The immune response in horses involves a complex network of cells, tissues, and molecules that work together to protect the animal from pathogens and other harmful agents. This process includes both innate and adaptive immune mechanisms. Innate immunity provides the first line of defense and involves components such as physical barriers, phagocytic cells, and the complement system. Adaptive immunity, on the other hand, is characterized by the activation of lymphocytes and the production of antibodies, which provide a targeted response to specific antigens. Key components of the equine immune system include T cells, B cells, and various cytokines that facilitate communication between immune cells. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the mechanisms, regulation, and implications of immune responses in equine health.
Deeg CA, Amann B, Raith AJ, Kaspers B.To test the hypothesis that inter- and intramolecular spreading to S-antigen (S-Ag) and interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP)-derived epitopes occurs in a spontaneous model of recurrent uveitis in the horse. Methods: The immune response of eight horses with equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) was compared with that of five control horses with healthy eyes. Lymphocytes derived from peripheral blood (PBLs) were tested every 8 weeks for their reactivity against S-Ag and various S-Ag and IRBP-derived peptides for 12 to 39 months (median, 22 months). During uveitic episodes, additional bloo...
van der Meulen K, Caij B, Pensaert M, Nauwynck H.In vitro studies demonstrated that most equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1)-infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) do not expose viral envelope proteins on their surface. This protects them against antibody-dependent lysis. We examined whether viral envelope proteins are also undetectable on infected PBMC during cell-associated viremia. Further, surface expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-I was examined, since MHC-I assists in making infected cells recognizable for cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL). Four ponies, previously exposed to EHV, and two ponies that had no contact wi...
Zhang XY, Li HM, Liang H, Shen T, Ma Y, Xiang WH, Shen RX, Shao YM.To elucidate cellular immune protective mechanism of EIAV. Methods: Four horses were immunized with (DLV) by subcutaneous injection and 2 horses with 0.85% sodium chloride as the negative control. Rectal temperatures and clinical features were recorded daily. Whole blood samples were collected, from which PBMC were separated and used for CTL assay and lymphocyte proliferation assay. Results: The target cells were activated by PWM and treated with DLV or recombinant vaccinia vectors expressing DLV and LN Gag or Env separately. The percentage of EIAV-specific CTL lysis was under 5% in the negati...
Wagner B, Flaminio JB, Hillegas J, Leibold W, Erb HN, Antczak DF.IgE is the key antibody involved in type I allergies. Allergen mediated crosslinking of IgE bound to high affinity Fcepsilon-receptors on mast cells and basophils stimulates cellular degranulation and release of inflammatory mediators and cytokines. In this report, we demonstrate that IgE antibodies can be transferred from the mother to offspring in horses via the colostrum. We found a clear correlation between the IgE concentration in colostrum and the total IgE concentration in foal sera on day 2 after birth (r(sp)=0.83). Maternal IgE was detected in foal sera by ELISA and on peripheral bloo...
Farley J, Sirois J, MacFarlane PH, Kombé A, Laverty S.To characterize expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1) and regulation of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production by equine articular chondrocytes. Methods: Articular cartilage from the metacarpophalangeal joints of 7 adult horses. Methods: Equine chondrocyte monolayer cultures were stimulated with different concentrations (2.5, 5, 10, and 20 ng/mL) of recombinant human interleukin-1beta (rhIL-1beta) for 24 hours and then with rhIL-1beta (5 ng/mL) for 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours. Concentration of PGE2 in the media was measured via radioimmunoassay. T...
Franck T, Grulke S, Deby-Dupont G, Deby C, Duvivier H, Peters F, Serteyn D.Equine inflammatory disease is accompanied by a neutrophil activation resulting in the release of granulocytic enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO). To measure MPO in horse plasma as marker of neutrophil activation, the authors purified equine neutrophil MPO and developed a specific enzyme immunoassay using 2 specific polyclonal antibodies obtained from rabbit (primary antibody) and guinea pig (secondary antibody). The sandwich complex "primary antibody-MPO-secondary antibody" was detected using a goat anti-guinea pig immunoglobulin antibody conjugated to alkaline phosphatase. The enzyme-linked immuno...
