in horses with sepsis and endotoxemia. We hypothesize that endotoxemia triggers a systemic inflammatory response that results in hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) administration to healthy horses on serum parathyroid hormone (PTH), ionized calcium (Ca2+) and total calcium (tCa), ionized magnesium (Mg2+) and total magnesium (tMg), phosphate (Pi), potassium (K+), sodium (Na+), chloride (Cl-), and insulin concentrations, and on the urinary excretion of these electro...
Harvey SP, Minter JM.In this study, the subspecies differentiation of 25 isolates of Burkholderia mallei was attempted based on their ribotype polymorphisms. The isolates were from human and equine infections that occurred at various times around the world. DNA samples from each isolate were digested separately with PstI and EcoRI enzymes and probed with an Escherichia coli-derived 18-mer rDNA sequence to identify diagnostic fragments. Seventeen distinct ribotypes were identified from the combined data obtained with the two restriction enzymes. The results demonstrate the general utility of ribotyping for the subs...
Zerpa H, Vega F, Vasquez J, Ascanio E, Campos G, Sogbe E, Romero E, Ascanio M, García H.Endotoxaemia is a syndrome linked to the development of equine laminitis; however, the relationship between them is uncertain. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of an experimental acute sublethal endotoxaemia model on in vitro equine palmar digital vascular reactivity. Rings of arteries and veins of each forelimb were obtained from 11 clinically healthy horses submitted to two surgical procedures, 3 weeks apart. Before the second surgery, 0.25 microg/kg of lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli O55:B5 in saline, was administered i.v. in 30 min. After 3 h, the vessels were...
Carrillo NA, Giguère S, Gronwall RR, Brown MP, Merritt KA, O'Kelley JJ.To determine the disposition of orally administered cefpodoxime proxetil in foals and adult horses and measure the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the drug against common bacterial pathogens of horses. Methods: 6 healthy adult horses and 6 healthy foals at 7 to 14 days of age and again at 3 to 4 months of age. Methods: A single dose of cefpodoxime proxetil oral suspension was administered (10 mg/kg) to each horse by use of a nasogastric tube. In 7- to 14-day-old foals, 5 additional doses were administered intragastrically at 12-hour intervals. The MIC of cefpodoxime for each of 173...
Morris BA, Sadana A.A fractal analysis is presented for the detection of pathogens such as Franscisela tularensis, Yersinia pestis (the bacterium that causes plague), Bacillus anthracis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus, Vavcinia virus, and Escherichia coli using a cellular analysis and notification of antigens risks and yields (CANARY) biosensor [T.H. Rider, M.S. Petrovic, F.E. Nargi, J.D Harper, E.D. Schwoebel, R.H. Mathews, D.J. Blanchard, L.T Bortolin, A.M. Young, J. Chen, M.A. Hollis, A cell-based sensor for rapid identification of pathogens, Science 301 (2003, 11 July) 213-215, T.H. Rider, M.S. Pe...
Orsini JA, Moate PJ, Engiles J, Norman T, Poppenga R, Benson CE, Boston RC.Cefotaxime powder was diluted with sterile water to a concentration of 100 mg/mL. The volume of solution was adjusted for each experimental horse to provide a total dose of 15, 20, and 25 mg/kg and was administered by infusion through a jugular vein catheter over a 10-min period. All three doses were administered to each of the six experimental horses at three different times. Cefotaxime concentrations in plasma and synovial fluid samples were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Standard compartmental analysis techniques and the WinSAAM modeling program were used to dete...
Kidd JA, Voute LC, Hewetson M.A 12-year-old hunter gelding became severely lame as a result of a laceration to the sheath of the digital flexor tendons of its left hindlimb, but there was no apparent damage to the tendons. The injury became chronically infected with Pseudomonas and Streptococcus species and Escherichia coli which did not respond to antibiotic treatment, and the horse remained lame. A postmortem examination revealed that the tendons had ruptured.
Flock M, Jacobsson K, Frykberg L, Hirst TR, Franklin A, Guss B, Flock JI.Horses that have undergone infection caused by Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (strangles) were found to have significantly increased serum antibody titers against three previously characterized proteins, FNZ (cell surface-bound fibronectin binding protein), SFS (secreted fibronectin binding protein), and EAG (alpha2-macroglobulin, albumin, and immunoglobulin G [IgG] binding protein) from S. equi. To assess the protective efficacy of vaccination with these three proteins, a mouse model of equine strangles was utilized. Parts of the three recombinant proteins were used to immunize mice, eith...
