The immune system in horses is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body from pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. This system includes both innate and adaptive immune responses, which function to identify and eliminate foreign invaders. The innate immune response provides an immediate, non-specific defense, while the adaptive immune response involves a more targeted and long-lasting protection through the production of antibodies. Key components of the equine immune system include white blood cells, such as lymphocytes and macrophages, as well as various signaling molecules like cytokines. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the structure, function, and regulation of the immune system in horses, with an emphasis on understanding its role in maintaining equine health and its response to diseases.
Kahn SK, Cohen ND, Bordin AI, Coleman MC, Heird JC, Welsh TH.The bacterium Rhodococcus equi causes pneumonia in foals that is prevalent at breeding farms worldwide. In the absence of an effective vaccine, transfusion of commercial plasma from donor horses hyperimmunised against R. equi is used by many farms to reduce the incidence of pneumonia among foals at farms where the disease is endemic. The effectiveness of hyperimmune plasma for controlling R. equi pneumonia in foals has varied considerably among reports. The purposes of this narrative review are: (1) to review early studies that provided a foundational basis for the practice of transfusion of h...
Sponseller BT, Wong DM, Ruby R, Ware WA, Wilson S, Haynes JS.A 9-year-old Quarter Horse gelding was presented for lethargy, decreased appetite, polyuria and polydipsia (PU/PD), and severe muscle wasting suggestive of immune-mediated myositis. Results: The horse displayed lethargy, fever, tachyarrhythmia, inappetence, PU/PD, and severe epaxial and gluteal muscle wasting. Clinicopathologic findings were consistent with previously reported cases of systemic calcinosis in horses, including increased muscle enzyme activity, hyperphosphatemia, increased calcium-phosphorus product, hypoproteinemia, and an inflammatory leukogram. A diagnosis of systemic calcino...
Hu D, Tang Y, Wang C, Qi Y, Ente M, Li X, Zhang D, Li K, Chu H.The microbiota and its metabolites play an important role in regulating the host metabolism and immunity. However, the underlying mechanism is still not well studied. Thus, we conducted the LC-MS/MS analysis and RNA-seq analysis on with and without horse botfly infestation to determine the metabolites produced by intestinal microbiota in feces and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to the immune response in blood and attempted to link them together. The results showed that parasite infection could change the composition of microbial metabolites. These identified metabolites could b...
Lucassen A, Hankel J, Finkler-Schade C, Osbelt L, Strowig T, Visscher C, Schuberth HJ.Feed supplements such as fermentation products (SCFP) alter immune responses in horses. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether a prebiotic activity of the SCFP alters the gut microbiome in horses. Racehorses were fed either SCFP (Olimond BB, OLI, = 6) or placebo pellets (PLA, = 5) for 43 days. Fecal microbiota analysis was performed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The numbers and function of circulating immune cell subpopulations were analyzed by flow cytometry. SCFP supplementation resulted in non-consistent differences in fecal microbiota between the PLA and OLI during the feedi...
da Cunha Neto CAV, Badial PR, de Oliveira-Filho JP, de Andrade DGA, Araujo JP, Borges AS.Hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA) is a genetic disease that alters collagen biosynthesis. Affected horses exhibit fragile, hyperextensible skin, especially over the dorsal region. Although ultraviolet (UV) radiation seems to contribute to the regional distribution of lesions and worsening of clinical signs, the molecular mechanisms involved are largely unknown. Objective: To evaluate the effect of solar radiation on matrix metalloproteinase MMP1, MMP8 and MMP13 gene expression in the dorsal and ventral skin of HERDA-affected and HERDA-unaffected horses [wild-type (WT) horses]....
Cantatore F, Marcatili M, Withers J.Stiff-person syndrome is a well-recognised disease in humans, whilst cases of stiff-horse syndrome (SHS) have been rarely reported in the veterinary medicine literature. SHS is a progressive immunomediated disorder of the central nervous system leading to a disturbance of gamma amino butyric acid transmission at the neuromuscular junction in which antibodies are produced against the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase. A 6 year-old Irish Sport Horse was presented for investigation of involuntary violent contraction of hindlimb and back muscles triggered by stress. The diagnosis of SHS was made ...