Vandenplas ML, Moore JN, Barton MH, Roussel AJ, Cohen ND.To determine concentrations of 2 acute-phase proteins (serum amyloid A [SAA] and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein [LBP]) in serum samples obtained from horses with colic and identify relationships among these acute-phase proteins and clinical data. Methods: 765 horses with naturally developing gastrointestinal tract diseases characterized by colic (ie, clinical signs indicative of abdominal pain) and 79 healthy control horses; all horses were examined at 2 university teaching hospitals. Methods: Serum concentrations of SAA and LBP were determined by immunoturbidometric and dot-blot assays, r...
Laan TT, Bull S, Pirie RS, Fink-Gremmels J.To evaluate cytokine production by equine alveolar macrophages after exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Aspergillus fumigatus, and hay dust, and determine the effect of clenbuterol on the cytokine response. Methods: 6 horses. Methods: Alveolar macrophages were exposed to PBS solution (negative control), LPS, hyphae and conidia of Aspergillus fumigatus (AF), or a suspension of hay dust (HDS) and incubated for 24 hours at 37 degrees C. Concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-1beta were measured in the supernatant. The procedure was repeated with cells that wer...
Lannergård J, Flock M, Johansson S, Flock JI, Guss B.Streptococcus equi subsp. equi is the causative agent of strangles, a disease of the upper respiratory tract in horses. The initiation of S. equi subsp. equi infection is likely to involve cell surface-anchored molecules mediating bacterial adhesion to the epithelium of the host. The present study describes the cloning and characterization of FNEB, a fibronectin-binding protein with cell wall-anchoring motifs. FNEB can thus be predicted as cell surface located, contrary to the two previously characterized fibronectin-binding proteins in S. equi subsp. equi, FNE and SFS. Assays of antibody tite...
Paillot R, Ellis SA, Daly JM, Audonnet JC, Minke JM, Davis-Poynter N, Hannant D, Kydd JH.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is a ubiquitous pathogen of horses, which continues to cause respiratory and neurological disease and abortion, despite the widespread use of vaccines. Cell mediated immunity (CMI) is thought to play a major role in protection against infection with EHV-1. The aim of this study was to characterise the virus-specific CMI response in ponies vaccinated with vP1014, a vaccinia-based construct (NYVAC) coding for the immediate early gene (gene 64) of EHV-1. This gene product is a CTL target protein for an equine MHC class I allele expressed on the A3 haplotype. EHV-prime...
Fernández-Bellon H, Solano-Gallego L, Bardagí M, Alberola J, Ramis A, Ferrer L.Leishmania infantum infection has recently been described in horses in Europe. We report the results of a study on the immune response to L. infantum in horses living in an area endemic for leishmaniosis in NE Spain. Two ELISAs using protein A and anti-horse IgG conjugates were adapted to measure specific antibodies to L. infantum in horse sera. A lymphocyte proliferation assay (LPA) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to L. infantum antigen was also performed to detect specific cellular immune response to Leishmania. Anti-L. infantum antibodies were detected in the serum of 16 of the horses...
Wong DM, Buechner-Maxwell VA, Manning TO, Ward DL.To evaluate the precision of intradermal testing (IDT) in horses. Methods: 12 healthy adult horses. Methods: IDT was performed on the neck of each horse by use of 2 positive control substances (histamine and phytohemagglutinin [PHA]) and a negative control substance. An equal volume (0.1 mL) for each injection was prepared to yield a total of 20 syringes ([4 concentrations of each positive control substance plus 1 negative control substance] times 2 positive control substances times 2 duplicative tests) for each side of the neck. Both sides of the neck were used for IDT; therefore, 40 syringes...
Vychodilova-Krenkova L, Matiasovic J, Horin P.The objective of this study was to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within four functionally related immune response genes in the horse, and to develop genotyping techniques that could be useful for future genomic studies of horse infectious and allergic diseases. The genes analysed were: the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptor gene CD14, the toll-like receptor 4 gene TLR4, the gene Cepsilon encoding the IgE heavy chain molecule and the gene FcepsilonR1 alpha coding for the alpha subunit of the IgE receptor molecule. Horse-specific primers amplifying selected gene regions were des...
Simonen-Jokinen T, Pirie RS, McGorum BC, Maisi P.Airway matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) increase following inhalation of organic dust. The relative contribution of dust components to this elevation is unknown. Objective: To identify components of organic dust responsible for elevated MMP levels in equine airways. Methods: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BALF) from 7 heaves-susceptible horses, collected 6 h following inhalation challenges with saline, 2 different hay dust suspensions (HDS-1 and -2) and soluble and particulate fractions of HDS-1, were analysed for MMP-2 and -9 using SDS-page gelatin zymography. Results: HDS-1 challenge increased BALF...