Althaus H, Müller N, Busato A, Mellor PS, Torsteinsdottir S, Marti E.Insect bite dermal hypersensitivity (IBH) is an allergic dermatitis of horses caused by bites of Culicoides spp. and sometimes Simulium spp. The aim of the investigation presented here was to identify allergens causing IBH. A cDNA library expressing recombinant Culicoides nubeculosus proteins was screened using affinity-purified serum from an IBH-affected horse. Screening of the library resulted in identification of one immunoreactive clone. The sequence of the cDNA insert was determined and revealed a 600 bp insert with an open reading frame coding for a 78 amino acid long protein, called rCu...
Albihn A, Båverud V, Magnusson U.Uterine microbiology and antimicrobial susceptibility was investigated in 239 mares with fertility problems in a prospective study in Sweden. Uterine swab samples were collected with double guarded swabs and transported overnight before being cultured. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) was determined for a panel of antimicrobials. From 152 of the 239 mares at least one bacterial species was isolated, most frequently E. coli (104 isolates), beta-haemolytic streptococci (31) and fungi (16). beta-haemolytic streptococci were more frequently (p < 0.01) associated with clinical endomet...
Bryan A, Shapir N, Sadowsky MJ.Nonselected and natural populations of Escherichia coli from 12 animal sources and humans were examined for the presence and types of 14 tetracycline resistance determinants. Of 1,263 unique E. coli isolates from humans, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep, cows, goats, cats, dogs, horses, geese, ducks, and deer, 31% were highly resistant to tetracycline. More than 78, 47, and 41% of the E. coli isolates from pigs, chickens, and turkeys were resistant or highly resistant to tetracycline, respectively. Tetracycline MICs for 61, 29, and 29% of E. coli isolates from pig, chickens, and turkeys, respect...
Werners AH, Bull S, Fink-Gremmels J, Bryant CE.Macrophages play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of many diseases by mediating the host immune response to infections and intoxications. The species-specific activation of macrophages and the differential response in cytokine production impedes the extrapolation of results between species. Therefore, the aim of this study was to isolate and immortalise macrophages from equine bone marrow (BM) cells in order to study equine-specific signalling pathways. The isolated BM-derived macrophages (referred to as e-CAS cells) showed proliferation kinetics similar to that of standardised cell lines...
Roberto Da Costa RP, Carvalho H, Agrícola R, Alpoim-Moreira J, Martins C, Ferreira-Dias G.The purpose of this study was to evaluate different parameters of the immune status in the mare, during the follicular and the luteal phases of the oestrous cycle, in two consecutive years. Functional competence of peripheral blood neutrophils, such as chemotaxis, phagocytosis and oxidative burst was assessed under physiological cyclic conditions (Exp. I). In the second year of this study (Exp. II), besides peripheral blood neutrophil phagocytosis and oxidative burst analysis, circulating lymphocyte subsets were also characterized. The reproductive status in a total of 17 adult cycling mares w...
Stevenson RA, Hartley CA, Huang JA, Studdert MJ, Crabb BS, Warner S.Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) is an important respiratory pathogen of horses and is of additional interest because of its close relationship and common classification with foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). As is the case with FMDV, the VP1 capsid protein of ERAV has been shown to be a target of neutralizing antibodies. In FMDV VP1, such antibodies commonly recognize linear epitopes present in the betaG-betaH loop region. To map linear B cell epitopes in ERAV VP1, overlapping fragments spanning its length were expressed in Escherichia coli as glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins....
Lannergård J, Frykberg L, Guss B.Streptococcus equi subspecies equi is an important horse pathogenic bacterium causing a serious disease called strangles. Using bioinformatics we identified a gene denoted cne (gene encoding collagen-binding protein from S. equi) coding for a novel potential virulence factor of this species called protein CNE. The protein is composed of 657 amino acids and has the typical features found in cell surface-anchored proteins in Gram-positive bacteria. CNE displays amino acid sequence similarities to the previously well-studied collagen-binding protein CNA from Staphylococcus aureus, a proven virule...
