"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.
Pease A.The use of molecular imaging of cartilage is the next vital step in understanding, treating, and training the equine athlete. Because of the logistics of precontrast and postcontrast medium imaging, the clinical usefulness of the examination has come into question. With the large number of horses undergoing high-field magnetic resonance imaging, the use of contrast medium administration and T1 mapping or T2 imaging precontrast and postcontrast medium administration may add a limited amount of time to the scan and has the potential to provide more detailed information about the chemical composi...
Schauer SN, Guillaume D, Decourt C, Watson ED, Briant C, Donadeu FX.There is evidence in several species that high circulating LH concentrations can interfere with normal follicle development and ovulation. In the mare, high LH levels after induction of luteolysis with PGF(2α) have been temporally associated with an increased incidence of anovulatory follicles. We hypothesized that a premature increase in LH levels during a follicular wave in mares would disrupt normal follicle maturation leading to ovulatory dysfunction. In experiment 1, all follicles >10 mm were ablated at midestrous cycle in pony mares followed by twice daily administration of equine LH...
Toth B, Aleman M, Brosnan RJ, Dickinson PJ, Conley AJ, Stanley SD, Nogradi N, Williams CD, Madigan JE.To test the hypothesis that application of a rope restraint device would result in behavioral, electroencephalographic, and humoral changes consistent with sleep and analgesia in neonatal foals. Methods: 8 healthy neonatal foals. Methods: Following acclimatization to experimental conditions, each foal underwent a series of assessments before and during or at the end of a period of restraint via application of a restraint device (soft linen rope). Assessments included measurements of heart and respiratory rates, rectal temperature, and circulating β-endorphin and steroid hormone concentrations...
Werpy NM, Denoix JM.Injury to the suspensory ligament can result in significant lameness. Multiple imaging modalities may be required to fully characterize injury to the suspensory ligament. Ultrasonography of the suspensory ligament is challenging, due to the normal anatomy. This article describes imaging of the proximal suspensory ligament in the front and hind limbs of the horse.
Finno CJ, Famula T, Aleman M, Higgins RJ, Madigan JE, Bannasch DL.Equine neuroaxonal dystrophy/equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (NAD/EDM) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting young horses of various breeds that resembles ataxia with vitamin E deficiency in humans, an inherited disorder caused by mutations in the alpha-tocopherol transfer protein gene (TTPA). To evaluate variants found upon sequencing TTPA in the horse, the mode of inheritance for NAD/EDM had to be established. Objective: NAD/EDM in the American Quarter Horse (QH) is caused by a mutation in TTPA. Methods: 88 clinically phenotyped (35 affected [ataxia score ≥2], 53 unaffected) QH...
Melkus E, Witte T, Walter I, Heuwieser W, Aurich C.In mares, mating-induced persistent endometritis contributes to low fertility. The condition is in part related to delayed clearance of mucus accumulated within the uterine lumen. The objective of this study was to investigate the endometrial response of healthy mares to intrauterine (i.u.) treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Oestrous mares (n = 12) were randomly assigned to a treatment (TM) or control (C) group and received an i.u. infusion of 5% NAC and saline (total volume 140 ml), respectively. Endometrial biopsies were collected in five of the mares 24 h after treatment, in the rem...
Steelman SM, Chowdhary BP, Dowd S, Suchodolski J, Janečka JE.The nutrition and health of horses is closely tied to their gastrointestinal microflora. Gut bacteria break down plant structural carbohydrates and produce volatile fatty acids, which are a major source of energy for horses. Bacterial communities are also essential for maintaining gut homeostasis and have been hypothesized to contribute to various diseases including laminitis. We performed pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA bacterial genes isolated from fecal material to characterize hindgut bacterial communities in healthy horses and those with chronic laminitis. Results: Fecal samples were collected...
Inácio SV, de Brito RL, Zucatto AS, Coelho WM, de Aquino MC, Aguirre Ade A, Perri SH, Meireles MV, Bresciani KD.The present study aimed to analyze the occurrence of infection by Cryptosporidium spp. in mares and their respective foals. This study was carried out in 11 farms located in the municipalities of Araçatuba, Birigui, Guararapes and Santo Antônio do Aracangua, in the northwest region of the State of Sao Paulo, from November 2010 to March 2011. A total of 98 mares and 98 foals of several breeds were analyzed; among foals, 59 were males and 39 females, aged from three to 330 days. Feces were collected directly from the rectal ampulla, purified and processed according to modified Kinyoun stain. O...
