"Horses" is a broad topic that encompasses various aspects of equine biology, behavior, and management. This category includes studies on the anatomy, physiology, and genetics of horses, as well as their behavior, nutrition, and care. Research in this area may also cover the historical and cultural significance of horses, their roles in agriculture, sport, and therapy, and the challenges associated with their conservation and welfare. The page aggregates peer-reviewed research articles and scholarly studies that explore the multifaceted relationships between humans and horses, examining both scientific and socio-economic perspectives.
Quiñones-Pérez C, Martínez A, Ortiz I, Crespo F, Vega-Pla JL.Despite the advances in reproductive technology, there is still a considerable number of low sperm quality cases in stallions. Recent studies in humans have detected several seminal microflora-spermatozoa associations behind some idiopathic infertility cases. However, no studies are available on horses, and there is limited information on the microflora present in stallion ejaculates. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to examine associations to the presence of bacteria families with five sperm quality parameters: concentration, total number of spermatozoa, total and progressive moti...
Janczarek I, Wiśniewska A, Tkaczyk E, Wnuk-Pawlak E, Kaczmarek B, Liss-Szczepanek M, Kędzierski W.Cooling a horse after intensive exercise under hot conditions is commonly recommended. The study aimed to analyze changes in the rectal and surface temperature of the horses subjected to various water cooling treatments. This followed medium-intensity exercise performed by leisure horses under moderate air temperature. The experiment involved a control group without water application, and three variants of water cooling applied to 19 warmblood geldings after medium-intensity effort. Cooling of lower, upper, and lower and upper body parts was performed. In each variant, the rectal and body surf...
Lemonnier LC, Thorin C, Meurice A, Dubus A, Touzot-Jourde G, Couroucé A, Leroux AA.The analgesic efficacy of meloxicam and ketoprofen against equine visceral pain is unclear. The aim of this study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of meloxicam (M) and ketoprofen (K) to flunixin meglumine (F) following inguinal castration. Horses undergoing inguinal castration under general anesthesia were randomly assigned F (1.1 mg/kg), M (0.6 mg/kg) or K (2.2 mg/kg) intravenously two hours pre-operatively and 24 h later. A pain score (out of 31) was recorded blindly by a senior clinician and veterinary student before NSAIDs administration (T0), and after the first (T1) and second (T2) ...
Tesena P, Kingkaw A, Phaonakrop N, Roytrakul S, Limudomporn P, Vongsangnak W, Kovitvadhi A.Equine melanocytic neoplasm (EMN) is a common disease in older grey horses. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential proteins throughout EMN stages from faecal proteomic outlining using functional analysis. Faecal samples were collected from the rectum of 25 grey horses divided into three groups; normal group without EMN ( = 10), mild EMN ( = 6) and severe EMN ( = 9). Based on the results, 5910 annotated proteins out of 8509 total proteins were assessed from proteomic profiling. We observed differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between the normal group and the EMN group, and 1...
Whitty JA, Miller AV, Miller AD, Carney PC, Scrivani PV.The styloid process sheath (SPS) is a part of the tympanic temporal bone and an incomplete bony sleeve surrounding the styloid process, tympanohyoid cartilage, and dorsal part of the stylohyoid bone. In horses undergoing head CT, we observed a range of SPS sizes and questioned whether differences were early features of temporohyoid osteoarthropathy (THO) or normal anatomic variations associated with age, body weight, sex, or breed. We hypothesized that SPS sizes were positively correlated with age and body weight, but not with sex or breed. Using a convenience population of horses that underwe...
Nápravníková J, Várady M, Vadlejch J.The control of strongylid infections has become challenging globally for equine practitioners due to the development of anthelmintic resistance. Comprehensive information on anthelmintic resistance in the Czech Republic, however, is still lacking. This study monitored the current efficacy of fenbendazole, pyrantel embonate, ivermectin and moxidectin. Forty-eight of 71 operations met the criteria (≥6 horses with ≥200 eggs per gram), with 969 fecal egg count reduction tests performed. Anthelmintic resistance was evaluated on an operation level based on fecal egg count reduction (FECR) and th...
Spriet M, Edwards L, Arndt S, Wilson SS, Galuppo LD, Stepanov P, Beylin D.A positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, with an openable ring of detectors, was specifically designed to image the distal limb of standing horses. The goals of this prospective, preclinical, experimental, methods comparison study were to validate the safety of the scanner, assess image quality, and optimize scanning protocols. Six research horses were imaged three times (twice standing, once anesthetized) and six horses in active race training were imaged once under standing sedation. Multiple scans of both front fetlocks were obtained with different scan durations and axial fields of vi...