Lohmann KL, Vandenplas M, Barton MH, Moore JN.Endotoxemia is associated with the principal causes of death in adult horses and equine neonates and, therefore, veterinary researchers are expending efforts to identify new therapeutic interventions that might be beneficial in these animals. Endotoxin antagonists inhibit interaction of endotoxin with cellular receptors and may be beneficial in the treatment of endotoxemia and sepsis. Diphosphoryl lipid A from Rhodobacter sphaeroides (RsDPLA) is a potent antagonist of enteric LPS in human cells, but is an agonist in hamster cells. In this study, the effect of lipopolysaccharide from R. sphaero...
Huang X, Xuan X, Yokoyama N, Xu L, Suzuki H, Sugimoto C, Nagasawa H, Fujisaki K, Igarashi I.The gene encoding a truncated merozoite antigen-2 (EMA-2t) of Babesia equi was cloned and highly expressed in Escherichia coli as a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein (G-rEMA-2t). Both G-rEMA-2t and rEMA-2t (after the removal of glutathione S-transferase) had good antigenicity. Either Western blot analysis with rEMA-2t or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with G-rEMA-2t clearly discriminated the sera of horses experimentally infected with B. equi from sera of horses infected with Babesia caballi and healthy horses, although rEMA-2t was not suitable for ELISA, probably owing to it...
Palaniappan RU, Chang YF, Jusuf SS, Artiushin S, Timoney JF, McDonough SP, Barr SC, Divers TJ, Simpson KW, McDonough PL, Mohammed HO.A clone expressing a novel immunoreactive leptospiral immunoglobulin-like protein A of 130 kDa (LigA) from Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona type kennewicki was isolated by screening a genomic DNA library with serum from a mare that had recently aborted due to leptospiral infection. LigA is encoded by an open reading frame of 3,675 bp, and the deduced amino acid sequence consists of a series of 90-amino-acid tandem repeats. A search of the NCBI database found that homology of the LigA repeat region was limited to an immunoglobulin-like domain of the bacterial intimin binding protein of Esc...
Boguta L, Gradzki Z, Borges E, Maurin F, Kodjo A, Winiarczyk S.Bacteria isolated from nasal cavity of 80 foals with upper respiratory tract infection, as well as from 20 healthy foals, were examined. Within the group of sick animals, from 18 (22.5%) bacteria with recognized pathogenicity were isolated. Coagulase-negative staphylococci and Acinetobacter sp. were the dominant species identified (100 and 45%, respectively). No bacteria species with recognized pathogenicity were isolated from the group of healthy animals. Three cases of death within the group of sick foals were investigated. Rhodococcus equi in two cases and Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumoniae t...
Schamberger GP, Diez-Gonzalez F.Escherichia coli strains were screened for their ability to inhibit E. coli O157:H7. An initial evaluation of 18 strains carrying previously characterized colicins determined that only colicin E7 inhibited all of the E. coli O157:H7 strains tested. A total of 540 strains that had recently been isolated from humans and nine different animal species (cats, cattle, chickens, deer, dogs, ducks, horses, pigs, and sheep) were tested by a flip-plating technique. Approximately 38% of these strains were found to inhibit noncolicinogenic E. coli K12 strains. The percentage of potentially colicinogenic E...
Fumuso E, Checura C, Losinno L, Soto P, Sánchez S.Endometritis in mares is a common cause of infertility. Conventional treatments of the disease have mostly been unsuccessful, so new therapeutic alternatives need to be investigated. This study evaluated the uterine disposition and plasma pharmacokinetic behaviour of a commercial formulation of enrofloxacin (EFX) given by the intrauterine (i.u.) route (2.5 mg/kg) in healthy mares. In order to evaluate the uterine inflammatory response, an initial histopathological study assessing polymorphonuclear cell infiltration was carried out in 20 mares over a 14-day period after treatment. In a second s...
Hartel PG, Summer JD, Hill JL, Collins JV, Entry JA, Segars WI.Several genotypic methods have been developed for determining the host origin of fecal bacteria in contaminated waters. Some of these methods rely on a host origin database to identify environmental isolates. It is not well understood to what degree these host origin isolates are geographically variable (i.e., cosmopolitan or endemic). This is important because a geographically limited host origin database may or may not be universally applicable. The objective of our study was to use one genotypic method, ribotyping, to determine the geographic variability of the fecal bacterium, Escherichia ...