Elferink AJW, Entiriwaa D, Bulgarelli P, Smits NGE, Peters J.Processed milk and milk products produced from bovine milk, commonly contain β-casein A1 (βCA1) and β-casein A2 (βCA2). Since the presence of βCA1 is linked to milk intolerance and digestion problems, A2A2 milk, which only contains βCA2, is proposed as a healthier alternative. To support this health claim, the purity of A2A2-milk has to be guaranteed. In the presented study, a multiplex immunoassay, able to distinguish between βCA2 and βCA1, was developed and real-life applicability was shown on raw milk samples from genotyped A1A1, A1A2 and A2A2 cows. Because of its ability to discrim...
One health outlookMay 9, 2022
Volume 4, Issue 1 9 doi: 10.1186/s42522-022-00065-y
Gömer A, Puff C, Reinecke B, Bracht S, Conze M, Baumgärtner W, Steinmann J, Feige K, Cavalleri JMV, Steinmann E, Todt D.The Equine Hepacivirus (EqHV) is an equine-specific and liver-tropic virus belonging to the diverse genus of Hepaciviruses. It was recently found in a large donkey (Equus asinus) cohort with a similar seroprevalence (30%), but lower rate of RNA-positive animals (0.3%) compared to horses. These rare infection events indicate either a lack of adaptation to the new host or a predominantly acute course of infection. Methods: In order to analyze the susceptibility and the course of EqHV infection in donkeys, we inoculated two adult female donkeys and one control horse intravenously with purified Eq...
Zandoná Meleiro MC, de Carvalho HJC, Ribeiro RR, da Silva MD, Salles Gomes CM, Miglino MA, de Santis Prada IL.Racehorses are constantly exposed to stress. Aiming to verify the state of blood components and cortisol alterations during their routine and after races, phagocytosis and oxidative neutrophil burst assays, serum cortisol determination, erythrocytes apoptosis evaluation, lymphoproliferation assays, and blood count tests were performed in thirty Thoroughbred racehorses, which were divided in two groups. The samples were taken right after races (moment 0 d), during rest periods (-11 d, +1 d, +3 d), and after training (-8, +2, +5). In both groups, the phagocytosis showed a decrease in percentage ...
Birdwhistell KE, Hurley DJ, Heins B, Peroni JF.Allogeneic solid organ transplantation is currently the only treatment option for end stage organ disease. The shortage of available donor organs has driven efforts to utilize xenogeneic organs for transplantation. In vitro methods for evaluating immune-compatibility are a quick and low cost means of screening novel tissue products prior to more involved, expensive, and invasive live animal studies. Recently, a new analog of the DNA base thymidine, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), was developed. It may be used in a fast, efficient and specific means of evaluating cell proliferation via flow cy...
Muñoz-Prieto A, Contreras-Aguilar MD, Cerón JJ, Ayala I, Martin-Cuervo M, Gonzalez-Sanchez JC, Jacobsen S, Kuleš J, Beletić A, Rubić I, Mrljak V....Changes in the salivary proteome in 12 horses with the two diseases included in equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS), equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) (n = 6) and equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) (n = 6), were evaluated using a high-resolution LC-MS/MS analysis of TMT-labelled peptides and compared to 10 healthy control horses. Serum was also analysed for comparative purposes. The comparison between the horses with EGGD and controls showed significant changes in 10 salivary proteins, whereas 36 salivary proteins were differently abundant between ESGD and control groups. The most u...
Li Y, Lan Y, Zhang S, Wang X.Increasing evidence reveals the importance of gut microbiota in animals for regulating intestinal homeostasis, metabolism, and host health. The gut microbial community has been reported to be closely related to many diseases, but information regarding diarrheic influence on gut microbiota in horses remains scarce. This study investigated and compared gut microbial changes in horses during diarrhea. The results showed that the alpha diversity of gut microbiota in diarrheic horses decreased observably, accompanied by obvious shifts in taxonomic compositions. The dominant bacterial phyla (, and )...
Rosa GDS, Krieck AMT, Padula ET, Stievani FC, Rossi MC, Pfeifer JPH, Basso RM, Braz AMM, Golim MA, Alves ALG.Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are widely used in clinical routine due to the shorter expansion time and reliability of its quality. However, some recipients can produce alloantibodies that recognize MSCs and activate the immune system, resulting in cell death. Although antibody production was already described after MSC injection, no previous studies described the immune response after intra-articular MSC injection in acute synovitis. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of inflammation on immune response after single and repeated intra-articular injections of synovial membrane...