Vajs T, Nekouei O, Biermann NM.The tarsus is one of the most common areas of traumatic injury with associated synovial involvement (SI) in horses. The aim of this retrospective study was to describe the clinical presentation, diagnostic procedures, management (emphasizing the type, duration, and route of antimicrobial administration), and outcome of cases with acute soft tissue trauma to the tarsal region. The presenting clinical features, the results of diagnostic modalities, and the initial response to therapy were assessed for their usefulness to predict SI. Medical records of 72 cases were included and SI was diagnosed ...
Hobbs KJ, Porter E, Wait C, Dark M, MacKay RJ.Magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly available for evaluation of horses with suspected pituitary adenomas; however, published studies describing the MRI features of normal equine pituitary glands are currently lacking. This retrospective, descriptive, anatomic study describes the MRI appearance and size of presumed normal equine pituitary glands and assesses potential correlations between pituitary size, brain size, and patient weight. These findings serve as a reference for MRI evaluation of the equine pituitary gland. Inclusion criteria consisted of adult horses (2-15 years old), over ...
Ferrari G, Pang LY, De Moliner F, Vendrell M, Reardon RJM, Higgins AJ, Chopra S, Argyle DJ.Bleomycin is a chemotherapy agent that, when administered systemically, can cause severe pulmonary toxicity. Bleosome is a novel formulation of bleomycin encapsulated in ultra-deformable (UD) liposomes that may be applicable as a topical chemotherapy for diseases such as non-melanoma skin cancer. To date, the ability of Bleosome to effectively penetrate through the skin has not been evaluated. In this study, we investigated the ability of Bleosome to penetrate through ex vivo skin explants from dogs and horses. We visualized the penetration of UD liposomes through the skin by transmission elec...
DeBoer ML, Jaqueth AL, Tuszka A, Martinson KL.Blanketing is a highly debated practice utilized in the equine community as part of winter horse management. Despite this, little research is available on the prevalence, reasoning, and management decisions related to use of blankets for horses in North America. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop an understanding of blanketing management practices and beliefs of North American horse owners. A 33-question, branched online survey was developed and available between December 1, 2020 and January 5, 2021 and advertised using social media and e-newsletters. The FREQ procedure for ...
Ravaioli V, Raffini E, Tamburini M, Galletti G, Frasnelli M.Endometritis is a major cause of infertility and subfertility in the mare. Early diagnosis and identification of the pathogens involved in infectious endometritis are crucial to initiate correct treatments in time, in order to optimize fertility and reduce the risk of bacterial resistance development. In this retrospective study (from 2014 to 2018), 394 samples (uterine swabs and lavages) obtained from mares before breeding, regardless of clinical history of endometritis were analyzed. Our bacteriological procedure included the subculturing from the enrichment in Brain Heart Infusion Broth of ...
Patterson Rosa L, Campos FA, Martin K, Vierra M, Foster G, Lundquist E, Brooks SA, Lafayette C.Pedigrees and horse written ancestry contain numerous inconsistencies and divergence between farm histories, owner accounts and registration records. In particular, the origins of the Brazilian Mangalarga, or "Mangalarga Paulista'' horse breed is controversial, and the breed's popular history claims that one of its most famous individuals, Turbante J.O., may have been sired by an unknown Hanoverian stallion. Turbante J.O. sired over 1678 offspring and is present in about 71% of the male pedigrees. We genotyped Turbante J.O. and 29 registered Mangalarga individuals using a commercially availabl...
Walendy L, Goehring LS, Zablotski Y, Weyh T, Matiasek K, May A.Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been successfully used in horses to evaluate function and integrity of descending motor pathways in patients affected by neurological gait abnormalities. In preceding studies, lengthening latency times (LT) of cranially evoked limb muscle potentials have been considered a reliable diagnostic parameter. Standardized settings use device output signal intensities of 100%. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of submaximal stimulation intensities (SI) and to determine the minimum coil output necessary to evoke motor unit potentials. As an ad...
