Genetics in horses encompasses the study of hereditary traits and the genetic makeup that influences various characteristics and health conditions in equine populations. This field involves the analysis of genes and their functions, inheritance patterns, and the impact of genetic variations on traits such as coat color, performance ability, and susceptibility to diseases. Research in equine genetics employs techniques such as genome mapping, sequencing, and genetic testing to identify specific genes and mutations associated with these traits. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the genetic basis of equine traits, the methodologies used in genetic research, and the implications for breeding, health management, and conservation of horse breeds.
O'Rourke BA, Dennis JA, Healy PJ.Improvements to restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)-based genotyping assays currently used for detection of mutations responsible for bovine ferrochelatase and myophosphorylase deficiencies, and equine hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP) are described. Reports of sporadic inhibition of restriction enzyme activity suggest a critical factor in RFLP-based genotyping assays should be assurance that restriction enzymes perform to specification with every sample. The RFLP genotyping assays that use either a mismatched recognition sequence in one or both of the oligonucleotides, or inc...
Kankavi O, Ata A, Akif Ciftcioglu M.The presence of surface-active material in the lung alveolus has been known for several decades as being essential for normal lung function. The host defense and controlling inflammatory processes of the lung are the major functions of SP-A and SP-D. SP-A and SP-D were originally demonstrated in alveolar type II cells, but recent studies have shown extrapulmonary expression of SP-A and SP-D indicating systemic roles of these proteins. Present study describes the presence of SP-A and SP-D in the stallion genital tract, prepuce, prostate, testis, and seminal vesicle using Western blotting and im...
Leeb T, Vogl C, Zhu B, de Jong PJ, Binns MM, Chowdhary BP, Scharfe M, Jarek M, Nordsiek G, Schrader F, Blöcker H.In an effort to increase the density of sequence-based markers for the horse genome we generated 9473 BAC end sequences (BESs) from the CHORI-241 BAC library with an average read length of 677 bp. BLASTN searches with the BESs revealed 4036 meaningful hits (E <or= 10(-5)) in the human genome that provide useful markers for the human-horse comparative map. The 4036 BLASTN hits allowed the anchoring of 3079 BAC clones to the human genome, on average one corresponding equine BAC clone per megabase of human DNA. We used the BLASTN anchored BESs for an in silico prediction of the gene content an...
Halper J, Kim B, Khan A, Yoon JH, Mueller PO.Degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis (DSLD) is a debilitating disorder thought to be limited to suspensory ligaments of Peruvian Pasos, Peruvian Paso crosses, Arabians, American Saddlebreds, American Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, and some European breeds. It frequently leads to persistent, incurable lameness and need to euthanize affected horses. The pathogenesis remains unclear, though the disease appears to run in families. Treatment and prevention are empirical and supportive, and not effective in halting the progression of the disease. Presently, the presumptive diagnosis of DSLD is ...
Komosa M, Moliński K, Godynicki S.Horses bred nowadays are characterized by high variability of the body build. The variability concerns exterior features and skeleton features. From among the skeleton parts the skull is an element influenced by selection and environmental adaptation. The aim of these investigations was to find whether cranial traits exhibit variability in relation to the body build of horses. To do this, metric parameters of skulls of 43 horses used in the investigations were analysed with various statistical techniques. On the basis of ANOVA, Principal Components Analysis and Canonical Discriminant Analysis ...
Yamanaka T, Tsujimura K, Kondo T, Yasuda W, Okada A, Noda K, Okumura T, Matsumura T.Japanese encephalitis (JE) developed in an unvaccinated half-bred horse kept in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. The animal showed ataxia with pyrexia and low appetite, and ultimately died. A viral strain was isolated from the cerebrum of the horse and was identified as JE virus (JEV) by RT-PCR using JEV specific primers. The isolated JEV was classified into genotype I by nucleotide sequence analysis of the viral envelope gene. We believe that this is the first report of the genotype I strain being isolated from a horse.