Cequier A, Romero A, Vázquez FJ, Vitoria A, Bernad E, Fuente S, Zaragoza P, Rodellar C, Barrachina L.Immunomodulation and immunogenicity are pivotal aspects for the therapeutic use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Since the horse is highly valuable as both a patient and translational model, further knowledge on equine MSC immune properties is required. This study analysed how inflammation, chondrogenic differentiation and compatibility for the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) influence the MSC immunomodulatory-immunogenicity balance. Equine MSCs in basal conditions, pro-inflammatory primed (MSC-primed) or chondrogenically differentiated (MSC-chondro) were co-cultured with either autolo...
Alberghina D, Statelli A, Monteverde V, Vazzana I, Cascone G, Panzera M.The values for basal serum cortisol concentrations of horses are available in many studies. However, there are limited data about serum cortisol in donkeys. The present study aimed to determine the baseline values for serum cortisol, to evaluate the influence of age and pregnancy on its levels, and to correlate its values with leucocyte profile, serum cholesterol, and triglycerides. Serum samples were collected from 97 healthy donkeys. Cortisol was analyzed by chemo-luminescent assay. The median and the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of serum cortisol measured and calculated in all donkeys were ...
Bordin AI, Huber L, Sanz MG, Cohen ND.Pneumonia in foals caused by the bacterium Rhodococcus equi has a worldwide distribution and is a common cause of disease and death for foals. The purpose of this narrative review was to summarise recent developments pertaining to the epidemiology, immune responses, treatment, and prevention of rhodococcal pneumonia of foals. Screening tests have been used to implement earlier detection and treatment of foals with presumed subclinical R. equi pneumonia to reduce mortality and severity of disease. Unfortunately, this practice has been linked to the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant R. equi i...
Simões J, Batista M, Tilley P.Severe equine asthma is a chronic respiratory disease of adult horses, occurring when genetically susceptible individuals are exposed to environmental aeroallergens. This results in airway inflammation, mucus accumulation and bronchial constriction. Although several studies aimed at evaluating the genetic and immune pathways associated with the disease, the results reported are inconsistent. Furthermore, the complexity and heterogeneity of this disease bears great similarity to what is described for human asthma. Currently available studies identified two chromosome regions (ECA13 and ECA15) a...
Gupta SK.Mammalian zona pellucida (ZP) is composed of three to four glycoproteins, which plays an important role during fertilization. Mutations in the genes encoding zona proteins are reported in women with empty follicle syndrome, degenerated oocytes and those with an abnormal or no ZP further emphasizing their relevance during fertility. Immunization with either native or recombinant ZP glycoproteins/proteins leads to curtailment of fertility in various animal species. Observed infertility is frequently associated with ovarian pathology characterized by follicular atresia and degenerative changes in...
Lee GKC, Kang H, Beeler-Marfisi J, Sears W, Lillie BN, Bienzle D.Salivary scavenger and agglutinin (SALSA) is a secreted protein with various immunomodulatory roles. In humans, the protein agglutinates and inactivates microorganisms, and inhibits the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Saliva, which is rich in SALSA, accelerates bacterial phagocytosis, but SALSA's contribution is unclear. In horses, the functions of SALSA in inflammation remain undetermined, so they were investigated through phagocytosis and cytokine assays. Equine SALSA was purified from duodenal tissue, which contains abundant SALSA. To assess phagocytosis, fluorescently-labelled bacte...
Jasiński T, Zdrojkowski Ł, Kautz E, Juszczuk-Kubiak E, Ferreira-Dias G, Domino M.Endometritis is an important issue decreasing mares' fertility. In the case of endometritis, both inflammatory cells infiltration and proinflammatory molecules production are regulated by various cellular and gene regulatory mechanisms, including the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-dependent pathway. NF-κB-signalling pathway has been recently studied in the equine endometrium in the context of endometrosis. Thus, this study aimed to determine gene transcription of NF-κB subunits (RelA; NF-κB1; NF-κB2), proinflammatory molecules (MCP-1; IL-6) and hyaluronan synthases (HAS 1; HAS 2; HAS 3) in en...
Baakhtari M, Imaizumi N, Kida T, Yanagita T, Ramah A, Ahmadi P, Takebe N, Iwamoto Y, Korosue K, Tsuzuki N, Yasuda M.High-intensity exercise and competition are associated with depressed immune function. Young horses, which participate in high-intensity exercise and competitions, are at increased risk for the development of infectious disease due to depression of immune function. The effects of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation on the immune status of young racing horses were evaluated, determining whether BCAA might help to avoid or reduce immune suppression during exercise and competitions. Twenty horses (10 male and 10 female) were treated with BCAA supplementation; another twenty untreated...