Krumrych W, Danek J, Markiewicz H, Gołyński M.The aim of this study was to analyze the chemiluminescence (CL) of peripheral blood in clinically healthy horses of different sexes and ages. The tests were carried out on 119 half- -breed horses, representing various forms of use (66 recreational horses and 53 sport horses). The test material was peripheral blood, which was collected under resting conditions, i.e. before physical activity related to the use of these animals. In the blood samples, spontaneous and stimulated CL with zymosan and phorbol myristate acetate were determined. It has been found that regular training effort increases t...
Dyrda K, Orzołek A, Ner-Kluza J, Wysocki P.Phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of proteins are considered to be the most important processes in sperm maturation during epididymal transit. The main aim of this study was to isolate and identify phosphoproteins from the epididymal milieu obtained from reproductively mature stallions during and out of the breeding season. With the use of 1D-PAGE and nanoLC-MS/MS, we identified phosphoproteins that fulfil various functions: regulatory, transport, motility, ubiquitination, chaperone, antioxidant, apoptotic and enzymatic. Moreover, we characterized tyrosine, serine and threonine phosphoryla...
Peckle M, Pires MS, Dos Santos TM, Roier ECR, da Silva CB, Vilela JAR, Paulino PG, Santos HA, Massard CL.The epidemiological aspects of Babesia caballi infection were evaluated in 516 horse samples from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The presence and infestation level of ticks on horses, breed conditions, and animal management were evaluated on each farm through an epidemiological questionnaire. The gene that codes for rhoptry-associated protein-1 (RAP-1) of B. caballi was amplified by nested PCR (nPCR). Among the horses sampled, 17.2% (n = 89/516) presented B. caballi DNA. The characterized samples showed 99-100% similarity with other isolates of B. caballi based on the RAP-1 gene, available in GenBa...
Gu XL, Dai FY, Xiao X, Li GZ, Zhang LM, Qu WJ.The effect of Ageratina adenophora on pathological characteristics of the liver and lungs as well as serum biochemical parameters in horses were investigated. Ten horses without ingestion history of Ageratina adenophora were classified into the control group, and 10 poisoned but survived horses with 3 months ingestion history were set as the case group. Results showed that serum AST, ALT, ALP, magnesium and phosphorus were elevated significantly, while creatinine was decreased remarkably. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of liver tissues showed diffuse swelling or destruction of hepatocytes, nar...
Niroomandi E, Maleki S, Abdollahpour G, Zakian A, Ahmadvand H.Leptospirosis is one of the important zoonotic bacterial diseases with a worldwide distribution that is often subclinical. We aimed to investigate the oxidant/antioxidant balance and acute-phase response in naturally infected horses and cattle with Leptospira interrogans. A total of 600 serum samples from horses and cattle were examined for L. interrogans antibodies using the microscopic agglutination test to determine anti-Leptospira IgG antibodies against a panel of eight important Leptospira antigens in Iran. Then, serum total antioxidant capacity, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and malo...
Strohmayer C, Klang A, Kummer S, Walter I, Jindra C, Weissenbacher-Lang C, Redmer T, Kneissl S, Brandt S.Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) is a common malignant tumor in humans and animals. In humans, papillomavirus (PV)-induced HNSCCs have a better prognosis than papillomavirus-unrelated HNSCCs. The ability of tumor cells to switch from epithelial to mesenchymal, endothelial, or therapy-resistant stem-cell-like phenotypes promotes disease progression and metastasis. In equine HNSCC, PV-association and tumor cell phenotype switching are poorly understood. We screened 49 equine HNSCCs for equine PV (EcPV) type 2, 3 and 5 infection. Subsequently, PV-positive versus -negative lesi...
Gish A, Robveille C, Gicquel T, Allorge D, Gault G, Gaulier JM.Analytical detection of Oenanthe crocata toxins in biological samples is challenging because of their instability, the lack of commercially available standards and the exceptionally low detection of these molecules using mass spectrometry. This work aims to report the used analytical methods that allowed identification of the main plant toxins in biological samples from an equid (an Arabian horse) fatality related to hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata Linnaeus) intake. Using both LC-DAD and LC-HRMS methods allowed identification (i) of oenanthotoxin in roots found on the site, root fragm...
Lawson EF, Grupen CG, Baker MA, Aitken RJ, Swegen A, Pollard CL, Gibb Z.Lipids are dynamic biological molecules that play key roles in metabolism, inflammation, cell signalling and structure. They are biologically significant in the physiology of conception and reproduction. Many of the mechanisms surrounding equine conception and the early feto-maternal dialogue are yet to be understood at a biochemical level. Recently, lipidomic technologies have advanced considerably and analytical strategies have been enhanced and diversified. Consequently, in-depth lipidomic exploration now has the potential to reveal new lipid biomarkers and biochemical relationships that im...