Hartig W, Houe H, Andersen PH.The plentiful data on Danish horses are currently neither organized nor easily accessible, impeding register-based epidemiological studies on Danish horses. A common database could be beneficial. In principle, databases can contain a wealth of information, but no single database can serve every purpose. Hence the establishment of a Danish equine health database should be preceded by careful consideration of its purpose and content, and stakeholder attitudes should be investigated. The objectives of the present study were to identify stakeholder attitudes to the importance, purpose, research ar...
Schwaber MJ, Navon-Venezia S, Masarwa S, Tirosh-Levy S, Adler A, Chmelnitsky I, Carmeli Y, Klement E, Steinman A.Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection or colonization has become a serious emerging condition in equine hospitals. Following the detection of MRSA in asymptomatic hospitalized horses and in two horses with post-operative wound infections, an investigation was conducted. Twelve of 84 horses (14.3%) and 16 of 139 personnel (11.5%) were MRSA carriers. The profile of the dominant MRSA strain common to horses and staff was multi-drug-resistant, spa-type t535, SCCmec type V, pvl-negative. MLST of a representative isolate yielded sequence type (ST) 5. The risk of MRSA carriage ...
Lynch SE, Gilkerson JR, Symes SJ, Huang JA, Hartley CA.Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) is a member of the Aphthovirus genus, and has many physical and structural similarities to the prototype Aphthovirus foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). The pathogenesis of FMDV has been extensively studied, however, the similarities in the pathogenesis of ERAV and FMDV disease has not been well documented. This study describes and compares the pathogenesis of ERAV both in the natural host and a small animal model alternative (CBA mice). Distinct parallels in the pathogenesis of the acute infection of these two viruses are described where infection in the upper ...
de Bont MP, Proudman CJ, Archer DC.There is limited information about risk factors and survival associated with disorders of the small colon requiring surgical management. Objective: 1) To document the types of surgical lesion in horses where pathology of the small (descending) colon was the primary cause of abdominal pain, 2) to describe the short- and long-term survival of these cases and identify factors associated with survival and 3) to identify preoperative variables associated with localisation of a lesion to the small colon. Methods: Clinical data and long-term follow-up were obtained for horses that underwent explorato...
McConnell EJ, Rioja E, Bester L, Sanz MG, Fosgate GT, Saulez MN.Alterations in cerebral haemodynamics may contribute to perianaesthetic complications in horses. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is frequently used intraoperatively in man to provide information regarding cerebral perfusion. Objective: To determine whether NIRS can identify trends in regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) in horses and whether there is a correlation between rSO2 and venous oxygen tensions. Methods: A cerebral oximeter sensor recorded rSO2 from the dorsal sagittal sinus of 6 healthy horses. Values for rSO2, arterial and venous oxygen and carbon dioxide tensions (PaO2, PvO...
Lyons S, Kapoor A, Sharp C, Schneider BS, Wolfe ND, Culshaw G, Corcoran B, McGorum BC, Simmonds P.Although the origin of hepatitis C virus infections in humans remains undetermined, a close homolog of this virus, termed canine hepacivirus (CHV) and found in respiratory secretions of dogs, provides evidence for a wider distribution of hepaciviruses in mammals. We determined frequencies of active infection among dogs and other mammals in the United Kingdom. Samples from dogs (46 respiratory, 99 plasma, 45 autopsy samples) were CHV negative by PCR. Screening of 362 samples from cats, horses, donkeys, rodents, and pigs identified 3 (2%) positive samples from 142 horses. These samples were gene...
Barker WH, Smith MR, Minshall GJ, Wright IM.Intra-articular soft tissue injuries of the equine tarsocrural joint have been poorly defined. Methods: All horses that underwent arthroscopic surgery of a tarsocrural joint over a 10 year period were identified. Those with primary intra-articular soft tissue injuries were selected for inclusion and the cases evaluated retrospectively. Results: Two hundred and eighty-one horses underwent tarsocrural joint arthroscopy during the study period, 30 of which met the inclusion criteria (30 joints). A combination of soft tissue lesions was more common than injury to a single structure. Injuries invol...