Theuerkauf K, Obach-Schröck C, Staszyk C, Moritz A, Roscher KA.In humans, activated platelets contribute to sepsis complications and to multiple organ failure. In our prospective analytical study of cases of the equine systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), we adapted a standard human protocol for the measurement of activated platelets and platelet-leukocyte aggregates (PLAs) in equine platelet-leukocyte-rich plasma (PLRP) by flow cytometry, and we investigated the hypothesis that activated platelets and PLAs are increased in clinical cases of SIRS. We included 17 adult horses and ponies fulfilling at least 2 SIRS criteria, and 10 healthy equids ...
Domańska D, Trela M, Pawliński B, Podeszewski B, Domino M.The somatic cell count in milk (SCC) and electrical conductivity of milk (ECM) are indicators of the health status of the mammary gland. Among somatic cells, mainly polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), macrophages (MAC), and lymphocytes (LYM) are rated. This study aimed to determine the SCC, PMN, MAC, LYM, ECM, and bacteriological index (BII) in milk collected from mares with (CM) and without (NCM) clinical symptoms of mastitis concerning mares with (SM) and without (NSM) subclinical mastitis. Milk samples were collected from 27 mares divided into NCM (n = 12) and CM (n = 15) groups. In sample...
Piras C, Gugliandolo E, Castagna F, Palma E, Britti D.Ivermectin has a wide number of many diverse functions. Certainly, it is irreplaceable for the treatment of parasitic pathologies in both human and veterinary medicine, and the latter represents the major field of its application. It has been called the "drug for the world's poor" because of its role as a saviour for those living on the margins of society, in underdeveloped areas afflicted by devastating and debilitating diseases, such as Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic filariasis. It showed huge, unexpected potential as an antibacterial (Chlamydia trachomatis and mycobacteria), and it has antivi...
Karagianni AE, Kurian D, Cillán-Garcia E, Eaton SL, Wishart TM, Pirie RS.Neutrophilic airway inflammation is highly prevalent in racehorses in training, with the term mild to moderate equine asthma (MMEA) being applied to the majority of such cases. Our proposed study is largely derived from the strong association between MMEA in racehorses and their entry into a race training program. The objectives of this study are to characterise the effect of training on the local pulmonary immune system by defining the gene and protein expression of tracheal wash (TW) derived samples from Thoroughbred racehorses prior to and following commencement of race training. Multiomics...
Arfuso F, Giudice E, Panzera M, Rizzo M, Fazio F, Piccione G, Giannetto C.The monitoring of endocrine and immunologic markers during exercise is of paramount importance to assess and/or maintain the physical well-being of athletes as well as to optimize the athletic performance. This study aimed to investigate the linkage between acute stress response and immune status in Thoroughbred horses competing in an official 1300-m race. From 10 horses blood was collected 1 week before the day of the race (1W-BEFORE), before (REST) and immediately after the race to assess the cortisol, Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), total proteins, white blood cells (WBC), red b...
Lee OJ, Koch TG.Inflammation-associated disorders are significant causes of morbidity in horses. Equine single-donor mesenchymal stromal cells (sdMSCs) hold promise as cell-therapy candidates due to their secretory nonprogenitor functions. This has been demonstrated by mononuclear cell suppression assays (MSAs) showing that sdMSCs are blood mononuclear cell (BMC) suppressive in vitro. sdMSCs derived from umbilical cord blood are of clinical interest due to their ease of procurement, multipotency, and immunomodulatory ability. Due to the inherent donor-to-donor heterogeneity of MSCs, the development of robust ...
Hernández-Avalos I, Mota-Rojas D, Mendoza-Flores JE, Casas-Alvarado A, Flores-Padilla K, Miranda-Cortes AE, Torres-Bernal F, Gómez-Prado J....Pain and anxiety are two of the most important concerns in clinical veterinary medicine because they arise as consequences of multiple factors that can severely affect animal welfare. The aim of the present review was to provide a description and interpretation of the physiological and behavioral alterations associated with pain and anxiety in equines. To this end, we conducted an extensive review of diverse sources on the topic. The article begins by describing the neurophysiological pathway of pain, followed by a discussion of the importance of the limbic system in responses to pain and anxi...
Estrada McDermott J, Pezzanite L, Goodrich L, Santangelo K, Chow L, Dow S, Wheat W.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common condition with diverse etiologies, affecting horses, humans, and companion animals. Importantly, OA is not a single disease, but rather a disease process initiated by different events, including acute trauma, irregular or repetitive overload of articular structures, and spontaneous development with aging. Our understanding of the pathogenesis of OA is still evolving, and OA is increasingly considered a multifactorial disease in which the innate immune system plays a key role in regulating and perpetuating low-grade inflammation, resulting in sustained cartilage ...