Melotti L, Carolo A, Elshazly N, Boesso F, Da Dalt L, Gabai G, Perazzi A, Iacopetti I, Patruno M.In the present case report a show jumping 10-year-old Sella Italiano gelding, presented with severe lameness, swelling and pain at palpation of the mid-metacarpal region of the left forelimb. Clinical and ultrasound examination diagnosed a chronic tendonitis of the central region of the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT). The lesion was a reoccurrence since it developed from a previously healed injury. The horse had to stop competing and was unresponsive to gold-standard treatments as Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and conservative management after 6 months of therapy. Th...
Mainguy-Seers S, Diaw M, Lavoie JP.While the prevalence of asthma is higher in boys than in girls during childhood, this tendency reverses at puberty, suggesting an effect of sex hormones on the disease pathophysiology. Fluctuations of asthma severity concurring with the estrus cycle are reported in women, but this phenomenon has never been investigated in mares to date. The objective of this exploratory study was to determine whether the estrus cycle modulates airway obstruction in severe equine asthma (SEA). Five mares with SEA during exacerbation of the disease were studied. The whole breath, expiratory and inspiratory resis...
Laseca N, Molina A, Ramón M, Valera M, Azcona F, Encina A, Demyda-Peyrás S.The loss of genetic variability in livestock populations bred under strict selection processes is a growing concern, as it may lead to increased inbreeding values and lower fertility, as a consequence of the "inbreeding depression" effect. This is particularly important in horses, where inbreeding levels tend to rise as individuals become more and more closely related. In this study, we evaluated the effect of increased inbreeding levels on mare fertility by combining an SNP-based genomic approach using runs of homozygosity and the estimation of genetic breeding values for reproductive traits ...
Takai S, Yoda A, Sasaki Y, Kakuda T, Suzuki Y, Oikawa M.Tracheal washing fluid was collected from 170 foals at 28 and 35 d old from February to July in a foaling season on horse-breeding farms with sporadic rhodococcosis in Japan and was investigated by quantitative culture. The history of the 170 foals followed up for the next few months. The proportion of R. equi-positive foals at 28 and 35 d old was significantly increased according to the birth month. Furthermore, the mean number of R. equi in the tracheal washing fluid of each month group increased according to their birth month with the rise in outside temperature. During the follow-up observ...
Falcão MVD, Laroucau K, Vorimore F, Deshayes T, Santana VLA, Silva KPC, do Nascimento SA, de Castro RS, Araújo FR, Mota RA.Glanders is an infectious zoonosis caused by Burkholderia (B.) mallei that mainly affects equids. The objective of this work was to provide additional knowledge on the diversity of the strains circulating in Brazil. Six Burkholderia mallei isolates obtained during necropsies of glanderous horses between 2014 and 2017 in two different states (Pernambuco and Alagoas) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-high-resolution melting (PCR-HRM). While four strains (9902 RSC, BM_campo 1, BM_campo 3 and UFAL2) clustered in the L3B2 branch, which already includes the Brazilian 16-2438_BM#8 strain, tw...
Uzal FA, Navarro MA, Asin J, Henderson EE.The clostridial diseases of horses can be divided into three major groups: enteric/enterotoxic, histotoxic, and neurotoxic. The main enteric/enterotoxic diseases include those produced by Clostridium perfringens type C and Clostridioides difficile, both of which are characterized by enterocolitis. The main histotoxic diseases are gas gangrene, Tyzzer disease, and infectious necrotic hepatitis. Gas gangrene is produced by one or more of the following microorganisms: C. perfringens type A, Clostridium septicum, Paeniclostridium sordellii, and Clostridium novyi type A, and it is characterized by ...
Sears KP, Knowles DP, Fry LM.The global importance of the hemoparasite to equine health was recently shown by its resistance to imidocarb dipropionate (ID) and its interference with clearance by ID in some co-infected horses. Genetic characterization of revealed marked genomic reduction compared to , and initial experiments demonstrated reduced clinical severity in spleen-intact horses. Furthermore, in early experiments, splenectomized horses survived infection and progressed to an asymptomatic carrier state, in stark contrast to the high fatality rate of in splenectomized horses. Thus, we hypothesized that is less ...