Vandenplas J, Janssens S, Buys N, Gengler N.The aim of this study was to test the integration of external information, i.e. foreign estimated breeding values (EBV) and the associated reliabilities (REL), for stallions into the Belgian genetic evaluation for jumping horses. The Belgian model is a bivariate repeatability Best Linear Unbiased Prediction animal model only based on Belgian performances, while Belgian breeders import horses from neighbouring countries. Hence, use of external information is needed as prior to achieve more accurate EBV. Pedigree and performance data contained 101382 horses and 712212 performances, respectively....
Dallap Schaer BL, Linton JK, Aceto H.Recommendations for antimicrobial prophylaxis for surgery are well-described in human medicine, but information is limited for veterinary practice. Objective: To characterize antimicrobial use in horses undergoing emergency colic surgery. Methods: A total of 761 horses undergoing emergency colic surgery (2001-2007). Methods: Retrospective case review. Antimicrobial dose and timing, surgical description, and duration of treatment were collected from medical records. Associations between antimicrobial use and the occurrence of fever, incisional inflammation or infection, catheter-associated comp...
Caij AB, Tignon M.In January 2010, the United Kingdom notified cases of equine infectious anaemia (EIA) in two horses introduced from Belgium. The animals came from one assembly centre in Romania and had transited through Belgium with 16 other horses. Nine of them, bought by a Belgian horse breeder, were investigated in Belgium and revealed one additional EIA-positive animal. Afterwards, the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) organized a serological EIA survey of the horses introduced into Belgium from Romania between 2007 and 2009. Among the 95 horses identified, six additional ser...
Arrighi S.Occurrence of a solitary cilium was an unexpected discovery while studying the ultrastructure of epididymal epithelium in equidae. Primary cilia were detected in epididymal basal cells of all individuals of the equines studied - horses, donkey and mules - independently from age and tract of the duct, emerging from the basal cell surface and insinuating into the intercellular spaces. More rarely solitary cilia occurred also at the luminal surface of the principal cells. The ciliary apparatus was constituted by a structurally typical basal body continuous with the finger-like ciliary shaft exten...
Soykan E, Oge H.This study was carried out between March 2004- April 2005 to determine the prevalance of liver trematode infections of equids in different cities of Turkey. Methods: A total of 117 equids (72 horses, 39 donkeys and 6 mules) in Ankara were examined for liver parasites after the slaugthering process. On the other hand, a total of 620 feces of horses in Bursa, Gemlik, Malatya, Eskişehir and Ankara provinces were detected for determining liver trematodes in live equines. The fecal samples of horses were examined for liver fluke infection by Benedect's sedimentation methods. Results: Of these 117 ...
Seabaugh KA, Goodrich LR, Morley PS, Bohn A, Rao S, Hendrickson DA.To determine the effect of unilateral laparoscopic cryptorchidectomy and removal of the descended testis on peritoneal fluid values, and to compare effect between 2 methods for cryptorchid testis vessel hemostasis. Methods: Randomized clinical study. Methods: Stallions (n = 10) with unilateral abdominal cryptorchid testis. Methods: During standing laparoscopic cryptorchidectomy, blood vessels within the mesorchium of the cryptorchid testis were either sealed and transected with the LigaSure Atlas™ or 2 ligating loops were placed proximal to the testis and the tissue transected with laparosco...
Greve L, Dyson S.Common causes of poor performance in horses include factors related to the horse, the rider and/or the saddle, and their interrelationships remain challenging to determine. Horse-related factors (such as thoracolumbar region pain and/or lameness), rider-related factors (such as crookedness, inability to ride in rhythm with the horse, inability to work the horse in a correct frame to improve core strength and muscular support of the thoracolumbar spine of the horse), and saddle-related factors (such as poor fit causing focal areas of increased pressure) may all contribute to poor performance to...
Fukushi H, Yamaguchi T, Yamada S.Equine herpesvirus type 9 (EHV-9), which we isolated from a case of epizootic encephalitis in a herd of Thomson's gazelles (Gazella thomsoni) in 1993, has been known to cause fatal encephalitis in Thomson's gazelle, giraffe, and polar bear in natural infections. Our previous report indicated that EHV-9 was similar to the equine pathogen equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1), which mainly causes abortion, respiratory infection, and equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy. We determined the genome sequence of EHV-9. The genome has a length of 148,371 bp and all 80 of the open reading frames (ORFs) fo...