Bentley AP, Barton MH, Lee MD, Norton NA, Moore JN.To determine which antimicrobials that are used to treat neonatal foals with septicemia attributable to Escherichia coli will minimize endotoxin release from bacteria and subsequent activity of inflammatory mediators while maintaining bactericidal efficacy. Methods: Blood samples from 10 healthy foals. Methods: Escherichia coli isolates A and B were isolated from 2 septicemic foals, and minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined for 9 antimicrobials. Five of these antimicrobials were tested in vitro at 2 and 20 times their respective MIC. Whole blood or mononuclear cells grown in ...
Rudolph J, O'Callaghan DJ, Osterrieder N.The genome of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) strain RacL11, a highly virulent isolate obtained from an aborted foal, and that of the modified live vaccine strain KyA, were cloned as bacterial artificial chromosomes (BAC) in Eseherichia coli. Mini F plasmid sequences were inserted into the viral genomes by homologous recombination instead of the gene 71 (EUS4) open reading frame after co-transfection of viral DNA and recombinant plasmid pdelta71-pHA2 into RK13 cells. After isolation of recombinant viruses by three rounds of plaque purification, viral DNA was isolated from RK13 cells infected...
Grady JK, Zang J, Laue TM, Arosio P, Chasteen ND.Sodium dodecyl sulfate-capillary gel electrophoresis (SDS-CGE) was used to characterize the H- and L-subunit ratios of several mammalian ferritins and one bacterioferritin. Traditionally, SDS-PAGE has been used to characterize the H- and L-subunit ratios in ferritin; however, this technique is relatively slow and requires staining, destaining, and scanning before the data can be processed. In addition, the H- and L-subunits of ferritin are fairly close in molecular weight (approximately 21,000 and approximately 20,000, respectively) and are often difficult to resolve in SDS-PAGE slab gels. In ...
DebRoy C, Maddox CW.The pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli recovered from the intestinal tract of animals fall into categories called enterotoxigenic, enteropathogenic, enterohemorrhagic and necrotoxigenic. The other two categories, enteroinvasive and enteroaggregative, have not been reported in animals. The pathogenicity of these strains is determined by the presence of certain genes that encode adhesins and toxins, are generally organized in large blocks in chromosomes, large plasmids or phages, and are often transmitted horizontally between strains. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the vir...
Bell NJ, Thomas S.An aged female donkey developed a severe, localised, suppurative panniculitis secondary to a skin wound. Bacterial culture of swabs taken from the wound gave a profuse growth of multi-drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a profuse growth of Escherichia coli and a moderate growth of beta-haemolytic Streptococcus species. The lesion did not respond to conventional medical and surgical treatment and continued to progress. Six applications of sterile larvae (maggots) of the common greenbottle, Lucilia sericata, were used to debride the wound successfully.
Gröndahl G, Sternberg S, Jensen-Waern M, Johannisson A.Two of the most commonly isolated foal pathogens are Escherichia coli and Actinobacillus equuli. The hypothesis tested in this study was that young foals carry a lower opsonic capacity for these bacteria compared to adult horses. A flow-cytometric method for the phagocytosis of these by equine neutrophils was established. The opsonic capacity of serum from healthy foals from birth to age 6 weeks was evaluated and related to the concentrations of IgGa and IgGb. Phagocytosis of yeast was used as a control. Serum was required for phagocytosis, with higher concentrations for E. coli than for A. eq...
Warner S, Hartley CA, Stevenson RA, Ficorilli N, Varrasso A, Studdert MJ, Crabb BS.Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) is a respiratory pathogen of horses and is classified as an Aphthovirus, the only non-Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) member of this genus. In FMDV, virion protein 1 (VP1) is a major target of protective antibodies and is responsible for viral attachment to permissive cells via an RGD motif located in a distal surface loop. Although both viruses share considerable sequence identity, ERAV VP1 does not contain an RGD motif. To investigate antibody and receptor-binding properties of ERAV VP1, we have expressed full-length ERAV VP1 in Escherichia coli as a glutat...