Matera MG, Calzetta L, Peli A, Scagliarini A, Matera C, Cazzola M.Increasing clinical epidemiological and experimental evidence indicates that excess of production of reactive oxygen free radicals (ROS) induced by an oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of a number of human airway disorders, as well as equine recurrent airway obstruction. Free-radicals modulate the activation of transcription factors, such as nuclear factor-(NF)-kappaB and activator protein (AP)-1, in several different cells. This activation leads to expression of many pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1beta. We have hypothesized that equine airway sensitizat...
Dewachi O, Joubert P, Hamid Q, Lavoie JP.Heaves, a condition associated with airway neutrophilia, is believed to result from an allergic response to environmental dust particles. However, the contribution of neutrophils to the allergic response is poorly understood. It has been hypothesized that Th2-type cytokines can directly activate neutrophils to produce pro-inflammatory mediators. The present study focused on the presence of receptors for the Th2-type cytokines interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-9 on peripheral blood neutrophils of horses with heaves. Neutrophils were isolated from peripheral blood of horses with heaves (n=7), and normal...
Hoane JS, Morrow JK, Saville WJ, Dubey JP, Granstrom DE, Howe DK.Sarcocystis neurona is the primary causative agent of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), a common neurologic disease of horses in the Americas. We have developed a set of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) based on the four major surface antigens of S. neurona (SnSAGs) to analyze the equine antibody response to S. neurona. The SnSAG ELISAs were optimized and standardized with a sample set of 36 equine sera that had been characterized by Western blotting against total S. neurona parasite antigen, the current gold standard for S. neurona serology. The recombinant SnSAG2 (rSnSAG2)...
Luís C, Cothran EG, Oom MM, Bailey E.The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes play well-defined roles in eliciting immune responses and combating infectious diseases. This genetic system is among the most polymorphic. The extent of genetic variation within a population has been directly correlated with fitness for many traits. The MHC class II locus DRA polymorphism was analysed in the endangered Sorraia horse, two other Portuguese and four New World horse breeds considered to be historically close to the Sorraia. Comparison of the Sorraia with other breeds demonstrated less MHC variation among Sorraia horses. If DRA poly...
Chung C, Mealey RH, McGuire TC.Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are critical for lentivirus control including EIAV. Since CTL from most EIAV carrier horses recognize Gag epitope clusters (EC), the hypothesis that carrier horses would have high functional avidity CTL to optimal epitopes in Gag EC was tested. Twenty-two optimal EC epitopes were identified; two in EC1, six in EC2, and seven each in EC3 and 4. However, only five of nine horses had high functional avidity CTL (<or=11 nM) recognizing six epitopes in EC; four in relatively conserved EC3; and one each in EC1 and 2. Horses with high functional avidity CTL had signif...
McTaggart C, Penhale J, Raidala SL.To evaluate the effect of plasma transfusion on phagocytosis and oxidative burst activity of peripheral blood neutrophils from healthy and septic equine neonates with sub-optimal passive transfer of maternal immunity. Methods: Nine healthy and seven septic foals with suboptimal passive transfer of maternal immunity (serum IgG or = 8 g/L. Methods: Foals with serum IgG concentrations or = 11. All foals received between 1 and 3 L of plasma to boost circulating IgG concentrations to > or = 8 g/L. Serum IgG concentrations were determined before and following transfusion by glutaraldehyde coagu...
Passantino L, Amati L, Cianciotta A, Passantino G, Perillo A, Ribaud MR, Venezia P, Jirillo E.Trotters are exposed to a chronic prolonged stress, such as daily training and frequent races during their active lifespans. There is evidence that trotters undergo very often lethal lung infections after a race, and therefore, is likely that modifications of certain physiologic cellular parameters could account for the increased susceptibility to microbial diseases. Here, we demonstrate that in 7 trotters after a race either serum values (e.g., glycaemia, triglycerides, transaminases, gamma-glutamyltransferase, cholinesterase, amylase, alkaline phosphatase, total proteins, serum albumin, sodi...