Son WG, Lee DS, Yamatoda N, Hatori F, Shimizu N, Kakuda T, Sasaki Y, Tsubaki S, Takai S.We recently demonstrated the presence of virulence-associated protein antigen (VapA)-positive Rhodococcus equi in Jeju Island, Korea. These bacteria contained one of two distinct plasmid types, a 90-kb type II plasmid, which has been found in isolates from the native Kiso horses of Japan, and a new variant, a 90-kb type V plasmid. However, the genotypic characters of the VapA-positive R. equi from Jeju native horses and their environments are poorly understood. Ninety-eight isolates from soil samples and 89 isolates from fecal samples were collected from five farms that breed or have bred Jeju...
Li X, Qin Y, Wilsher S, Allen WR.Various types of cell cycle organization occur in mammals. In this study, centrosome changes during meiosis in horse oocytes, and first cell cycle organization following fertilization, parthenogenesis and nuclear transfer, were monitored. Cumulus oocyte complexes harvested from horse ovaries obtained from slaughtered mares were cultured in vitro. Meiotic oocytes of germinal vesicle (GV), germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), metaphase I and II (MI and MII) stages were selected at various set times during in vitro maturation. Embryos at the first cell cycle stage were generated by subjecting MII s...
Gastal EL, Gastal MO, Ginther OJ.A duplex grey-scale and colour-Doppler ultrasound instrument was used to study the changes in the wall of the preovulatory follicle in mares. When the follicle reached > or =35 mm (hour 0), mares were randomized into control (n = 16) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-treated (n = 16) groups. The hCG treatment was given at hour 0. Scanning was done every 12 h until hour 36, every hour between hours 36 and 48, and every 12 h thereafter until ovulation. Blood was sampled every 12 h for oestradiol assay. During the period 0-24 h post-treatment, oestradiol concentrations decreased in the hC...
Looft C, Paul S, Philipp U, Regenhard P, Kuiper H, Distl O, Chowdhary BP, Leeb T.Defensins are a family of evolutionary ancient antimicrobial peptides consisting of three sub-families: alpha-, beta- and theta-defensins. This investigation was focused on the genomic characterization of equine beta-defensins and the investigation of the potential clustering of beta-defensin genes in the equine genome. Six genomic BAC clones were isolated from the CHORI-241 library and one of these was mapped by FISH to ECA 27q17. This location was confirmed by RH-mapping. The contiguous 212 kb sequence of this clone was determined. Sequence analysis revealed the identification of ten pseudog...
Sabeur K, Ball BA.To identify the generation of the superoxide anion by equine spermatozoa. Methods: Multiple ejaculates collected from 3 Thoroughbred stallions. Methods: Induced superoxide production by reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotides (NAD[P]H; ie, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide [NADH] and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate [NADPH]) was measured by use of a nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction assay on whole spermatozoa and a cytochrome c reduction assay on isolated membrane fractions of spermatozoa. Localization of superoxide generation was determined by use of NBT cyto...
Perrocheau M, Boutreux V, Chadi S, Mata X, Decaunes P, Raudsepp T, Durkin K, Incarnato D, Iannuzzi L, Lear TL, Hirota K, Hasegawa T, Zhu B, de Jong P....A medium-density map of the horse genome (Equus caballus) was constructed using genes evenly distributed over the human genome. Three hundred and twenty-three exonic primer pairs were used to screen the INRA and the CHORI-241 equine BAC libraries by polymerase chain reaction and by filter hybridization respectively. Two hundred and thirty-seven BACs containing equine gene orthologues, confirmed by sequencing, were isolated. The BACs were localized to horse chromosomes by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Overall, 165 genes were assigned to the equine genomic map by radiation hybrid (RH...
Burns EM, Enns RM, Garrick DJ.We examined the impact of censored data on estimates of heritability of longevity. Longevity, defined as the length of productive racing life of an individual, is influenced by many factors. A simulated data set, modelled on the Irish Thoroughbred industry, was used to estimate heritabilities of longevity. Several scenarios representing various levels of censoring of performance data were created. The heritability of longevity was estimated for each scenario and compared to the estimated heritability of 0.120 for the complete data set. It was found that the estimates of heritability (0.107, 0....