Spier SJ, Lavoie JP, Cullor JS, Smith BP, Snyder JR, Sischo WM.Thirty-two horses with clinicopathologic evidence of endotoxic shock were randomly selected for a double-blind trial of hyperimmune lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core antigen plasma. Horses were suffering from acute toxic enteritis (n = 15), 360 degrees volvulus of the large colon (n = 9), proximal jejunitis/duodenitis (n = 6), or strangulating obstruction of the small intestine (n = 2). Plasma was harvested from suitable equine plasma donors (preimmune plasma) and horses were immunized with a whole-cell bacterin of an Rc mutant E. coli (J5). Plasma was again harvested from these horses when IgG EL...
Baldani CD, Hilario E, Nakaghi AC, Bertolini MC, Machado RZ.The erythrocytic-stage surface protein, Equi Merozoite Antigen 1 (EMA-1), is a major candidate for the development of a diagnostic antigen for equine piroplasmosis. In order to establish an effective diagnostic method for practical use, the gene encoding the entire EMA-1 of Theileria equi Jaboticabal strain was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as a histidine-tagged protein (His6-EMA1). The expressed EMA-1 reacted with specific antibodies in Western blot and had an apparent molecular mass of 34 kDa which was largely consistent with its theoretical value. The nucleotide sequence of the E...
Bhaskaran S, Jay CM, Berghman LR, Wagner GG, Waghela SD.Bovine colibacillosis caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a worldwide problem. Adhesion of ETEC to intestinal cell receptors mediated by the surface protein F5 fimbriae is the initial step in the establishment of colibacillosis. Prevention of ETEC F5(+) adhesion to enterocytes protects newborn calves against collibacillosis. On the enterocytes, the F5 fimbriae bind to a ganglioside that is also found on horse red blood cells. Thus, the presence of F5 fimbriae induces haemagglutination, which is useful as an indicator in a functional assay system. In this study, recombinant ant...
Barton MH, Collatos C, Moore JN.Peritoneal fluid was collected aseptically from 30 healthy adult horses and 115 horses with acute gastrointestinal disease and supernatant was separated from cells by centrifugation followed by freezing until assayed for endotoxin and tumour necrosis factor activity. Peritoneal macrophages obtained from healthy horses were incubated in vitro for 3, 6, 12 or 24 h in the absence (media control) or presence of Escherichia coli 055:B5 endotoxin (final concentrations of 1, 10, 100 or 1000 ng/ml). Macrophages obtained from horses with acute gastrointestinal disease were incubated for 12 h in the abs...
Songsri J, Mala W, Wisessombat S, Siritham K, Cheha S, Noisa N, Wongtawan T, Klangbud WK. O157:H7 is enterohemorrhagic , which produces verocytotoxin or Shiga toxin. It is a well-known cause of severe diseases in humans worldwide. Cattle and other ruminants are the main reservoirs of this organism. Sports animals, such as fighting bulls, riding horses, and fighting cocks, are economic animals in Southern Thailand. This study aimed to identify O157:H7 from the rectal swabs of these sports animals and determine the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of isolated bacteria. Unassigned: The rectal swabs were collected from 34 fighting bulls, 32 riding horses, and 31 fighting cocks. ...
Holland RE, Grimes SD, Walker RD, Wilson RA.Hemolytic E. coli strain 807-13, O149:NM:K88(STb+, LT+), was isolated from the feces of a neonatal diarrheic foal. E. coli 807-13 was examined for adhesion to brush border membranes (BBM) from foals, adult horses and pigs, and its pathogenicity was assessed in neonatal foals and pigs. E. coli 807-13 did not adhere to equine BBM but adhered to pig BBM. It did not cause diarrhea nor did it colonize the intestinal epithelium of 3 colostrum-deprived and 3 suckled foals challenged at 24 h of age. Acute ulcerative gastritis and acute suppurative gastritis were observed in 2 colostrum-deprived challe...
Ghallab RS, El-Beskawy M, El-Shereif AA, Rashad AMA, Elbehiry MA.Equine endometritis is one of the most common causes of reproduction failure. To achieve better treatment outcomes, different diagnostic methods should be combined. In the current study, 39 repeat breeder mares were subjected to ultrasonography examination to detect excessive accumulation of intrauterine fluids and an abnormal oedema pattern, which revealed that 61.5% of mares were positive. Combined with endometrial cytology by low-volume uterine flush, 47.7% of smears contain neutrophils (more than 2-3 per HPF X100), and microbial culture. 92.3% of mares were infected with different bacteria...