Meng Q, Lin Y, Ma J, Ma Y, Zhao L, Li S, Yang K, Zhou J, Shen R, Zhang X, Shao Y.Data from successful attenuated lentiviral vaccine studies indicate that fully mature Env-specific antibodies characterized by high titer, high avidity, and the predominant recognition of conformational epitopes are associated with protective efficacy. Although vaccination with a DNA prime/recombinant vaccinia-vectored vaccine boost strategy has been found to be effective in some trials with non-human primate/simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) models, it remains unclear whether this vaccination strategy could elicit mature equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) Env-specific antibodies, ...
DiMaio Knych HK, Arthur RM, Taylor A, Moeller BC, Stanley SD.Dantrolene is a skeletal muscle relaxant used commonly in performance horses to prevent exertional rhabdomyolysis. The goal of the study reported here was to begin to characterize cytochrome P450-mediated metabolism of dantrolene in the horse and describe the pharmacokinetics of the compound, formulated as a capsule or a compounded paste formulation, following oral administration. Dantrolene is rapidly metabolized to 5-hydroxydantrolene both in vivo and in vitro. Preliminary work with equine liver microsomes suggest that two enzymes are responsible for the metabolism of dantrolene, as evidence...
Mondo E, Rinnovati R, Spadari A, Giacometti F, Serraino A, Savini F, Piva S.Respiratory diseases are the second most common cause of illnesses in horses, their etiology can be viral, bacterial, immune-mediated, or mechanical (Racklyeft and Love DN, Aust Vet J 78:549-59, 2000; Austin et al., J Am Vet Med Assoc 207:325-328, 1995; Arroyo et al., J Vet Intern Med 31:894-900, 2017). Klebsiella variicola is a Gram-negative bacterium that was initially identified as an endophyte in soil and plants such as bananas, rice, sugar cane and maize but recent studies have identified this microorganism as an emerging pathogen in humans (Rodríguez-Medina et al., Emerg Microbes Infec...
Zeyner A, Romanowski K, Vernunft A, Harris P, Kienzle E.Based on a series of exercise tests which included the estimation of sweat losses, this article proposes a novel sweat scoring system for exercising horses. This provides a practical estimate of individual animal exercise-induced sweat losses, based on visible appearance of sweat on the coat after work, which takes into account the effect of various influencing factors. In terms of accuracy and flexibility, the score seems to provide advantages over estimates based on current general recommendations from reference books. Additional studies are needed to validate this scoring system and its use...
Horbal A, Reardon RJM, Liuti T, Dixon PM.An ex-vivo study was performed on vertically mounted equine maxillary cheek teeth that had caries of 30 infundibulae, using high and low speed contra-angle dental drills and Hedstrom files to debride infundibular food debris and carious dental tissues. This technique effectively debrided 27/30 infundibulae with a mean depth of 19mm (range 9.4-34.3mm) as assessed by computed tomographic (CT) imaging. The debrided infundibulae were treated with sodium hypochlorite, EDTA and a bonding agent, and then then filled in layers with endodontic restoration materials. Further CT imaging and direct examin...
Löscher W, Jaeschke G, Keller H.The pharmacokinetics of ascorbic acid were studied in 29 horses after intravenous (iv), subcutaneous, intramuscular (im) and oral administration. Following iv injection of 5 and 10 g ascorbic acid, respectively, a biphasic decline of ascorbic acid serum levels was found, indicating that the vitamin distributes in the body according to a two-compartment open model. The apparent volume of distribution (average value for Vd(ss) = 0.6 litre/kg) was approximately equivalent to the volume of total body water. The terminal half-life of the biexponential serum level-time curve (t1/2 beta) varied betwe...
Sgorbini M, Freccero F, Castagnetti C, Mariella J, Lanci A, Marmorini P, Camillo F.Induction of parturition in horses is still not well accepted due to the potential peripartum complications for mares and newborn foals. We assessed differences after spontaneous and induced parturition with low doses of oxytocin (OX) in 1) incidence of peripartum complications in mares; 2) viability, behavioral, physical, and venous blood gas analyses in foals. In this study 61 mares were included; 45/61 were enrolled in the spontaneous foaling group (SF) and 16/61 in the induced foaling group (IF). In the IF group, when the calcium in mammary secretion reached concentrations of ≥250 ppm, ...