Hopster K, Hurcombe SD, Simpson K, VanderBroek AR, Driessen B.Mechanical ventilation is usually achieved by active lung inflation during inspiration and passive lung emptying during expiration. By contrast, flow-controlled expiration (FLEX) ventilation actively reduces the rate of lung emptying by causing linear gas flow throughout the expiratory phase. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of FLEX on lung compliance and gas exchange in anesthetized horses in dorsal recumbency. Methods: 8 healthy horses. Methods: All animals were anesthetized twice and either ventilated beginning with FLEX or conventional volume-controlled ventilation in a randomized, cros...
Thomas E, Thomas V, Wilhelm C.Cefquinome is known for its use as an antibacterial drug in cattle and pigs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of cefquinome against equine pathogenic bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cefquinome was determined for a total of 205 strains, which had recently been isolated in Europe from diseased horses (respiratory infection, foal septicaemia). The bactericidal activity was tested against 19 strains using the time killing method. The post-antibiotic effect (PAE) and post-antibiotic sub-MIC effect (PA SME) were determined against 12 stra...
Sweeney CR, Rossier Y, Ziemer EL, Lindborg S.Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was analyzed in healthy horses, using different lavage fluid volumes and lung sites. The only significant difference in the cellular composition of BAL fluid between the right and left lungs was the mast cell numbers, which were significantly higher in the left lung. Total cell count ranged from 34 to 330 cells/microliter for the right lung and 43 to 330 cells/microliter for the left lung. Percentage of neutrophils ranged from 1 to 7% in the right lung and 1 to 5% in the left lung. The small-volume (50 ml) lavage had a greater percentage of neutrophils and a ...
Fougerolle S, Fortier C, Legrand L, Jourdan M, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Pronost S, Paillot R.Every year, several epizooties of equine influenza (EI) are reported worldwide. However, no EI case has been identified in France between 2015 and late 2018, despite an effective field surveillance of the pathogen and the disease. Vaccination against equine influenza virus (EIV) remains to this day one of the most effective methods to prevent or limit EI outbreaks and the lack of detection of the pathogen could be linked to vaccination coverage. The aim of this study was to evaluate EI immunity and vaccine coverage in France through a large-scale serological study. A total of 3004 archived sur...
Broux B, De Clercq D, Decloedt A, Ven S, Vera L, van Steenkiste G, Mitchell K, Schwarzwald C, van Loon G.Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common pathological arrhythmia in horses. After successful treatment, recurrence is common. Heart rate monitors are easily applicable in horses and some devices offer basic heart rate variability (HRV) calculations. If HRV can be used to distinguish between AF and sinus rhythm (SR), this could become a monitoring tool for horses at risk for recurrence of AF. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess whether in horses AF (before cardioversion) and SR (after cardioversion) can be differentiated based upon HRV parameters. Methods: Cohort study with in...
Bischofberger AS, Dart CM, Perkins NR, Kelly A, Jeffcott L, Dart AJ.To compare the effects of manuka honey and manuka honey gel on second intention healing of noncontaminated distal limb wounds and those contaminated with feces. Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Standardbred horses (n = 10). Methods: Five full-thickness wounds (2 × 2 cm) were created on both metacarpi. Wounds on 1 forelimb were covered with horse feces for 24 hours. Wounds on the contralateral limb were left uncontaminated. Wounds were assigned to the following 5 different treatments: manuka honey, manuka honey gel or gel applied for 12 days, manuka honey gel applied throughout healing an...
Hailat NQ, Lafi SQ, al-Darraji AM, al-Ani FK.Clinical, haematological and pathological studies were undertaken in Jordan in a stud of 103 racing horses clinically suffering from babesiosis and apparently healthy animals. Out of 47 horses which participated in strenuous exercise, three mares showed sudden onset of immobility and reluctance to move and two mares died. Clinical examination revealed that these five horses (group 1) had fever, anorexia, weakness and severe icterus and, in two mares, haemoglobinuria. Haematological examination revealed that all five horses were heavily parasitized with Babesia equi. This was also found in four...
Ambrisko TD, Schramel JP, Adler A, Kutasi O, Makra Z, Moens YP.The aim was to evaluate the feasibility of using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) in horses. Thoracic EIT was used in nine horses. Thoracic and abdominal circumference changes were also measured with respiratory ultrasound plethysmography (RUP). Data were recorded during baseline, rebreathing of CO2 and sedation. Three breaths were selected for analysis from each recording. During baseline breathing, horses regularly took single large breaths (sighs), which were also analysed. Functional EIT images were created using standard deviations (SD) of pixel signals and correlation coefficients (...