Minke JM, Audonnet JC, Fischer L.The increasing international movement of horses combined with the relaxation of veterinary regulations has resulted in an increased incidence of equine infectious diseases. Vaccination, along with management measures, has become the primary method for the effective control of these diseases. Traditionally modified live and inactivated vaccines have been used and these vaccines have proven to be very successful in preventing disease. However, there are a number of equine infectious diseases for which conventional technology has shown its limitations. The advent of recombinant technology has sti...
Gryspeerdt AC, Vandekerckhove AP, Garré B, Barbé F, Van de Walle GR, Nauwynck HJ.Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV1) replicates in the respiratory tract of horses, after which infected leukocytes transport virus throughout the body, resulting in abortion or nervous system disorders. Two EHV1 strains circulate in the field: neurovirulent and non-neurovirulent. To investigate differences in replication in the upper respiratory tract (URT), an experimental inoculation study in ponies was performed with both strains. Two groups of six ponies, were inoculated intranasally with 10(6.5) TCID(50) of either strain. Clinical signs, nasal shedding and viremia were evaluated. At early time po...
Toribio RE, Kohn CW, Capen CC, Rosol TJ.Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is secreted by the chief cells of the parathyroid gland in response to changes in ionized calcium (Ca(2+)) concentrations. In this study, we measured PTH secretion, and PTH mRNA and calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) mRNA expression by equine parathyroid chief cells in vitro. We also evaluated the effects of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha on PTH secretion, and PTH and CaR mRNA expression. The relationship between PTH and Ca(2+) was inversely related. PTH secretion decreased from 100% (day 0) to 13% (day 30). PTH mRNA expression decline...
Colbath AC, Dow SW, Phillips JN, McIlwraith CW, Goodrich LR.The use of allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMDMSCs) may provide an effective alternative to autologous BMDMSCs for treatment of equine musculoskeletal injuries. However, concerns have been raised regarding the potential safety and effectiveness of allogeneic BMDMSCs. We conducted studies to assess the immunological properties of equine allogeneic BMDMSCs compared with those of autologous BMDMSCs. For assessment of inherent immunogenicity, the relative ability of allogeneic and autologous BMDMSCs to stimulate spontaneous proliferation of equine lymphocytes was compared. T...
Bruhn O, Grötzinger J, Cascorbi I, Jung S.Antimicrobial peptides play a pivotal role as key effectors of the innate immune system in plants and animals and act as endogenous antibiotics. The molecules exhibit an antimicrobial activity against bacteria, viruses, and eukaryotic pathogens with different specificities and potencies depending on the structure and amino-acid composition of the peptides. Several antimicrobial peptides were comprehensively investigated in the last three decades and some molecules with remarkable antimicrobial properties have reached the third phase of clinical studies. Next to the peptides themselves, numerou...
Kydd JH, Smith KC, Hannant D, Livesay GJ, Mumford JA.Twelve adult ponies and 2 conventional foals were exposed intranasally to EHV-1, strain Ab4 (TCID50 10(-6.6) and samples of respiratory tract associated lymphoid tissues were recovered between 12 h and 13 days after infection. Infectious virus was detected in tissue homogenates using susceptible cell monolayers and expression of viral antigens was monitored using indirect immunoperoxidase histochemistry on paraffin sections. The results showed both infectious EHV-1 and viral antigens in respiratory tract associated lymph nodes 12 h after exposure. Infected leucocytes were identified morphologi...
Taylor S.Sepsis is defined as an exaggerated, systemic inflammatory response to infection and is a common condition in horses. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) associated with bacterial infection is a hallmark of sepsis. Sepsis in neonatal foals is a common sequela of failure of passive transfer and, in addition to development of SIRS, may be characterised by bacteraemia, pneumonia, enterocolitis, omphalophlebitis, meningoencephalitis or arthritis. Sepsis in mature horses is most commonly observed secondary to gastrointestinal lesions that result in disrupted mucosa and bacterial transloc...