Soutullo A, García MI, Bailat A, Racca A, Tonarelli G, Malan Borel I.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus causing a persistent infection in horses characterized by recurrent febrile episodes and high levels of viremia associated with a novel antigenic strain of the virus. The virus contains two envelope glycoproteins, gp90 and gp45, and four internal proteins, p26, p15, p11 and p9. Considering that the most infected horses are able to restrict EIAV replication to very low levels and that gp45 and p26 contain highly conserved epitopes among lentiviruses, it would be necessary to identify those conserved epitopes stimulating cellular and humoral ...
Cooper C, Sears W, Bienzle D.Availability of recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) has facilitated use to enhance red blood cell production, and therefore aerobic performance, in human and equine athletes. Recombinant human EPO promotes growth and differentiation of equine erythroid precursor cells, but in some horses repeat administration induces immune interference with endogenous EPO resulting in fatal anemia. Although blood reticulocyte parameters acquire unique changes in humans treated with EPO, with manual enumeration methods, horses were not considered to release reticulocytes from the bone marrow into circulatio...
Horohov DW, Beadle RE, Mouch S, Pourciau SS.Acute and chronic inflammation of the airway remains an important health problem for equids. "Heaves" or recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) remains one of the most commonly diagnosed conditions affecting the lung of older horses in Europe and the United States. The typical clinical signs of RAO include non-productive coughing, serous nasal discharge, labored expiratory effort, and flaring of the nostrils. Auscultation of the lungs of the affected horse often reveals abnormal respiratory sounds, described as crackles and wheezes, throughout the area of the lung field. These clinical signs occur...
Crouch CF, Daly J, Henley W, Hannant D, Wilkins J, Francis MJ.In horses, natural infection confers long lasting protective immunity characterised by mucosal IgA and humoral IgGa and IgGb responses. In order to investigate the potential of locally administered vaccine to induce a protective IgA response, responses generated by vaccination with an immunostimulating complex (ISCOM)-based vaccine for equine influenza (EQUIP F) containing A/eq/Newmarket/77 (H7N7), A/eq/Borlänge/91 (H3N8) and A/eq/Kentucky/98 (H3N8) using a systemic prime/mucosal boost strategy were studied. Seven ponies in the vaccine group received EQUIP F vaccine intranasally 6 weeks after...
Hooper-McGrevy KE, Wilkie BN, Prescott JF.The purpose of this study was to determine whether foals immunized orally from 2 days of age with virulent Rhodococcus equi developed a protective pulmonary immune response and to characterise the antibody response of the immunized foals to the virulence-associated proteins (Vaps) of the bacterium. Two groups of foals were used. One (n=4) was given live R. equi ATCC 33701 orally at 2, 7, and 14 days of age. The second group comprised three non-immunized foals age-matched to the vaccinates. At 3 weeks of age, 1 week after the final immunization, both groups were challenged intrabronchially with...
Leroux C, Montelaro RC, Sublimec E, Cadoré JL.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus related to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). EIAV causes a persistent infection characterized by recurring febrile episodes associating viremia, fever and thrombocytopenia. Despite a rapid virus replication and antigenic variation, most animals progress from a chronic stage characterized by recurring peaks of viremia and fever to an asymptomatic stage of infection. The understanding of the correlates of this immune control is of great interest in defining vaccine strategies. Research on EIAV over the last five decades has produced some in...
Little D, Tomlinson JE, Blikslager AT.Post operative ileus (POI) remains an important cause of post operative morbidity and mortality in the horse. However, clinical progression of naturally occurring cases of POI in both horse and man does not entirely support the 'neurogenic' hypothesis as the sole mechanism of POI; and the hypothesis that inflammation plays a major role at 12-24 h after surgery requires validation. Objective: An inflammatory infiltrate in the muscularis externa and myenteric plexus of equine jejunum is present 18 h following a period of ischaemia. Methods: Samples of normal jejunum, jejunum from the proximal re...
Matthews A, Gilger B.Immune mediated keratopathies (IMMKs) are a relatively commonly occurring group of heterogeneous corneal disorders. This paper describes the currently recognised clinical presentations of the IMMKs in the USA and in the UK. Although a clinical diagnosis is relatively straightforward in most cases, the specific aetiopathogeneses of the IMMKs remains elusive and largely speculative, but are thought to be based upon upregulated immunoreactivity in the normally immunologically passive cornea. Treatment protocols, both medical and surgical, are based primarily on collective clinical experience and ...