Frontiers in geneticsOctober 5, 2022
Volume 13 944933 doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.944933
Xu B, Yang G, Jiao B, Zhu H. The domestication of horses has played critical roles in human civilizations. The excavation of ancient horse DNA provides crucial data for studying horse domestication. Studies of horse domestication can shed light on the general mechanisms of animal domestication. We wish to explore the gene transcription regulation by long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that influence horse domestication. First, we assembled the ancient DNA sequences of multiple horses at different times and the genomes of horses, donkeys, and Przewalski horses. Second, we extracted sequences of lncRNA genes shared in ancient ...
Sweeney RW, Hamir AN, Fisher RR.A 9-year-old Thoroughbred mare was examined because of pollakiuria, hematuria, and weight loss of 3 weeks' duration. Physical examination revealed a regular cardiac rhythm with occasional premature contractions, and a soft tissue mass in the pelvic canal palpable per rectum. Microscopic examination of urine sediment revealed numerous RBC and a large population of lymphocytes and lymphoblasts with characteristics of neoplasia. Similar cells were found in peritoneal fluid obtained by abdominocentesis. The horse was euthanatized without treatment. Necropsy revealed a soft tissue mass infiltrating...
The Journal of nutritionDecember 1, 1994
Volume 124, Issue 12 Suppl 2745S-2753S doi: 10.1093/jn/124.suppl_12.2745S
Kronfeld DS, Ferrante PL, Grandjean D.Four mathematical approaches are proposed to determine optimal ranges of nutrients for specified purposes. For exercise, the diet must provide optimal mixtures of fuels, also optimal amounts of nutrients conducive to a sound structure, a desired power/weight ratio, a water-electrolyte system that resists dehydration and buffers hydrogen ions, a tolerance to the cumulative stress of repetitive competition and tractable attitude. The nutritional strategy of carbohydrate loading risks a variety of abnormalities in dogs and horses. An alternative strategy of fat adaptation (the combination of fat ...
Clegg GA, Stansfield RF, Bourne PE, Harrison PM.An electron density map of horse spleen apoferritin at 0.28-nm (2.8 A) resolution and its preliminary interpretation have been described previously. Rigorous examination of this and newer maps at the same nominal resolution but calculated from more extensive data sets, including model building in a Richards' comparator, now allows us to report on structural features in more detail. We list inter-helical angles within and between neighbouring subunits, and describe a new short region of inter-subunit anti-parallel pleated sheet. A short section of electron density not properly accounted for in ...
Munroe GA.PYLORIC stenosis occurs commonly in man and the dog but only rarely in the horse and cat. Two reports of pyloric stenosis in the horse have been published, both of these occurring in foals of less than two months of age (Barth, Barber and Mackenzie 1980; Crowhurst, Simpson, McEnery and Greenwood 1975). Surgery on the pylorus performed under general anaesthesia was successful in both cases. This report describes a case of pyloric stenosis in a Thoroughbred yearling.
Jaferi M, Mozaffari A, Jajarmi M, Imani M, Khalili M.There are few reports about Q fever in horse populations worldwide. This study aimed to detect the C. burnetii infection by serologic and molecular confirmation using commercial ELISA kit and real-time PCR in the East of Iran a region highly endemic. A total of 177 blood samples and 115 vaginal swabs were randomly collected from horses in East of Iran. The sera samples were analyzed for anti C.burnetii Ig G antibodies by a commercial ELISA kit and nucleic acid extraxted from vaginal samples were used to determine the C. burnetii DNA by real-time PCR assay. Antibodies were detected in 5.64 % (1...
Beech J, Garcia M.Cortisol, triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), insulin, and glucose responses to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) were evaluated in 12 healthy, mature horses and in 7 horses and 4 ponies with clinical signs of pituitary adenoma (PA). Within 1 hour after TRH administration, the increase in T3 and T4 was similar in healthy horses and animals with PA. Plasma cortisol in the group with PA increased (P less than 0.05) within 0.25 hours after TRH administration, and remained increased for 1.5 hours. In the control group, a significant increase in plasma cortisol concentrations did not develop a...