Nugent J, Birch-Machin I, Smith KC, Mumford JA, Swann Z, Newton JR, Bowden RJ, Allen GP, Davis-Poynter N.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) can cause a wide spectrum of diseases ranging from inapparent respiratory infection to the induction of abortion and, in extreme cases, neurological disease resulting in paralysis and ultimately death. It has been suggested that distinct strains of EHV-1 that differ in pathogenic capacity circulate in the field. In order to investigate this hypothesis, it was necessary to identify genetic markers that allow subgroups of related strains to be identified. We have determined all of the genetic differences between a neuropathogenic strain (Ab4) and a nonneuropathogenic ...
Podolsky MJ, Lasker A, Flaminio MJ, Gowda LD, Ezekowitz RA, Takahashi K.The mannose-binding lectin (MBL), a pattern recognition serum protein, participates in the innate immune system of mammals as an opsonin. In humans, MBL plays a key role in first-line host defense against infection during the lag period prior to the development of a specific immune response. MBL also activates complement via the lectin pathway that requires a MBL-associated serine protease-2 (MASP-2). Homologues of human MBL (hMBL) have been identified in a variety of mammals, fish, and primitive animals such as ascidians. In this study, we report that equine MBL (eMBL) has properties that are...
Mauel S, Steinbach F, Ludwig H.Dendritic cells (DC) are the initiators of immune responses and are present in most tissues in vivo. To generate myeloid DC from monocytes (MoDC) in vitro the necessary cytokines are granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4). Using degenerated primers delineated from other species and rapid amplification of cDNA ends reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RACE RT-PCR), the cDNA of equine (eq.) GM-CSF was cloned and found to have a point deletion at the 3'-end of eq.GM-CSF, resulting in a 24-nucleotide extended open reading frame not described ...
Soboll G, Hussey SB, Whalley JM, Allen GP, Koen MT, Santucci N, Fraser DG, Macklin MD, Swain WF, Lunn DP.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is the cause of serious disease with high economic impact on the horse industry, as outbreaks of EHV-1 disease occur every year despite the frequent use of vaccines. Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) are important for protection from primary and reactivating latent EHV-1 infection. DNA vaccination is a powerful technique for stimulating CTLs, and the aim of this study was to assess antibody and cellular immune responses and protection resulting from DNA vaccination of ponies with combinations of EHV-1 genes. Fifteen ponies were divided into three groups of five ponies...
de Cock HE, Affolter VK, Wisner ER, Larson RF, Ferraro GL.Early diagnosis of chronic progressive lymphoedema (CPL) may result in more effective interventions and provide a basis for further investigation of whether early diagnosis could be used as a means of eliminating potential genetic influences by cessation of breeding from affected individuals. Objective: Lymphoscintigraphy may be useful in draught horses to differentiate early lesions of CPL from other conditions in the pastern region. Methods: Forelimbs of 2 normal and 5 CPL-affected draught horses were evaluated with lymphoscintigraphy. Results: Lymphoscintigraphy showed clearly the presence ...
Poncet PA, Pfister W, Muntwyler J, Glowatzki-Mullis ML, Gaillard C.Franches-Montagnes is the only native horse breed in Switzerland, therefore special efforts should be made for ensuring its survival. The objectives of this study were to characterize the structure of this population as well as genetic variability with pedigree data, conformation traits and molecular markers. Studies were focused to clarify if this population is composed of a heavy- and a light-type subpopulation. Extended pedigree records of 3-year-old stallions (n = 68) and mares (n = 108) were available. Evaluations of body conformation traits as well as pedigree data and molecular markers ...
Butler CM, Westermann CM, Koeman JP, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM.Over the last ten years a fatal syndrome associated with immunodeficiency and severe anaemia has been reported in young Fell pony foals in the UK. Affected foals are usually normal at birth but from the age of 2-4 weeks they progressively lose condition and become severely anaemic. Signs of immunodeficiency become apparent at around 3-4 weeks of age. Morbidity is low but mortality is 100% despite intensive treatment. Affected foals die or are euthanized usually before they reach the age of 3 months. A single autosomal recessive gene is suggested to be on the basis of the syndrome. Recently, af...
Harrison SP, Turrion-Gomez JL.The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule, carrying genes encoding for respiratory chain enzymes, is a primary candidate for demonstrating associations between genotype and athletic performance in mammalian species. In humans, variation at seven protein encoding mitochondrial loci has been implicated in influencing fitness and performance characteristics. Although thoroughbred horses are selected for racing ability, there have not been any previous reported associations between genotypes and racecourse performance. The multi-factorial nature of the inheritance of racing ability is an obvious comp...