Contreras-Aguilar MD, Tvarijonaviciute A, Monkeviciene I, Martín-Cuervo M, González-Arostegui LG, Franco-Martínez L, Cerón JJ, Tecles F....Measurement of adenosine deaminase (ADA) can provide information about cell-mediated immunity. This report's objective was to study the enzymatic activity of total ADA (tADA) and its isoenzymes ADA1 and ADA2 in canine, equine, porcine, and bovine serum and saliva and their changes in different inflammatory situations in each species. Besides, an automated method for ADA2 measurement was developed and validated. Results: tADA was present in serum and saliva of healthy animals of the four species. Erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl) adenine (EHNA) concentration of 0.47 mM was needed for ADA1 inhibit...
Neuder LE, Keener JM, Eckert RE, Trujillo JC, Jones SL.Endotoxemia occurs when bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the blood induces a dysregulated inflammatory response, resulting in circulatory shock and multi-organ failure. Laminitis is a common complication in endotoxemic horses and is frequently the reason for humane euthanasia of these cases. Blood leukocytes are a principal target of LPS in endotoxemia leading to activation of multiple signal transduction pathways involved in the induction of a number of pro-inflammatory genes. In other animal models, the p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway has been associated with induced...
Witkowska-Piłaszewicz O, Pingwara R, Winnicka A.Physical activity has an influence on a variety of processes in an athlete's organism including the immune system. Unfortunately, there is a lack of studies regarding racehorse immune cells, especially when the horse model is compared to human exercise physiology. The aim of the study was to determine changes in immune cell proliferation, lymphocyte populations, and monocyte functionality in trained and untrained racehorses after exercise. In this study, field data were collected. The cells from 28 racehorses (14 untrained and 14 well-trained) were collected before and after exercise (800 m at...
Martens RJ, Martens JG, Fiske RA, Hietala SK.The immunoprophylactic capacity of specific immune plasma was evaluated in pony foals infected experimentally with Rhodococcus equi. Immune plasma, produced by repeated parenteral administration of viable R. equi to adult horses, was harvested and frozen. Group I (six control foals) and Group II (six principal foals) received lactated Ringers solution and immune plasma respectively at three and five days of age. R. equi were aerosolised into a caudal lung lobe of all foals at seven days of age. Clinical signs, haematological alterations, immune responses, thoracic radiographs and technetium99m...
Chang MH, Kim KH, Kim HS, Jun HJ, Kim DH, Jang JH, Kim K, Jung CW.Immunosuppressive therapy (IST) with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) plus cyclosporine (CSA) is standard therapy in patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) who do not have an available HLA-matched sibling donor. Methods: The current study aimed to determine the predictive factors for response to IST in patients with SAA and to identify prognostic factors following IST. A total of 62 patients diagnosed with SAA who received IST with either rabbit ATG (n = 33) or horse ATG (n = 29) plus CSA between October 1994 and December 2007 were included. Results: With a median follow-up duration of 60.5 mo...
Deeg CA, Kaspers B, Gerhards H, Thurau SR, Wollanke B, Wildner G.To test the hypothesis that autoimmune mechanisms are involved in horses in which equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) develops spontaneously. Methods: Material obtained from horses treated for spontaneous disease by therapeutic routine vitrectomy was analyzed for total IgG content and IgG specific for S-Antigen (S-Ag) and interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP). The cellular infiltrate of the vitreous was analyzed by differential counts of cytospin preparations and flow cytometry using equine lymphocyte-specific antibodies. Antigen-specific proliferation assays were performed comparing p...
Register TC, Cann JA, Kaplan JR, Williams JK, Adams MR, Morgan TM, Anthony MS, Blair RM, Wagner JD, Clarkson TB.The effects of dietary soy isoflavones (IF) and conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) on circulating inflammatory markers were determined at the end of a 3-yr study of ovariectomized monkeys consuming a moderately atherogenic diet. Treatments were: 1) control, receiving alcohol-extracted soy-protein-based diet with low IF content (comparable to approximately 5 mg/d); 2) CEE, added to the control diet at a dose comparable to 0.625 mg/d; and 3) IF, consumed as a part of unextracted soy protein isolate at a dose comparable to 129 mg/d. Serum soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) was red...
Menarim BC, Gillis KH, Oliver A, Ngo Y, Werre SR, Barrett SH, Rodgerson DH, Dahlgren LA.Synovitis is a major component of osteoarthritis and is driven primarily by macrophages. Synovial macrophages are crucial for joint homeostasis (M2-like phenotype), but induce inflammation (M1-like) when regulatory functions become overwhelmed. Macrophage phenotypes in synovium from osteoarthritic and healthy joints are poorly characterized; however, comparative knowledge of their phenotypes during health and disease is paramount for developing targeted treatments. This study compared patterns of macrophage activation in healthy and osteoarthritic equine synovium and correlated histology with ...