Balasuriya UB, Crossley BM, Timoney PJ.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is one of the most economically important equine viral pathogens. Its clinical manifestations in horses vary from acute upper respiratory tract disease, abortion, or neonatal death, to neurological disease termed equine herpesviral myeloencephalopathy, which may lead to paralysis and a fatal outcome. Successful identification of EHV-1 infection in horses depends on a variety of factors such as suitable case selection with emphasis on timing of sample collection, selection of appropriate sample(s) based on the clinical manifestations, application of relevant diagnost...
Hinchcliff KW, Morley PS, Jackson MA, Brown JA, Dredge AF, O'Callaghan PA, McCaffrey JP, Slocombe RF, Clarke AF.Risk factors for occult exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) are poorly defined or quantified. Objective: To investigate the importance of putative risk factors for EIPH amongst Thoroughbred racehorses in Australia. Methods: Tracheobronchoscopy was used to determine EIPH status of 744 Thoroughbred racehorses after flat racing in Melbourne, Australia. Horses were identified for study before racing, and over 50% of horses racing during the study period were examined. Statistical analysis included use of bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to account for simultaneous ...
Letson GW, Bailey RE, Pearson J, Tsai TF.An Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) outbreak in 1989 led to nine human and 196 equine cases, chiefly in coastal Atlantic and Gulf Coast counties. In the past two decades, EEE age-specific incidence and mortality rates have declined compared with earlier years. Analysis of rainfall patterns in areas where human EEE cases occurred between 1983 and 1989 revealed an association between occurrence of human cases and excess rainfall. The association was stronger with data from local weather stations than from statewide rainfall averages and the predictive models were best when applied to northern s...
Cook SJ, Cook RF, Montelaro RC, Issel CJ.Most in vivo studies with equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) have been performed in horses and ponies (Equus caballus) with little published information available detailing the clinical responses of donkeys (Equus asinus) to infection with this virus. Consequently, donkeys were inoculated with two strains of EIAV (EIAV(PV) and EIAV(WY)) which have been documented to produce disease in E. caballus. Four ponies, 561, 562, 564 and 567 and two donkeys, 3 and 5 were infected with EIAV(PV) and one horse (94-10) and one donkey (4) were infected with EIAV(WY). Although the horse and ponies all expe...
De Schauwer C, Meyer E, Cornillie P, De Vliegher S, van de Walle GR, Hoogewijs M, Declercq H, Govaere J, Demeyere K, Cornelissen M, Van Soom A.Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) represent a promising population for supporting new clinical concepts in cellular therapy. A wide diversity of isolation procedures for MSC from umbilical cord blood (UCB) has been described for humans. In contrast, a few data are available in horses. In the current study, a sedimentation method using hydroxyethyl starch and a method based on the lysis of red blood cells using ammonium chloride (NH(4)Cl) were compared with two density gradient separation methods (Ficoll-Paque and Percoll). Adherent cell colonies could be established using all four isolation meth...
Parbhakar OP, Duke T, Townsend HG, Singh B.Horses are unique in their extreme sensitivity to endotoxin-induced cardio-pulmonary shock and mortality. The mechanisms behind increased sensitivity of the horse to endotoxin remain unknown. Pulmonary intravascular macrophages (PIMs) are pro-inflammatory cells occurring in horses. Because the functions of equine PIMs in endotoxemia remain unknown, we studied the role played by equine PIMs in endotoxin-induced pulmonary pathophysiology. We achieved this by using a recently developed protocol to deplete PIMs in order to compare lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pulmonary responses in horses with...
Ogłuszka M, Starzyński RR, Pierzchała M, Otrocka-Domagała I, Raś A.Equine sarcoid is the most common skin tumor of horses. Clinically, it occurs as a locally invasive, fibroblastic, wart-like lesion of equine skin, which has 6 clinical classes: occult, verrucose, nodular, fibroblastic, mixed, and malignant. Sarcoids may be single but multiple lesions are more frequent. The typical histological feature is increased density of dermal fibroblasts which form interlacing bundles and whorls within the dermis. Lesions are mostly persistent, resist therapy, and tend to recur following treatment. In general, sarcoids are not fatal but their location, size, and progres...