Fagerness AJ, Flaherty MT, Perry ST, Jia B, Payne SL, Fuller FJ.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a macrophage-tropic lentivirus that persistently infects horses and causes a disease that is characterized by periodic episodes of fever, thrombocytopenia, and viremia. EIAV encodes only four regulatory/accessory genes, (tat, rev, ttm, and S2) and is the least genetically complex of all known lentiviruses. We sought to determine the role of the EIAV S2 accessory gene of EIAV by introducing mutations that would prevent S2 expression on the p19/wenv17 infectious molecular clone. Virus derived from the p19/wenv17 molecular clone is highly virulent and rout...
Uilenberg G.The history of the genus Babesia is briefly outlined. The classical differences with the main other genus of non-pigment-forming hemoparasites, Theileria, are the absence of extra-erythrocytic multiplication (schizogony) in Babesia and the cycle in the vector tick, which includes transovarial transmission in Babesia but only transstadial transmission in Theileria. Also, the multiplication in the red cell of Babesia, by budding, most often results in two daughter cells (merozoites), while that of Theileria gives four merozoites, often as a Maltese cross. In particular this means that what is st...
Liang H, He X, Shen RX, Shen T, Tong X, Ma Y, Xiang WH, Zhang XY, Shao YM.The Chinese equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) donkey-leukocyte attenuated vaccine (DLV) provides a unique natural model system to study the attenuation mechanism and immunological control of lentivirus replication. Critical consensus mutations were identified between virulent Chinese EIAV strains and vaccine strains. Based on a full-length infectious clone of EIAV vaccine strain pLGFD3, two molecular clones, mFD5-4-7 and mFD7-2-11, were successfully constructed, in which 4 and 6 critical consensus mutations in the env gene of the vaccine strain were point-mutated to the wild-type sequence,...
Gardner RB, Hart KA, Stokol T, Divers TJ, Flaminio MJ.A 5-week-old Fell Pony colt was examined for fever, lethargy, and anemia. The colt had been lethargic for 1 week before examination, had continued to nurse, had a temperature of 104°F (40°C), and was treated with ceftiofur (5 mg/kg IM q12h). Approximately 36 hours before examination, the colt developed watery diarrhea. Blood work performed by the referring veterinarian on the day of admission revealed a PCV of 10%.
Luciano AM, Goudet G, Perazzoli F, Lahuec C, Gérard N.The in vitro developmental competence of equine oocytes is still low in comparison with other domestic mammals. A major factor affecting the viability of cells during in vitro culture is the increased oxidative stress. Oxidative modifications could be responsible for oocyte incompetence for in vitro maturation (IVM). Cysteamine, a glutathione (GSH) synthesis enhancer, has been shown to increase intracellular GSH content and to improve embryo development when added during IVM of bovine, porcine, and ovine oocytes. The aim of the present study was (1) to determine whether equine cumulus-oocyte c...
Utt MD, Acosta TJ, Wiltbank MC, Ginther OJ.The acute effects of prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGF) on circulating oxytocin and progesterone concentrations were characterized in mares during the mid- or late-luteal phase. Pony mares were randomly assigned to the following experimental groups based on treatment with PGF (2.5mg) or saline on Day 8 or Day 13 (Day 0=ovulation): PGF-8, PGF-13, saline-8, or saline-13 (n=7/group). Mares were fitted with indwelling, jugular vein catheters and two blood samples (-5 and 0 min) were collected prior to treatment. Treatments were administered into the jugular vein (0 min) and blood collection continued t...
Hosaka Y, Sakamoto Y, Kirisawa R, Watanabe T, Ueda H, Takehana K, Yamaguchi M.Although tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha is an important key factor in degeneration of equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT), the dynamism of TNF receptors and associated factors on tendinocytes has not been elucidated. To reveal signaling events mediated by TNF-receptors (TNF-Rs) in tendinocytes, we focused on four signaling factors, TNF-R1, TNF-R2, TNF-R-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB), and investigated the distribution and production of these factors. Cultured tendinocytes were obtained from SDFTs of thoroughbred horses. The tendinocytes were t...