Banerjee DP, Singh B, Gautam OP, Sarup S.An intradermal skin test, to demonstrate a delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reaction in Babesia equi infection in donkeys, was developed. A skin reaction to B. equi antigen was elicited in vaccinnated, infected and carrier intact and splenectomised donkeys. The histopathological examination of the skin biopsy revealed infiltration of mononuclear cells and accumulation of oedematous fluid in the deeper layers of the dermis. A leucocyte migration inhibition test was developed and its specificity as an in vitro measure of cell-mediated immunity to B. equi antigen was established. The results of...
Hassanain MM.Investigation studies on inactivated African horsesickness vaccine using binary ethyleneimine were conducted. The inactivation process of virulent type-9 strain using the above inactivant revealed complete virus inactivation at 18, 48 and 84 h post-treatment with inactivant concentrations of 0.004, 0.003 and 0.002M, respectively, without detection of residual virus. An inactivant concentration of 0.003M is recommended and no changes in viral antigenic properties were noticed in complement fixation test. The physical parameters in oil-emulsion vaccine using the incomplete Freund's adjuvant, wer...
Alwan WH, Carter SD, Dixon JB, Bennett D, May SA, Edwards GB.Synovial fluid samples of horses with osteoarthritis were investigated to detect interleukin-1 (IL-1) activity which could contribute to the disease pathogenesis. Of the 32 samples tested, 12 (37.5 per cent) showed an augmented phytohaemagglutinin induced proliferation of C3H/HeJ mouse thymocytes. Positive results were also seen in horses with infected arthritis, osteochondritis, traumatic arthritis and undefined synovial effusions. Normal synovial fluid and sera from all groups failed to show any detectable IL-1 activity. Fractionation of synovial fluid showed that the IL-1 activity was in th...
Secor EJ, Matychak MB, Felippe MJ.This study aimed to determine whether TNF-α is transferred to equine neonates via colostrum and the relationship between TNF-α and IgG concentrations in the equine neonate. Colostrum, presuckle and postsuckle foal serum samples were collected from healthy mares and their foals. Equine TNF-α ELISA and IgG SRID kits were used to determine the concentrations of TNF-α and IgG, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed using the Spearman rank correlation. TNF-α concentrations in all presuckle foal serum were below the limit of detection in 15/16 foals and increased in postsuckle foal se...
Borges LM, Oliveira PR, Lisboa CL, Ribeiro MF.The objective of this study was to investigate some aspects of horse resistance to natural infestations of Anocentor nitens and Amblyomma cajennense over a 2-year period. Free-living stages of A. nitens were used to evaluate the influence of season of the year on horse resistance. Every 2 weeks, 10 selected engorged females, weighing 150-329 mg, were removed from naturally infested horses and were individually placed into glass tubes closed with a cotton stopper, and maintained in an incubator. The biological parameters evaluated varied according to the season of the year, i.e., reproductive e...
Hunter RP, Short CR, McClure JR, Koch CE, Keowen ML, VanSteenhouse JL, Dees AA.Cimetidine (CIM) is an H2-receptor antagonist that has been used in racehorses in an attempt to reduce the occurrence of stress-related gastric ulceration. It has also been shown to produce several useful effects other than its gastric acid suppression properties. Further, it is a well documented antagonist of cytochrome P-450 (CYP) mediated oxygenation reactions. Nitric oxide (NO), a recently discovered mediator or modifier of numerous physiological functions, is generated by several forms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), one of which is inducible (iNOS). Inducible NOS, expressed in neutrophil...
Gerber V, De Feijter-Rupp H, Wagner J, Venta P, Harkema JR, Robinson NE.Airway mucus accumulation is associated with indoor irritant and allergen exposure in horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO). Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and a chloride channel (calcium activated, family member 1; CLCA1) are key signalling molecules involved in mucin gene expression. Objective: We hypothesised that exposure to irritants and aeroallergens would lead to increased expression of the mucin gene eqMUC5AC and increased stored mucosubstance in the airways of RAO-affected horses, associated with increased neutrophils and CLCA1 and EGFR mRNA levels. Methods: We perfo...
Ziegler A, Olzhausen J, Hamza E, Stojiljkovic A, Stoffel MH, Garbani M, Rhyner C, Marti E.Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) constitutes the only curative approach for allergy treatment. There is need for improvement of AIT in veterinary medicine, such as in horses suffering from insect bite hypersensitivity, an IgE-mediated dermatitis to Culicoides. Dendritic cell (DC)-targeting represents an efficient method to increase antigen immunogenicity. It is studied primarily for its use in improvement of cancer therapy and vaccines, but may also be useful for improving AIT efficacy. Immunomodulators, like the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) agonist monophosphoryl lipid-A (MPLA) has been ...