Madigan JE, Bell SA.Headshaking is a maturity onset condition with the most commonly reported clinical signs being 'flipping' of the nose, nose rubbing, snorting or sneezing, and acting like a bee is flying up the nostril. A questionnaire was completed by owners of 31 horses with headshaking syndrome. The history, time of onset, clinical presentation and treatment of this condition were reported. Headshaking appeared to be light-stimulated in approximately 60% of the horses. The condition is seasonal and recurring in the majority of horses. Treatment with cyproheptadine produced improvement of symptoms in 76% of ...
Li F, Drummer HE, Ficorilli N, Studdert MJ, Crabb BS.Equine rhinovirus 1 (ERhV1) is a recognized cause of acute febrile respiratory disease in horse, although the virus is rarely isolated from such animals, despite seroprevalence rates as high as 50% in some horse populations. Recently, ERhV1 has been shown to be most closely related to foot-and-mouth disease virus, raising questions as to its disease associations in horses. We report that ERhV1 infection was the likely cause of two separate outbreaks of severe febrile respiratory disease which involved more than 20 horses. Attempts to isolate ErhV1 from nasopharyngeal swabs by conventional cell...
Haugaard MM, Pehrson S, Carstensen H, Flethøj M, Hesselkilde EZ, Praestegaard KF, Diness JG, Grunnet M, Jespersen T, Buhl R.Only few pharmacologic compounds have been validated for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) in horses. Studies investigating the utility and safety of flecainide to treat AF in horses have produced conflicting results, and the antiarrhythmic mechanisms of flecainide are not fully understood. Objective: To study the potential of flecainide to terminate acutely induced AF of short duration (≥ 15 minutes), to examine flecainide-induced changes in AF duration and AF vulnerability, and to investigate the in vivo effects of flecainide on right atrial effective refractory period, AF cycle length...
Tiley HA, Geor RJ, McCutcheon LJ.To determine effects of dexamethasone on glucose dynamics and insulin sensitivity in healthy horses. Methods: 6 adult Standardbreds. Methods: In a balanced crossover study, horses received dexamethasone (0.08 mg/ kg, IV, q 48 h) or an equivalent volume of saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (control treatment) during a 21-day period. Horses underwent a 3-hour frequently sampled IV glucose tolerance test (FSIGT) 2 days after treatment. Minimal model analysis of glucose and insulin data from FSIGTs were used to estimate insulin sensitivity (Si), glucose effectiveness (Sg), acute insulin response to gluc...
Dennis SJ, O'Kennedy MM, Rutkowska D, Tsekoa T, Lourens CW, Hitzeroth II, Meyers AE, Rybicki EP.African horse sickness (AHS) is caused by multiple serotypes of the dsRNA AHSV and is a major scourge of domestic equids in Africa. While there are well established commercial live attenuated vaccines produced in South Africa, risks associated with these have encouraged attempts to develop new and safer recombinant vaccines. Previously, we reported on the immunogenicity of a plant-produced AHS serotype 5 virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine, which stimulated high titres of AHS serotype 5-specific neutralizing antibodies in guinea pigs. Here, we report a similar response to the vaccine in horses. ...
Cummings JF, de Lahunta A, George C, Fuhrer L, Valentine BA, Cooper BJ, Summers BA, Huxtable CR, Mohammed HO.A spontaneous motor neuron disease or neuronopathy was identified in 10 horses from the northeastern United States. Signs of generalized weakness, muscle fasciculations, muscle atrophy and weight loss progressed over 1 to several months in young and old horses of various breeds. Pathologic studies revealed that degeneration and loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain stem resulted in axonal degeneration in the ventral roots and peripheral and cranial nerves and denervation atrophy of skeletal muscle. Many spinal neurons were swollen, chromatolytic and contained neurofilamentous accu...
Aurich C, Budik S.Early equine pregnancy shares many features with that of more intensively assessed domestic animals species, but there are also characteristic differences. Some of those are poorly understood. Descent of the equine conceptus into the uterine lumen occurs at day 5 to 6 after ovulation but is only possible when the embryo secretes prostaglandin E2. Although maintenance of equine pregnancy probably involves secretion of a conceptus derived anti-luteolytic factor, this agent has not been identified. Rapid growth, conceptus mobility and presence of an acellular capsule at the time of maternal recog...
Madigan JE, Pusterla N, Johnson E, Chae JS, Pusterla JB, Derock E, Lawler SP.Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever (PHF), has been recently detected in trematode stages found in snail secretions and in aquatic insects. Based on these findings, horses could conceivably be exposed to E. risticii by skin penetration with infected cercariae, by ingestion of infected cercariae in water or via metacercariae in a second intermediate host, such as an aquatic insect. In order to test this hypothesis, horses were challenged with infectious snail secretions and aquatic insects collected from a PHF endemic region in northern California. Two horses stood with their f...