Bomcke E, Gengler N.Relationship coefficients are particularly useful to improve genetic management of endangered populations. These coefficients are traditionally based on pedigree data, but in case of incomplete or inexistent pedigrees they are replaced by coefficients calculated from molecular data. The main objective of this study was to develop a new method to estimate relationship coefficients by combining molecular with pedigree data, which is useful for specific situations where neither pedigree nor molecular data are complete. The developed method was applied to contribute to the conservation of the Skyr...
Solé M, Santos R, Molina A, Galisteo A, Valera M.The possibility of using quantitative kinematic traits as indirect selection criteria for sport performance could be beneficial to perform an early genetic evaluation of the animals. The genetic parameters for objectively measured kinematic traits under field conditions have been estimated for the first time, in order to potentially use these traits as indicators of gait quality in future selection of the Lusitano breed. The repeatability within three different types of training (dressage, bullfighting and untrained) was also discussed. A total of 176 males (4 to 14 years old) were recorded at...
Saint-Dizier M, Chopineau M, Dupont J, Daels PF, Combarnous Y.Luteal steroids are necessary to maintain the first 70-90 days of pregnancy in the mare. At 35 days postovulation, the resurgence of the primary corpus luteum (CL) coincides with the secretion of the fetal hormone eCG. In order to study the responsiveness of the primary CL to eCG, we have examined levels of luteal equine LH/CG receptors (eLH/CG-R) mRNAs by Northern blot analysis and measured concentrations of eLH/CG binding sites on luteal membranes using 125I-eLH saturation binding assays at three stages of gestation: before the onset of eCG secretion (Days 14-31), from onset to maximum eCG s...
Moslemi S, Vibet A, Papadopoulos V, Camoin L, Silberzahn P, Gaillard JL.Cytochrome P-450 aromatase was purified by five chromatographic steps from adult stallion testis. It was first separated from NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase (reductase) on omega-aminohexyl-Sepharose 4B then purified to homogeneity on concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B, hydroxyapatite-Sepharose 4B, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B and on a second hydroxyapatite-Sepharose 4B. On the other hand, purifications of the equine testicular and rat liver reductases, which allowed the reconstitution of aromatase activity in vitro, were achieved for each species in one chromatographic step on an adenosine 2',5'-diphosphat...
Alves BG, Alves KA, Gastal GDA, Gastal MO, Figueiredo JR, Gastal EL.Comprehensive studies on spatial distribution of preantral follicles in the ovary are scarce. Considering that preantral follicles represent the main ovarian reserve, harvesting of these follicles is crucial for the development/use of assisted reproductive techniques. Therefore, knowledge on follicle spatial distribution can be helpful for targeting areas with richer number of preantral follicles through biopsy procedures. The aim of this study was to assess the distribution and localization of equine preantral follicles according to: (i) age, (ii) ovarian portion (lateral and intermediary) an...
Stewart MC.This article focuses on current issues facing cell-based therapies in equine practice and future studies validating the use of stem cells and related biologic therapies for the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions in the horse. Issues raised include the characterization and use of tissue- and anatomic location-specific mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) sources, the putative advantages and feasibility of allogeneic embryonic stem cell and MSC products, the technical advantages and performance of cell-based biologic agents that do not require extensive ex vivo manipulation, the regulation of MSC ho...
Sousa AS, Jesus IIC, Araújo Oliveira CA, Costa RB, de Godoi FN.The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphometric measurements of stallion and mares show-winning and nonwinning Campolina breed with batida and picada gaits. A total of 167 horses (74 stallions and 93 mares), consisting of 102 batida and 65 picada gait animals, were used. Among these horses, 96 were awarded and 71 were not. Twenty linear, seven angular, and 11 girth measurements were taken. Results from the judging sessions were collected, and awards were observed in both sexes and both gaits. A descriptive statistical analysis and an analysis of variance were performed using the MEANS s...