Nolen-Walston RD, D'Oench SM, Hanelt LM, Sharkey LC, Paradis MR.An 11-year-old Hanoverian-cross gelding was evaluated because of acute onset of ataxia, recumbency, and fever. At the stable, this and other horses had recently been infested with ticks. Results of analysis of a sample of CSF were within reference limits, but hematologic abnormalities included lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, mild anemia, and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in neutrophils that were consistent with Anaplasma phagocytophilum (previously Ehrlichia equi). Results of serum biochemical analyses were characteristic of infection and included high, unconjugated bilirubin concentration....
Liu L, Fang C, Sun Y, Liu W.miRNA has an important role in cell differentiation, biological development, and physiology. Milk production is an important quantitative trait in livestock and miRNA plays a role in the amount of milk produced. Methods: The role of regulatory miRNAs involved in equine milk production is not fully understood. We constructed two miRNA libraries for Kazakh horse milk production from higher-producing (H group) and lower-producing (L group) individuals, and used RNA-Seq technology to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs between the two milk phenotypes of Kazakh horses. Results: A total of ...
Pettersson CM, Broström H, Humblot P, Bergvall KE.Equine sarcoids are the most prevalent skin neoplasm in horses worldwide. Although several treatments are available, none are consistently effective and recurrence is common. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical imiquimod 5% cream and Sanguinaria canadensis + zinc chloride for treatment of equine sarcoids and investigate possible systemic effects on distant untreated sarcoids. Unassigned: Twenty-five client-owned horses with a total of 164 tumours were included in the study. Fifty-seven tumours were treated and 107 tumours were left untreated. Methods: Skin biopsy sample...
Vandecasteele T, van Loon G, Vandevelde K, De Pauw B, Simoens P, Cornillie P.Information on ultrasound examination of equine pulmonary veins is scarce due to a lack of in-depth anatomical information. Each pulmonary vein drains a specific lung lobe region, after which those veins merge into a collecting antrum, before opening into the left atrium through their respective ostia. The aim of this study was, by using anatomical dissection and silicone casting of equine cardiopulmonary sets, to study the venous drainage of both lungs and the position of the ostia and to investigate whether the ostia can be identified and differentiated using ultrasound. Three out of the fou...
Fenn MS, Bortsie-Aryee AD, Perkins GA, Mann S, Tomlinson JE, Wood EM, Mix SE, Stokol T.Crossmatching is used to prevent life-threatening transfusion reactions in horses. Laboratory methods are laborious and technically challenging, which is impractical during emergencies. Objective: Evaluate agreement between a stall-side crossmatch kit (KIT) and a laboratory method (LAB) in horses with known and unknown blood types. Methods: Twenty-four blood-typed and alloantibody-screened healthy adult horses (Aim 1) and 156 adult horses of unknown blood type (Aim 2). Methods: Prospective, blinded study. Expected positive (n = 35) and negative (n = 36) crossmatches among 24 antibody and blood...
Ek N.Levels of the immunoglobulins IgG and IgG(T) in serum in Norwegian horses of the breeds “Døle” and “Fjord” were determined by the quantitative radial immunodiffusion test. No significant differences were apparent between the 2 Norwegian breeds. The immunoglobulin levels were approximately in the same range as previously reported for Shetland ponies. Immunoglobulins could not be detected in the newborn foal. As early as 24 hrs. after birth the mean immunoglobulin level was within the adult range. After a drop during the first month of life, the immunoglobulins increased. IgG(T) rose mo...
Kavanagh KD, Bailey CS, Sears KE.Previous work comparing the developmental mechanisms involved in digit reduction in horses with other mammals reported that horses have only a 'single digit', with two flanking metapodials identified as remnants of digit II and IV. Here we show that early embryos go through a stage with five digit condensations, and that the flanking splint metapodials result from fusions of the two anterior digits I and II and the two posterior digits IV and V, in a striking parallel between ontogeny and phylogeny. Given that even this most extreme case of digit reduction exhibits primary pentadactyly, we re...
El-Sheikh Ali H, Legacki EL, Scoggin KE, Loux SC, Dini P, Esteller-Vico A, Conley AJ, Stanley SD, Ball BA.Equine placentitis is associated with alterations in maternal peripheral steroid concentrations, which could negatively affect pregnancy outcome. This study aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms related to steroidogenesis and steroid-receptor signaling in the equine placenta during acute placentitis. Chorioallantois (CA) and endometrial (EN) samples were collected from mares with experimentally induced placentitis (n = 4) and un-inoculated gestationally age-matched mares (control group; n = 4). The mRNA expression of genes coding for steroidogenic enzymes (3βHSD, CYP11A1, CYP17A1, CYP19...