Ribeiro MG, Pereira TT, de Lima Paz PJ, de Almeida BO, Cerviño CSA, Rodrigues CA, Santos GTS, de Souza Freire LM, Portilho FVR, Filho MFÁ....Central nervous system (CNS) infections comprise life-threatening clinical conditions in domestic species, and are commonly related to severe sequelae, disability, or high fatality rates. A set of bacterial pathogens have been identified in central nervous infections in livestock and companion animals, although the most of descriptions are restricted to case reports and a lack of comprehensive studies involving CNS-related bacterial infections have been focused on a great number of domestic species. In this scenario, we retrospectively investigated selected epidemiological data, clinical findi...
Giguère S, Jordan LM, Glass K, Cohen ND.Isolation of multiple bacterial species is common in foals with Rhodococcus equi pneumonia. Objective: There is no association between isolation of other microorganisms and outcome. Methods: 155 foals with pneumonia caused by R. equi. Methods: Case records of foals diagnosed with R. equi pneumonia based on culture of the respiratory tract were reviewed at 2 referral hospitals (University of Florida [UF] and Texas A&M University [TAMU]). Results: R. equi was cultured from a tracheobronchial aspirate (TBA) in 115 foals and from lung tissue in 38 foals. Survival was significantly higher at UF...
Lilliehöök I, Bröjer J, Nostell K, Kindahl H, Tvedten HW, Edner A, Hagman R.Endotoxemia is a common and severe disease of horses. Most previous studies have monitored changes caused by a bolus dose of endotoxin over short time periods. Objective: We aimed to describe inflammatory responses to endotoxin with inflammatory and hematologic markers monitored over a longer time than has been performed in the past using more prolonged endotoxin exposures. Methods: Escherichia coli O55:B5 endotoxin was administered as a 6-hour continuous intravenous infusion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to eight horses. Blood cell counts, and prostaglandin F -metabolite (PGM), serum amyloid A ...
Merwyn S, Kumar S, Agarwal GS, Rai GP.Glanders is highly contagious disease of equines, caused by Burkholderia mallei. The disease though rare, can be transmitted to humans. Here, we report a strategy for rapid detection of B. mallei from environmental samples. Different bacteriological media were evaluated and brain heart infusion broth medium with selective supplements (BHIB-SS) of penicillin (200 U/ml) and crystal violet (1:10,00000) was found to support the maximum growth of B. mallei even in the presence of other bacteria like Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a DNA hybridizatio...
Vance SJ, McDonald RE, Cooper A, Kennedy MW, Smith BO.Latherin is an intrinsically surfactant protein of ~23 kDa found in the sweat and saliva of horses. Its function is probably to enhance the translocation of sweat water from the skin to the surface of the pelt for evaporative cooling. Its role in saliva may be to enhance the wetting, softening and maceration of the dry, fibrous food for which equines are adapted. Latherin is unusual in its relatively high content of aliphatic amino acids (~25% leucines) that might contribute to its surfactant properties. Latherin is related to the palate, lung, and nasal epithelium carcinoma-associated protein...
Cargile JL, MacKay RJ, Dankert JR, Skelley L.A monoclonal antibody (MAB) against equine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (Eq TNF) was used to investigate the role of TNF in cytokine, eicosanoid, and metabolic responses of Miniature Horses given endotoxin. Plasma concentrations of interleukin 6 (IL-6), lactate, thromboxane A2 metabolite, and prostacyclin metabolite (6-keto-PGF1 alpha) were measured in 10 Miniature Horses given 0.25 microgram of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; Escherichia coli O55:B5)/kg of body weight. Five horses were given Eq TNF MAB and 5 were given isotype-matched MAB as control. All horses were given 1.86 mg of antibody/kg by IV...
Alvarado TD, Mariezcurrena Berasain MD, Salem AZM, Pinzón Martínez DL.Functional biocompounds beneficial for animals and humans are in Mexican folk herbs. Cuphea and Eryngium species presented antimicrobial potential. Natural antibiotic uses by ethnoveterinary research with medicinal plants in equine infection or digestive diseases need more scientific evidence. Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis are etiological agents in horses responsible for stable infections, abortions, fetal or perinatal deaths, and resistant intrahospital infections. The main objective of the present research was to evaluate the potential of a...