Riley SC, Thomassen R, Bae SE, Leask R, Pedersen HG, Watson ED.Profound hormonally controlled tissue remodelling occurs in the equine ovary for follicle growth and development, and also for the alteration in follicle shape directed towards the ovulation fossa, the site where ovulation occurs. The aim of this study was to examine the spatial and temporal regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 and MMP-9, important enzymes in tissue remodelling, during follicle growth, and ovulation. Using gelatin substrate zymography, we measured these MMPs in follicular fluid of large anovulatory follicles collected during spring transition, early dominant follicl...
Gressler LT, Bordin AI, McQueen CM, Cohen ND, de Vargas AC.Rhodococcus equi preferentially infects macrophages causing pyogranulomatous pneumonia in young foals. Both the vapA and rhbC genes are up-regulated in an iron (Fe)-deprived environment, such as that found within macrophages. Chloroquine (CQ) is a drug widely used against malaria that suppresses the intracellular availability of Fe in eukaryotic cells. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of CQ to inhibit replication of virulent R. equi within murine (J774A.1) and foal alveolar macrophages (AMs) and to verify whether the mechanism of inhibition could be Fe-deprivation-d...
Mackowski M, Wodas L, Brooks SA, Cieslak J.Although only a few specific pigmentation types are allowed within the Hucul horse registry, accurate determination of particular coat colors can be uncertain due to the presence of variation in color shades and segregation of multiple dun dilution variants. Herein, we genotyped the previously identified polymorphisms within two coat color loci TBX3 (T-box 3) and ASIP (Agouti Signaling Protein) in 462 Hucul individuals and compared the genotype predicted phenotypes with observed pigmentation types provided in the Polish Horse Breeders Association database. We identified disagreement between th...
Cruz Villagrán C, Schumacher J, Donnell R, Dhar MS.Transplantation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to sites of experimentally created nerve injury in laboratory animals has shown promising results in restoring nerve function. This approach for nerve regeneration has not been reported in horses. In this study, we first evaluated the ability of equine bone marrow-derived MSCs (EBM-MSCs) to trans-differentiate into Schwann-like cells and subsequently tested the MSCs for their potential to regenerate a transected nerve after implantation. The EBM-MSCs from three equine donors were differentiated into SCLs for 7 days, , in the presence of s...
Saudek V, Atkinson RA, Williams RJ, Ramponi G.It has been proposed that combination of intraresidue, sequential and longer range nuclear Overhauser enhancements occurring in 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of protein chains folded in a helix show a regular characteristic pattern. As a test case the spectra of horse muscle acylphosphatase were searched for this pattern together with other typical signs of a helical conformation (i.e. chemical shift, coupling constants and slow 2H-H exchange). Two amino acid sequences complying with these requirements were found. Just a few amino acid spin system assignments were then sufficient to lo...
Matthews AG.Three major antiprotease components in equine serum were identified and characterised. These were the acidic prealbumin Pr, the homologue of human alpha-1 antitrypsin and 2 protease binding proteins, the acidic prealbumin Xc and alpha-2 macroglobulin, both capable of inhibiting the proteolytic activity of trypsin, but with only limited inhibitory effect on its esterolytic activity. The possible role of these serum antiproteases in the onset of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), analogous to the hereditary dysproteinaemia of alpha-1 antitrypsin in man, was investigated. There was no ...
Petersen GF, Hilbert BJ, Trope GD, Kalle WH, Strappe PM.The ability to culture neurons from horses may allow further investigation into equine neurological disorders. In this study, we demonstrate the generation of induced neuronal cells from equine adipose-derived stem cells (EADSCs) using a combination of lentiviral vector expression of the neuronal transcription factors Brn2, Ascl1, Myt1l (BAM) and NeuroD1 and a defined chemical induction medium, with βIII-tubulin-positive induced neuronal cells displaying a distinct neuronal morphology of rounded and compact cell bodies, extensive neurite outgrowth, and branching of processes. Furthermore, we ...
Adams VJ, LeBlanc N, Penell J.Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been used to evaluate the effect of various interventions on the equine microbiome. The aim of this randomised blinded clinical trial was to determine if a prebiotic nutritional supplement would result in a change from baseline in the faecal microbiome composition of racing Thoroughbred horses in training being fed a high concentrate/grain-based diet to be more similar to that found in forage fed/pasture grazed horses. Thirty-two horses on one training yard were randomised to either receive the supplement or not. Faecal samples were collected at baseline, 6...