Tafuri S, Cocchia N, Carotenuto D, Vassetti A, Staropoli A, Mastellone V, Peretti V, Ciotola F, Albarella S, Del Prete C, Palumbo V, Esposito L....The present study was conducted to assess the chemical composition of Yellow Maca () and its biological activity on stallions following oral administration of hypocotyl powder. Maca was subjected to methanolic extraction and the chemical analysis was carried out by LC-MS-QTOF (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry). Our results showed that Maca contains some effective antioxidants, a high percentage of glucosinolates, and other important components with a high antioxidant capacity. To evaluate the plant biological activity in stallions fed with Maca powder for 60 days, the redox status and s...
Christoffersen M, Baagoe CD, Jacobsen S, Bojesen AM, Petersen MR, Lehn-Jensen H.Infectious infertility in the mare is clinically well described, little is however known about the systemic acute phase reaction (APR) and local immunological responses accompanying equine endometritis. The aim of this study was to monitor selected markers of the APR in the systemic circulation and to correlate them to the local innate immune response in the uterus during infectious endometritis. Six adult standard bred mares received an intrauterine infusion of 10(9)CFU Escherichia coli. Blood samples were obtained before (0 h) and 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h post inoculation (pi),...
Beards GM, Brown DW, Green J, Flewett TH.Pleomorphic virus-like particles have been observed by electron microscopy in the faeces of children and adults with diarrhoea. Some of these particles were approximately 100 nm in diameter and had a "fringe" of closely applied peplomers approximately 10 nm long; they closely resembled Berne virus of horses and Breda virus of calves, the two representatives of a newly proposed family called the Toroviridae. In one sample a toroidal nucleoprotein-like structure was observed within the particles. For two samples a buoyant density of 1.14 g/ml was determined by centrifugation through a sucrose de...
Quintana AM, Landolt GA, Annis KM, Hussey GS.Our understanding of innate immunity within the equine respiratory tract is limited despite growing evidence for its key role in both the immediate defense and the shaping of downstream adaptive immune responses to respiratory disease. As the first interface to undergo pathogen invasion, the respiratory epithelium is a key player in these early events and our goal was to examine the innate immune characteristics of equine respiratory epithelia and compare them to an in vitro equine respiratory epithelial cell model cultured at the air-fluid interface (AFI). Respiratory epithelial tissues, isol...
Wagner B.Antibodies of the horse were studied intensively by many notable immunologists throughout the past century until the early 1970's. After a large gap of interest in horse immunology, additional basic studies on horse immunoglobulin genes performed during the past 10 years have resulted in new insights into the equine humoral immune system. These include the characterization of the immunoglobulin lambda and kappa light chain genes, the immunoglobulin heavy chain constant (IGHC) gene regions, and initial studies regarding the heavy chain variable genes. Horses express predominately lambda light c...
Newton JR, Townsend HG, Wood JL, Sinclair R, Hannant D, Mumford JA.Field outbreaks of influenza that occurred in vaccinated Thoroughbred racehorses in Newmarket in 1995 and 1996 were investigated by nucleoprotein ELISA and serology. Investigations showed that serum levels of vaccine-induced single radial haemolysis (SRH) antibody correlated closely with protective immunity against equine influenza and were consistent with observations made in previous experimental studies using nebulised aerosol challenge. In the second part of this study, antibody levels stimulated by vaccination were investigated to examine probable protection in high risk groups, such as y...
Lavoie-Lamoureux A, Leclere M, Lemos K, Wagner B, Lavoie JP.Systemic inflammation in horses with heaves is poorly characterized. Objective: To assess acute phase proteins (APP) and inflammatory cytokine profiles in serum of healthy horses and horses with heaves. Methods: Six healthy horses and 6 heaves-affected horses belonging to the University of Montreal. Methods: Prospective, observational study. Healthy and heaves-affected control horses were exposed to a 30-day natural challenge with hay and straw to induce clinical exacerbation of heaves. Serum samples were obtained by venipuncture before (T0) as well as after 7 (T7) and 30 days (T30) of stablin...
Christensen M, Jacobsen S, Ichiyanagi T, Kjelgaard-Hansen M.Major acute phase proteins (APPs) have proven diagnostically useful in dogs, cats and horses with routine use facilitated by commercially available automated heterologous assays. An automated assay applicable across all three species would highly facilitate further dissemination of routine use, and the aim of this study was to validate an automated latex agglutination turbidimetric immunoassay based on monoclonal anti-human serum amyloid A (SAA) antibodies for measurement of canine, feline and equine SAA. Serum samples from 60 dogs, 40 cats and 40 horses were included. Intra- and inter-assay i...