Takeda S, Ohta M, Ebina S, Nagayama K.Horse L-ferritin cDNA was cloned from horse liver, and the base sequence was determined. The L-ferritin was expressed using pTZ18U encoding lac promoter, and found to possess an additional 8-amino acid sequence at the N-terminus as compared with commercially obtained horse spleen (natural) ferritin. It was determined that there was Pro at position 94 in both the recombinant and natural L-ferritin, although it was previously reported that Leu was in this position in the natural species. Transmission electron microscopy showed that this recombinant ferritin formed a 24-mer shell.
Horsington JJ, Gilkerson JR, Hartley CA.Erbovirus is a genus of the family Picornaviridae and equine rhinitis B virus (ERBV) is the sole species. Erboviruses infect horses causing acute respiratory disease and sub-clinical and persistent infections. Despite the high seroprevalence and worldwide distribution of these viruses, the pathogenesis and antigenic structure of the three ERBV serotypes (ERBV1, 2 and 3) is poorly understood. To characterise linear epitopes on ERBV structural proteins, a set of fusion proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli. These proteins were tested in Western blot and ELISA and reactive proteins were als...
Zantingh AJ, Schwark WS, Fubini SL, Watts AE.To determine the effect of regional limb perfusion (RLP) with amikacin sulfate alone and in combination with ticarcillin/clavulanate on synovial fluid concentration and antimicrobial activity of amikacin. Methods: Experimental study. Methods: RLP with amikacin alone (A; 2.5 g) or amikacin and ticarcillin/clavulanate (AT; 2.5 g amikacin, 7 g ticarcillin/clavulanate) was performed with a tourniquet placed at mid-antebrachium in standing, sedated horses. Perfusate blood was collected immediately after injection and again before tourniquet release. Blood from the jugular vein was collected before ...
Burrows GE.Repeated exposure of ponies in Escherichia coli endotoxin resulted in attenuation of the packed cell volume, beta-glucuronidase, capillary refill time and neutrophil responses usually accompanying endotoxin administration. An overall decrease in severity of clinical response including reduced mortality was also apparent in ponies with repeated endotoxin exposure. Modification of the febrile response was not observed in any of the experimental groups.
Tzipori S, Withers M, Hayes J, Robins-Browne R, Ward KL.Equine small intestinal brush-border membranes, from 40 adult horses were tested in vitro for the presence of receptors for the Escherichia coli adhesive antigens K88ab, K88ac and K99. Only K88-positive strains of E. coli adhered strongly to horse brush-border membranes. In contrast, a K88-negative mutant strain J2, 2 K99-positive strains and 3 E. coli strains isolated from foals failed to adhere to horse brush-border membranes. Purified K88ac pili when reacted with equine brush-border membranes inhibited to a great extent the adhesion of K88-positive E. coli. Similarly, K88-positive E. coli p...
Shakarami MH, Mohammadabadi T, Motamedi H, Sari M, Teimouri Yansari A.This study was conducted to isolate and identify the cellulolytic bacteria from gastrointestinal tract of Arabian horse and investigate their effect on the nutritional value of wheat straw (WS). Results: Fresh faeces were collected from four Arabian horses. The cellulose-hydrolytic bacteria were isolated by using a medium amended with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The activity of CMC was determined by measuring the release of reducing sugars from CMC. Among the isolates, four isolates (L11, L12, L2 and Z2) showed maximum hydrolysis capacity. 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that these isolat...
Blanchard TL, Elmore RG, Kinden DA, Berg JN, Mollett TA, Garcia MC.Fifteen pony mares were assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups after foaling: Group 1, 35 ml of sterile saline solution was infused into the uterine lumen within 24 hours after parturition (6 mares); group 2, 300 mg of Escherichia coli endotoxin was infused into the uterine lumen within 24 hours after parturition (6 mares); and group 3, 300 mg of E coli endotoxin was infused into the uterine lumen between 72 and 96 hours after parturition (3 mares). Rectal temperatures were taken at -1, -0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, and 5 hours after treatment. Venous blood samples were also taken at these times...