Moleman M, van Heel MC, van Weeren PR, Back W.There is little insight into the effects of routine farriery on the internal structures of the distal limb in sound horses. Objective: To measure the effect of change in hoof conformation during a shoeing interval on the moments about the proximal and distal interphalangeal joints (PIPJ, DIPJ) and to determine whether and how the horse compensates for this change in hoof conformation. Methods: Both front feet of 9 sound Warmblood horses were measured while standing on a pressure-force measuring system and radiographed in a lateromedial direction shortly after shoeing and 8 weeks later. From th...
Azmi K, Tirosh-Levy S, Manasrah M, Mizrahi R, Nasereddin A, Al-Jawabreh A, Ereqat S, Abdeen Z, Lustig Y, Gelman B, Schvartz G, Steinman A.West Nile virus (WNV) epidemiological situation in Israel and Palestine, due to their unique location, draws attention following to the global spread of West Nile fever (WNF). Although much information is available from Israel on clinical cases and prevalence of WNV, clinical cases are rarely reported in Palestine, and prevalence is not known. The objectives of this study were to determine WNV seroprevalence in various domestic animals in Palestine and to reevaluate current seroprevalence, force of infection, and risk factors for WNV exposure in horses in Israel. Sera samples were collected fr...
Thorpe CT, Stark RJ, Goodship AE, Birch HL.Damage to the flexor tendons, particularly the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT), is one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries sustained by horses competing in all disciplines. Our previous work has shown that SDFTs from different individuals show a wide variation in mechanical strengths; this is important clinically as it may relate to predisposition to injury. The high mechanical strength of tendon relies on the correct orientation of collagen molecules within fibrils and stabilisation by the formation of chemical cross-links between collagen molecules. It is not known whether t...
Natali AN, Carniel EL, Frigo A, Pavan PG, Todros S, Pachera P, Fontanella CG, Rubini A, Cavicchioli L, Avital Y, De Benedictis GM.What is the central question of this study? Prostheses for treatment of urinary incontinence elicit complications associated with an inadequate mechanical action. This investigation aimed to define a procedure addressed to urethral mechanical characterization. Experimental tests are the basis for constitutive formulation, with a view to numerical modelling for investigation of the interaction between the tissues and a prosthesis. What is the main finding and its importance? Horse urethra, selected for its histomorphometric similarity to human urethra, was characterized by integrated histologic...
McGuire TC, Crawford TB, Hallowell AL, Macomber LE.Failure in colostral immunoglobulin G (IgG) transfer was found in 9 of 87 Thoroughbred foals. Seven (78%) of these 9 foals acquired infections requiring therapy. Twelve of the foals had partial failure in colostral IgG transfer, and 3 of these had infections requiring therapy. The remaining 66 foals had normal transfer of colostral IgG, and only 2 had detectable infections. The failure of colostral IgG transfer was attributable to nursing problems in only one case. When presuckle postpartum colostrum was collected, 2 of 4 failures of colostral IgG transfer and 4 of 6 partial failures of colost...
MacAllister CG, Andrews FM, Deegan E, Ruoff W, Olovson SG.Five investigators familiar with gastric ulcer disease in horses met to establish a scoring system that could be utilised in future studies. Slides of gastric lesions were viewed and discussed and a scoring system established that required the nonglandular and glandular portions of the stomach to be graded separately. Each portion of the stomach (glandular and nonglandular) received a score for number of ulcers present and a score for severity of ulcers which resulted in each stomach receiving 4 separate scores. After the grading system was developed, each investigator independently graded 16 ...
Moore CP, Fales WH, Whittington P, Bauer L.Gram-negative bacteria were the most common microbial isolates from 38 eyes of 37 horses with ulcerative keratitis. Pseudomonas sp, Enterobacter group, and Acinetobacter sp were the most prevalent. Fungi were cultured from 15 eyes and included 7 genera, with Aspergillus sp being the most prevalent. Ten of the eyes with fungal keratitis had been treated with corticosteroids. Eleven of 38 eyes had mixed bacterial and fungal infections. Clinically, the most severe cases were those in which Aspergillus and gram-negative bacteria existed in a mixed infection. On the basis of susceptibility testing,...