Fernandez-Fuente M, Martin-Duque P, Vassaux G, Brown SC, Muntoni F, Terracciano CM, Piercy RJ.Several human and animal myopathies, such as malignant hyperthermia (MH), central core disease and equine recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER) are confirmed or thought to be associated with dysfunction of skeletal muscle calcium regulation. For some patients in whom the genetic cause is unknown, or when mutational analysis reveals genetic variants with unclear pathogenicity, defects are further studied through use of muscle histopathology and in vitro contraction tests, the latter in particular, when assessing responses to ryanodine receptor agonists, such as caffeine. However, since musc...
Hu D, Wang C, Ente M, Zhang K, Zhang D, Li X, Li K, Chu H.Intestinal microbiota play an important role in the survival of the host. However, no study to date has elucidated the adjustment of intestinal microbiota of the host during rewilding. Thus, this study aims to describe the intestinal bacterial community of reintroduced Przewalski’s horse (RPH) after being released into their original habitat for approximately 20 years in comparison with that of captive Przewalski’s horse (CPH), sympatric domestic horse (DH) and Mongolian wild ass (MWA) by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that the prevalent bacterial communities were differe...
Lee YR, Lee K, Byun JW, Kim H, So B, Ku BK, Kim HY, Moon BY.Clostridioides difficile is an etiological agent of enteric diseases in humans and animals. Animals are considered a potential reservoir due to the genetic and antimicrobial resistance similarities between human and animal C. difficile isolates. In this study, we evaluated the genetic characteristics and antimicrobial resistance profiles of C. difficile isolated from 942 fecal samples collected from horses in South Korea during 2019-2020. Methods: The C. difficile isolates were tested for toxin genes including tcdA (A), tcdB (B), and cdtAB (CDT) and deletions of the tcdC gene by PCR. In add...
Vincze B, Gáspárdy A, Kulcsár M, Baska F, Bálint Á, Hegedűs GT, Szenci O.Alpha-fetoprotein has proved to be a good indicator of fetal well-being in human medicine for decades. Although this molecule is present in most of the mammalian species including horses, reference values in healthy and high-risk pregnant mares have not yet been published. The aim of the present study was to determine whether equine alpha-fetoprotein (eqAFP) is a good indicator of complicated pregnancies in Lipizzaner mares. A total of 111 serum samples from 30 mares have been analyzed for eqAFP levels throughout gestation (Days 60-325). After the pregnancy was confirmed, 23 mares had normal p...
Choi YH, Love CC, Varner DD, Thompson JA, Hinrichs K.Two different culture media (TCM-199 and follicular fluid), two activation treatments (10 and 50 micromol calcium ionophore l(-1)) and three culture periods with cycloheximide were evaluated to find effective culture conditions for activation of cumulus-free equine oocytes. Oocytes were collected by scraping the follicle walls of ovaries obtained from an abattoir. Oocytes with expanded cumuli were matured at 38.2 degrees C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO(2) in air, in either TCM-199 with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 5 microU FSH ml(-1), or in 100% follicular fluid derived from a preovu...
Kim J, Jung H, Choi JY, Lee JW, Yoon M.Dopamine (DA) is known to be a key modulator of animal behaviors. Thus, the plasma concentration of DA might be used as a biomarker for the behavioral characteristics of horses. The behavioral characteristics of horses vary depending on the breed, age, and sex. Moreover, the DA receptor genotypes are also related to horse behaviors. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the DA concentration variations of horse plasma by breed, age, sex, or genotype of its receptor. The horses were divided by breed into Thoroughbred (n = 13), Pony (n = 9), Warmblood (n = 4), and Haflinger (n = 5). The ...
Ludvikova E, Nishino S, Sakai N, Jahn P.The occurrence of sleep disorder in three half sibling Lipizzaner is described. Sleepiness, swaying, stumbling, carpal joints buckling and falling down onto the carpal joints had been present since early foal age in all of them. Clinical signs had gradually reduced since the age of 2 years in cases 1 and 3. Sleepiness was induced by going out from the stable in adulthood. A physostigmine test was performed in all three affected horses and produced positive results in cases 1 and 3. The result of the test in case 2 was unclear due to the almost continuous sleepiness of the foal. Hypocretin-1 co...