Broaddus CC, Balasuriya UB, White JL, Timoney PJ, Funk RA, Holyoak GR.To determine whether it is safe to vaccinate pregnant or postpartum mares with a commercial modified-live virus vaccine against equine viral arteritis (EVA). Design-Randomized controlled study. Animals-73 mares and their foals. Methods: Mares were vaccinated during mid gestation, during late gestation, or 2 or 3 days after parturition with a commercial modified-live virus vaccine or were not vaccinated. Foaling outcomes were recorded, and serum, blood, milk, and nasopharyngeal samples were obtained. Results: All mares vaccinated during mid gestation foaled without any problems; 21 of 22 mares ...
Bannai H, Kambayashi Y, Nemoto M, Ohta M, Tsujimura K.The immune response and protective efficacy of a modified equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) vaccine administered by two different routes were tested in horses. Horses that received intramuscular (IM) priming and an intranasal (IN) booster with a 28-day interval (IM-IN group [n = 6]), IN priming and IM booster (IN-IM group [n = 5]), or no vaccination (control group [n = 6]) were challenged with EHV-1 strain 10-I-224 28 days after the second vaccination. Both vaccinated groups had significantly higher serum virus-neutralizing titers than the control group, with increased levels of ser...
Berndt A, Derksen FJ, Venta PJ, Karmaus W, Ewart S, Yuzbasiyan-Gurkan V, Robinson NE.Airway inflammation in recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) is triggered by housing affected horses in stables.It has been suggested that RAO is an allergic condition, but innate immune mechanisms are also involved. Fungal products activate innate immune mechanisms through toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). In human airway epithelium, TLR2 activation leads to interleukin (IL)-8 production. This pathway is negatively regulated by the zinc finger protein A20. This study was performed to enhance understanding of innate immune mechanisms in RAO. Objective: TLR2 and IL-8 mRNA are elevated in RAO during sta...
Bell SC, Savidge C, Taylor P, Knottenbelt DC, Carter SD.A putative immunodeficiency, causing mortality in UK Fell pony foals (Fell pony syndrome), was studied in affected foals and compared with healthy, age-matched foals. Differential cell counts of peripheral blood indicated that the syndrome foals were lymphopenic (P<0.05). Flow cytometric analysis of circulating leucocytes showed a reduced MHC II expression (P<0.01) on lymphocytes but not on polymorphonuclear cells in affected foals. There were no changes in the percentages of CD4+ or CD8+ T cells. There was an increased (P<0.05) expression of CD11a/18 by the lymphocytes of the syndrom...
Seethanathan P, Bottoms GD, Schafer K.Direct effects of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) on equine WBC are known to stimulate the release of a variety of mediators including thromboxane, prostacyclin, and leukotrienes. In this study, 0.1 microgram of LPS/ml stimulated an early increase in tumor necrosis factor, succeeded by an increase in interleukin-1, but concentrations of LPS up to 5.0 micrograms/ml caused no significant increase in superoxide anion release. The concentration of LPS (0.1 microgram/ml) used in this experiment was in the range of concentrations measured in plasma of some horses with gastrointestinal problems....
Bundgaard L, Jacobsen S, Dyrlund TF, Sørensen MA, Harman VM, Beynon RJ, Brownridge PJ, Petersen LJ, Bendixen E.The aim of this study was the development of a quantitative assay that could support future studies of a panel of acute phase proteins (APPs) in the horse. The assay was based on a quantification concatamer (QconCAT) coupled to selected reaction monitoring methodology. Thirty-two peptides, corresponding to 13 putative or confirmed APPs for the Equus caballus (equine) species were selected for the design of a QconCAT construct. The gene encoding the QconCAT was synthesized and expressed as an isotope-labeled chimaeric protein in Escherichia coli. The QconCAT tryptic peptides were analyzed on a ...
Liefman CE.Successful active immunisation of horses against tetanus is dependent on a number of factors of which the toxoid preparation used, its method of application and the ability of the individual horse to respond are fundamental. Two immunisation schedules using an aluminium-based toxoid preparation were examined and the protection determined by monitoring the level of antitoxin afforded by each schedule. The results obtained demonstrated that 2 doses of this toxoid are necessary to ensure 12 months protection in all horses. These results are discussed in relation to the factors involved in active ...