Garcia-Suarez O, Germanà G, Naves FJ, Ciriaco E, Represa J, Vega JA.The medial wall of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) is lined with a sensory epithelium that is closely related to the olfactory epithelium, which is developed from the olfactory placode. It undergoes continuous replacement during its life span. In other sensory epithelia, cell proliferation is under the control of some trophic factors. Whether these proteins are involved in the continuous turnover of the VNO epithelium is unknown. This study approaches this topic by analyzing the occurrence of signal-transducing receptor proteins for neurotrophins (Trk proteins) and epidermal growth factor (EGFr). ...
Karamendin K, Kydyrmanov A, Sayatov M, Strochkov V, Sandybayev N, Sultankulova K.A retrospective phylogenetic characterization of the hemagglutinin, neuraminidase and nucleoprotein genes of equine influenza virus A/equine/Kirgizia/26/1974 (H7N7) which caused an outbreak in Kirgizia (a former Soviet Union republic, now Kyrgyzstan) in 1977 was conducted. It was defined that it was closely related to the strain London/1973 isolated in Europe and it shared a maximum nucleotide sequence identity at 99% with it. This Central Asian equine influenza virus isolate did not have any specific genetic signatures and can be considered as an epizootic strain of 1974 that spread in Europe...
Bragulla H.The term Eponychium is used to describe the deciduous hoof capsule in veterinary-medical and embryological literature. In other aspects of veterinary medicine, the term is generally reserved for the perioplic corium of the permanent hoof. In order to clarify this double usage, the structure and origin of the hoof epidermis from 10 equine fetus at different stages of development and 4 newborn foals were investigated and described using light microscopical techniques. Epidermal tubules and lamellae are already present in the non-cornified fetal hoof epidermis. These structures, along with the fo...
Lan Y, Li Y, Yu G, Zhang Z, Irshad I.Accumulating studies indicated that gut microbial changes played key roles in the progression of multiple diseases, which seriously threaten the host health. Gut microbial dysbiosis is closely associated with the development of diarrhea, but gut microbial composition and variability in diarrheic horses have not been well characterized. Here, we investigated gut fungal compositions and changes in healthy and diarrheic horses using amplicon sequencing. Results indicated that the alpha and beta diversities of gut fungal community in diarrheal horses changed significantly, accompanied by distinct ...
Boyle AG, Rankin SC, O'Shea K, Stefanovski D, Peng J, Song J, Bau HH.Rapid point-of-care (POC) detection of Streptococcus equi subsp. equi (S. equi) would theoretically reduce the spread of strangles by identifying index and carrier horses. Objective: That the eqbE isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, and the same eqbE LAMP assay tested in a microfluidic device format, are comparable to a triplex real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay that is commonly used in diagnostic labs. Methods: Sixty-eight guttural pouch lavage (GPL) specimens from horses recovering from strangles. Methods: Guttural pouch lavage specimens were tested for S. equi ...
Ekman S, Lindahl A, Rüetschi U, Jansson A, Björkman K, Abrahamsson-Aurell K, Björnsdóttir S, Löfgren M, Hultén LM, Skiöldebrand E.Molecular serum markers that can identify early reversible osteoarthritis (OA) in horses are lacking. Objective: We studied serum concentrations of a novel cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) neo-epitope in horses subjected to short-term exercise and with acute lameness. The effects of circadian rhythm and age were also evaluated. Methods: Longitudinal studies in healthy horses and cross-sectional comparison of lame and non-lame horses. Methods: Sera were collected from five horses before and after short-term interval exercise and during full-day box rest. Sera from 32 acutely lame hors...
Nyaga PN, Wiggins AD, Priester WA.Three hundred and sixty cases of diagnosed equine influenza reported to the Veterinary
Medical Data Program (VMDP) of the National Cancer Institute, U.S.A., were tested for the
independent effects of age, breed and sex, relative to a reference clinic-hospital population of 84,562
equine patients. Horses of age category 2-6 months showed a significant risk above unity for
infection with equine influenza virus whereas, horses in age category 7-10 yr showed a significant,
low and sparing risk. Horses under two months or over 10 years, as well as those in ages from 6
months to 7 yr had non-s...