Burrows GE.Phenylbutazone (PBZ), a classic anti-inflammatory and prostaglandin-synthesis inhibitor drug, was used to determine the role of prostaglandins and other mediators on the development and perpetuation of the response to intraperitoneal Escherichia coli endotoxin administration. The PBZ (15 mg/kg of body weight) was administered IV 30 minutes after endotoxin administration and was repeated later at 6 and 12 hours at a dose of 10 mg/kg. A variety of evaluation measurements (hematologic, blood glucose, pyruvate, lactate and fibrinogen, serum beta-glucuronidase, prothrombin time, blood gases, hepati...
Scavone D, Sgorbini M, Borges AS, Oliveira-Filho JP, Vitale V, Paltrinieri S.Paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) is an antioxidant enzyme, whose activity decreases during the acute phase response in many species. Little is known about PON-1 and its role as a negative acute phase protein during septic inflammation in horses, but promising findings about its utility in diagnosing SIRS and predicting the outcome in diseased horses, were recently highlighted. The objective of the study was to investigate the behaviour of PON-1 in horses after experimentally induced endotoxemia. To this aim, PON-1 activity was measured on 66 plasma samples collected from six clinically healthy mares, pre...
Casaite V, Bruzyte S, Bukauskas V, Setkus A, Morozova-Roche LA, Meskys R.Equine lysozyme (EL) is a calcium (Ca)-binding lysozyme and is an intermediary link between non-Ca-binding C-type lysozyme and alpha-lactalbumin. The feature of lysozymes to assemble into the fibrils has recently gained considerable attention for the investigation of the functional properties of these proteins. To study the structural and functional properties of EL, a synthetic gene was cloned and EL was overexpressed in Escherichia coli as a fused protein. The His-tagged recombinant EL was accumulated as inclusion bodies. Up to 50 mg/l of the recombinant EL could be achieved after purificati...
Lloyd E, Mauk AG.Expression of recombinant horse heart myoglobin in Escherichia coli has been found to result in the production of both native and variable amounts (approximately 16-17% total) of two sulphmyoglobin isomers. The recombinant sulphmyoglobin produced consists primarily of the A and B isomers as identified by 1H NMR spectroscopy with no evidence for production of the C isomer. Conversion of recombinant sulphmyoglobin to the native protein can be achieved by reconstitution with protohaem IX. The possible relationship of this observation to recombinant expression of other heme proteins is discussed.
Escherichia coli F17 isolated from horse feces was studied in respect to the O antigen (O polysaccharide) structure and genetics. The lipopolysaccharide was isolated by phenol-water extraction of bacterial cells and cleaved by mild acid hydrolysis to yield the O polysaccharide, which was studied by sugar analysis and selective solvolysis with CFCOH along with one- and two-dimensional H and C NMR spectroscopy. The O polysaccharide was found to have a branched pentasaccharide repeat (O-unit) containing one residue each of d-galactose, d-mannose, l-rhamnose, d-glucuronic acid, and N-acetyl-d-gluc...
Stahl C, Unger L, Mazuet C, Popoff M, Straub R, Frey J.Botulinum neurotoxins, predominantly serotypes C and D, cause equine botulism through forage poisoning. The C-terminal part of the heavy chain of botulinum neurotoxin types C and D (HcBoNT/C and D) was expressed in Escherichia coli and evaluated as a recombinant mono- and bivalent vaccine in twelve horses in comparison to a commercially available toxoid vaccine. A three-dose subcutaneous immunization of adult horses elicited robust serum antibody response in an ELISA using the immunogen as a capture antigen. Immune sera showed dose-dependent high potency in neutralizing specifically the active...
Williamson P, Munyua S, Martin R, Penhale WJ.The uterine responses after the infusion of saline (PBS), a bacterial suspension, or lipopolysaccharide derived from Escherichia coli, and after stimulation of the reproductive tract were compared. All infusions provoked a response involving both serum proteins and leucocytes. Protein levels peaked within a few hours of infusion, whereas leucocyte concentration peaked later at around 6 h. Bacterial recovery from the uterus followed a similar pattern, with recovery falling dramatically by 12 h. In mares known to be susceptible to infection large numbers of bacteria were again recovered after 24...