Mömke S, Distl O.Chronic pastern dermatitis predominantly affects draft horses, and this condition is characterized by hyperkeratotic-hyperplastic dermal alterations. Chronic pastern dermatitis resembles the acral-hemorrhagic phenotype of Darier-White disease in humans. The ATP2A2 gene has been shown to be responsible for human Darier-White. Thus, we chose ATP2A2 on equine chromosome 8 (ECA8) as candidate for chronic pastern dermatitis in coldblood horses. A linkage analysis was performed in 10 paternal half-sib families consisting of 85 German coldblood horses using a microsatellite closely linked to ATP2A2, ...
Manning AW, Rajkumar K, Bristol F, Flood PF, Murphy BD.The variation in the quantity of circulating chorionic gonadotrophin (CG) and its follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) activity in rodent bioassay systems was investigated. A portion of the variability in total CG could be attributed to the stallion that sired the pregnancy and it was possible to select sires and mares to increase CG production. It was further demonstrated that FSH activity per unit of CG was greater at Days 71 and 104 of gestation than at Day 39. LH activity per unit of CG varied with the sire, but no effect of day of gestation could be shown. It wa...
Cymerys J, Słońska A, Brzezicka J, Tucholska A, Chmielewska A, Rola J, Malik P, Bańbura MW.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) causes respiratory infections, abortion and neurological disorders in horses. Molecular epidemiology studies have demonstrated that a single-point mutation in DNA polymerase gene, resulting in an amino acid variation (N752/D752), is significantly associated with the neuropathogenic potential of EHV-1 strains. The aim of the study was to elucidate if there are any differences between neuropathogenic (EHV-1 26) and non-neuropathogenic (Jan-E and Rac-H) EHV-1 strains in their ability to infect neuronal cells. For the tested EHV-1 strains, cytopathic effect (CPE) ...
Weideman H, Schoeman SJ, Jordaan GF.This study was carried out to estimate the heritability of liability to epistaxis in the southern African Thoroughbred population. Data of all horses that suffered epistaxis while racing in southern Africa and Mauritius from 1986 to 2002 and involving 1252 bleeders were analysed. Pedigree data covering the period 1960-1986 was used as required to calculate the incidence of bleeding amongst ancestors of the post-1986 era. Only pedigrees of horses that raced were included in this study as it was not possible to predict whether non-runners would have bled had they raced. Consequently all non-runn...
Higuchi T, Ichijo S, Osame S, Ohishi H.In order to clarify the cause of white muscle disease (W.M.D.) in foals, tocopherol and selenium concentrations in serum and glutathione peroxidase activities in blood were measured. Examination was made on the samples from horses affected with W.M.D., the foal kept with them in the same stable, the foals kept in the stables without affected foals, and respective mares. The heavy-breed horses in Fukuoka prefecture and Tokachi district were also examined for comparison. Serum tocopherol levels of these foals were normal because after intake of colostrum. Mares of affected foals showed lower toc...
Nikbakhsh M, Varkoohi S, Seyedabadi HR.Kurdish horse is one of the most valuable horse genetic resources in the Middle East. To assess the genetic diversity of Kurdish horses, Mitochondrial DNA D-loop hyper-variable region1 (HVR1) was sequenced in 29 non-related Kurdish horses which were sampled from diverse geographic regions of Iran. Total DNA was extracted from the collected blood samples by modified salting out method. The HVR1 was amplified by PCR and then sequenced using ABI PRISM BigDyeTM Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit. Consequently, the sequences were trimmed to 294 bp using BIOEDIT to become comparable wit...
Visser MB, Pollitt CC.Laminitis is known to involve deregulation of proteases and destruction of the lamellar basement membrane with the host inflammatory response also playing a role. Leukocyte infiltration has been well characterized in the black walnut model of laminitis induction, but not in carbohydrate induced models. Increased gene expression of multiple cytokines, including IL-6, has also been implicated in laminitis development. Using real time PCR, immunohistochemistry and zymography methods, we characterize leukocyte infiltration and IL-6 gene expression in oligofructose (OF) induced laminitis. As well, ...