Ceusters JD, Serteyn DA, Minguet G, de la Rebière de Pouyade G, Romainville J, Deby-Dupont GP, Mouithys-Mickalad AA, Franck TJ.Horses are particularly sensitive and exposed to excessive inflammatory responses evolving toward an important stimulation of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs). The aim of this work was to stimulate equine neutrophils in whole blood and to evaluate their response by measuring the release of total and active myeloperoxidase (MPO) and total elastase, considered as markers of neutrophil stimulation and degranulation. Because of the critical importance of the concomitant presence of LPS and TNF-α in equine pathological situations, we combined these two natural mediators to stimulate PMN and co...
Warda FF, Ahmed HES, Shafik NG, Mikhael CA, Abd-ElAziz HMG, Mohammed WA, Shosha EA.Equine herpesvirus-1 infection in horses causes a wide range of manifestations affecting the respiratory tract. The virus can cause serious economic losses through sporadic abortion in pregnant mares, perinatal death, respiratory disease in young foals. This study was designed to prepare inactivated equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) vaccine using both 0.005 M binary ethylenimine (BEI) and 0.0006% formaldehyde (FA) to decrease the use of BEI and provide a good immunological response. The efficacy, safety, and duration of immunity of the prepared inactivated EHV-1 vaccine were evaluated. Methods: The...
Dominguez-Medina CC, Rash NL, Robillard S, Robinson C, Efstratiou A, Broughton K, Parkhill J, Holden MTG, Lopez-Alvarez MR, Paillot R, Waller AS.Bacterial superantigens (sAgs) are powerful activators of the immune response that trigger unspecific T cell responses accompanied by the release of proinflammatory cytokines. () and () produce sAgs that play an important role in their ability to cause disease. Strangles, caused by , is one of the most common infectious diseases of horses worldwide. Here, we report the identification of a new sAg of , SpeS, and show that mutation of the putative T cell receptor (TCR)-binding motif (YAY to IAY) abrogated TCR-binding, whilst maintaining interaction with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) c...
Klei TR, Turk MA, McClure JR, Holmes RA, Dennis VA, Chapman MR.Eight of 10 pony foals reared under helminth-free conditions were inoculated PO with 50 Strongylus vulgaris infective larvae/week for 4 weeks, at which time 1 foal died of acute verminous arteritis. Inoculation of 7 remaining foals continued at 2-week intervals for 20 weeks. Of the 7 foals, 3 were treated with ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg of body weight) in an oral paste formulation at experiment weeks 8, 16, 24; 4 foals were not treated. Two foals were not inoculated or treated and served as controls. After the first ivermectin treatment, ivermectin-treated foals had fewer days (12 +/- 2.9) with rec...
Laha R, Sasmal NK.The western blot analysis for identification of immunogenic proteins in whole cell lysate (WCL) antigens (Ags) prepared from the Trypanosoma evansi of buffalo, horse and cattle origins using hyperimmune sera (HIS) showed 11 immunogenic proteins and naturally T. evansi infected immune sera (IS) of horse detected 19 immunogenic proteins. HIS and IS of horse recognized five common immunogenic proteins of relative molecular weight (M(r)) ranges 61-64, 44-47, 33-34, 25-26 and 14-16 kilo Dalton (kDa). HIS rose against WCL Ags of T. evansi of buffalo origin and immune sera of horse cross reacted with...
Ainsworth DM, Appleton JA, Antczak DF, Santiago MA, Aviza G.A controlled experimental system for the evaluation of pulmonary immune responses in horses with "heaves" (recurrent airway obstruction) has been developed. We hypothesized that the humoral immune response to an inhaled antigen in diseased horses would be different from that of healthy horses and that chronic pulmonary inflammation would bias the production of IgG isotypes in diseased horses as compared to healthy horses. Healthy and affected horses were housed in a natural challenge environment (stabled, fed dusty hay) and exposed by inhalation, to a nebulized solution of keyhole limpet hemoc...