Summerfield A, Auray G, Ricklin M.Dendritic cells (DC) have a main function in innate immunity in that they sense infections and environmental antigens at the skin and mucosal surfaces and thereby critically influence decisions about immune activation or tolerance. As professional antigen-presenting cells, they are essential for induction of adaptive immune responses. Consequently, knowledge on this cell type is required to understand the immune systems of veterinary mammals, including cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, and horses. Recent ontogenic studies define bona fide DC as an independent lineage of hematopoietic cells orig...
Lin YZ, Sun LK, Zhu DT, Hu Z, Wang XF, Du C, Wang YH, Wang XJ, Zhou JH.Human schlafen11 is a novel restriction factor for HIV-1 based on bias regarding relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU). Here, we report the cloning of equine schlafen11 (eSLFN11) and the characteristics of its role in restricting the production of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), a retrovirus similar to HIV-1. Overexpression of eSLFN11 inhibited EIAV replication, whereas knockdown of endogenous eSLFN11 by siRNA enhanced the release of EIAV from its principal target cell. Notably, although eSLFN11 significantly suppressed expression of viral Gag protein and EIAV release into the culture ...
Fingerhut L, Ohnesorge B, von Borstel M, Schumski A, Strutzberg-Minder K, Mörgelin M, Deeg CA, Haagsman HP, Beineke A, von Köckritz-Blickwede M....Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is considered one of the most important eye diseases in horses and typically appears with relapsing inflammatory episodes without systemic effects. Various disorders have been described as an initial trigger, including infections. Independent of the initiating cause, there are numerous indications that ERU is an immune-mediated disease. We investigated whether neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are part of the ERU pathogenesis. Therefore, vitreous body fluids (VBF), sera, and histological sections of the eye from ERU-diseased horses were analyzed for the prese...
Rwambo PM, Issel CJ, Adams WV, Hussain KA, Miller M, Montelaro RC.Three ponies were inoculated with plasma containing 10(4.8) TCID50 of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) and observed for 165 to 440 days. Each pony developed a febrile response within 3 weeks of infection during which a plasma viremia greater than or equal to 10(3.5) TCID50/ml was observed. Analyses of four isolates from sequential febrile episodes in a single pony were conducted by two-dimensional tryptic peptide maps and with monoclonal antibodies in immunoblots. Structural and antigenic alterations were observed in the envelope glycoproteins gp90 and gp45, with greatest variation in gp9...
Flaminio MJ, Rush BR, Davis EG, Hennessy K, Shuman W, Wilkerson MJ.Studies in infants and foals indicate an age-dependent maturation of peripheral lymphocyte subsets. The age-dependent relationship for maturation of cellular immune responses, such as phagocytosis and lymphocyte responses of the peripheral and pulmonary-derived leukocytes, has not been characterized in foals. Lymphocyte subpopulations, mitogen stimulation response of lymphocytes, lymphokine-activated killing cell activity, phagocytosis and oxidative burst activity, and serum immunoglobulin (Ig) classes G and M concentrations were determined in developing foals. This study illustrates age-depen...
Paillot R, Prowse L, Montesso F, Huang CM, Barnes H, Escala J.Equine influenza (EI) is a serious respiratory disease of horses induced by the equine influenza virus (EIV). Surveillance, quarantine procedures and vaccination are widely used to prevent or to contain the disease. This study aimed to further characterise the immune response induced by a non-updated inactivated EI and tetanus vaccine, including protection against a representative EIV isolate of the Florida clade 2 sublineage. Seven ponies were vaccinated twice with Duvaxyn IE-T Plus at an interval of four weeks. Five ponies remained unvaccinated. All ponies were experimentally infected with t...
Welch HM, Bridges CG, Lyon AM, Griffiths L, Edington N.The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and co-cultivation were used to identify the lymphoreticular system as the site of latency of equid herpesvirus I (EHV-1). Primers for PCR were designed from aligned nucleotide sequences of the glycoprotein gB genes to amplify the same region of both the EHV-1 and EHV-4 genomes. Subsequent restriction digests using specific enzymes distinguished the amplified fragments of the EHV-1 genome from those of the EHV-4 genome. Ten weeks following an experimental infection of five ponies with EHV-1, latent virus was detected by PCR and recovered by co-cultivation, p...