Kelmer G, Doherty TJ, Elliott S, Saxton A, Fry MM, Andrews FM.Endotoxaemia is one of the most severe and ubiquitous disease processes in horses. Although dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) is used clinically in horses, there is no study indicating its efficacy in endotoxaemic horses. Objective: DMSO ameliorates the clinical response to i.v. lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration. Methods: Eighteen horses were assigned randomly to one of 4 groups: Normosol-LPS (0.2 mug/kg bwt, i.v.); DMSO (1 g/kg bwt, i.v.)-saline; high-dose DMSO (1 g/kg bwt, i.v.)LPS; low-dose DMSO (20 mg/kg bwt, i.v.)-LPS. Horses participating in the DMSO-saline group were later assigned rando...
Kydd J, Miller J, Antczak DF, Allen WR.The maternal immunological response to the developing equine fetus was investigated in 69 pregnancies of various genotypes. In normal intraspecies horse pregnancy (N = 16), 94% of mares produced strong cytotoxic antibody responses to paternal histocompatibility antigens which were first detectable between 44 and 70 days after ovulation. In all other types of pregnancy examined (intraspecies donkey, N = 19; interspecies mule, N = 6; interspecies hinny, N = 2; extraspecies horse-in-donkey, N = 3; and extraspecies donkey-in-horse, N = 21), antibody production was observed less frequently, and som...
Ridgely SL, McGuire TC.The immunogenicity of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) Gag and Env equine leukocyte alloantigen (ELA)-A5.1, -A9, and -A1 restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes synthesized on multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) system coupled to tripalmitoyl-S-glycerylcysteine (P3C) was evaluated in vitro. P3C-MAP-peptide-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from horses, chronically infected with EIAV, had memory CTL (CTLm) similar to that of PBMCs stimulated with either the minimal CTL epitopes, longer peptides containing the CTL epitopes, or EIAV. The stimulated CTL lysed EIAV-in...
Migdał A, Migdał Ł, Oczkowicz M, Okólski A, Chełmońska-Soyta A.The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms leading to the identification of pathogens by congenital immune receptors in foals up to 60 days of age. The study was conducted on 16 foal Polish Pony Horses (Polish Konik) divided into two study groups: control ( = 9) and experimental ( = 7). Foals from the experimental group received an intramuscular duplicate injection of 5 mL of Biotropina (Biowet) at 35 and 40 days of age. The RNA isolated from venous blood was used to evaluate the expression of the, , and genes using RT-PCR. The results of the experiment demonstrated a s...
Leeth C, Adkins J, Hay A, Bogers S, Potter A, Witonsky S, Zhu J.Immunological studies in the horse are frequently hampered by lack of environmental control, complicated study design, and ethical concerns when performing high risk studies. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the utility of a xenograft model for studying acute equine immune responses. Immunocompromised non obese diabetic (NOD). sudden combined immunodeficiency (scid).gamma-/- (NSG) mice were engrafted with either equine peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) or equine bone marrow to determine an optimal protocol for equine lymphocyte engraftment. We found that both PBL and bone ...
Short CR, Horner MW, Blay PK, Moss MS, Edington N, Clarke CR.Several studies conducted during the past few years have shown that the pharmacokinetics of a variety of drugs may be altered following viral infection or vaccination. The elimination of drugs which are extensively metabolized, such as theophylline, may be prolonged, especially following exposure to RNA viruses such as Type A influenza or similar orthomyxoviruses. The purpose of this study was to determine whether vaccination of horses with equine influenza virus affected pharmacokinetic parameters describing the distribution and elimination of intravenously administered theophylline. Three th...
House JA.African horse sickness (AHS), which causes mortality up to 95%, is caused by orbiviruses and is transmitted by Culicoides. The goal of a control and eradication program for AHS is to prevent the spread of the virus via the biological vector. Control measures include slaughter of infected animals, housing of suspected infected animals in insect-proof stalls, and vaccination. Vaccination has played a key role in eradication when AHS occurred outside of Africa. Both modified live vaccines (MLV) and inactivated vaccines have been used to control AHS. An acceptable vaccine should be: safe, efficaci...
Lea RG, Bolton AE.Commercial preparations of equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG) and extracts of horse placenta taken at 80 days gestation were incorporated into mixed lymphocyte culture and mitogen stimulation assays of horse peripheral blood mononuclear cells. A dose-related inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation, indicative of immunosuppressive activity, was observed in both systems, both with commercial eCG preparations and tissue extracts. Negligible inhibitory activity was observed with an extract of term placenta. The inhibitory activity of the placental samples was not related to their eCG content as m...
