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.
Morris DD, Henry MM, Moore JN, Fischer K.In laboratory animals, the incorporation of alpha linolenic acid or other n-3 series fatty acids into the diet results in marked changes in cell membrane composition as well as arachidonic acid metabolism. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether endotoxin-induced thromboxane A2 (TxA2) and/or prostacyclin (PGI2) production by equine peritoneal macrophages was altered by feeding horses a diet containing 8% linseed oil as a source of alpha linolenic acid for 8 weeks. Peritoneal macrophages were cultured in vitro in the presence of endotoxin (LPS) (0.5-500 ng/ml) or calcium ionop...
Mair TS, Taylor FG, Pinsent PJ.Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is a syndrome characterised by prolonged, unexplained fever associated with non-specific signs of illness such as lethargy, inappetence and weight loss. This paper reviews the details of 63 horses affected by FUO. The cause was found to be infection in 43 per cent of the cases, neoplasia in 22 per cent, immune-mediated diseases in 6.5 per cent and miscellaneous diseases in 19 per cent; the cause remained undiagnosed in 9.5 per cent.
Armstrong RA, Lawrence RA, Jones RL, Wilson NH, Collier A.1. This study describes attempts to compare prostacyclin (IP-) receptors in human, pig, horse, rabbit and rat platelets and in circular muscle of human, rabbit and dog mesenteric and pig gastroepiploic arteries. Three stable prostacyclin analogues, iloprost, cicaprost and 6a-carba-prostacyclin (6a-carba-PGI2) and a prostaglandin endoperoxide analogue EP 157 (previously shown to mimic prostacyclin on human platelets) were used. 2. Our main conclusion is that prostacyclin receptors on human, pig and horse platelets are similar in nature, but distinct from those on rabbit and rat platelets. Funct...
Scott DW.In a retrospective histopathologic study of nonneoplastic dermatoses, lymphoid nodules were found in 0.3% of 3,408 canine, 5.1% of 469 feline, and 4.5% of 325 equine skin biopsies. In all 3 species, the majority of cases wherein lymphoid nodules were found were diseases of presumed immune-mediated nature. In cats and horses, the majority of cases were also diseases characterized by tissue eosinophilia.
Morris DD, Moore JN.An experiment was designed to determine whether a change in the ability of macrophages to respond to lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of gram-negative bacteria was involved in the development of cross-reactive immunity to endotoxemia. The endotoxin-induced production of thromboxane A2(TxA2) and prostacyclin (PGI2) by peritoneal macrophages from horses which were hyperimmunized against the common core region of LPS were compared to those in unimmunized horses. Bacterins used for induction of core LPS immunity were prepared from the J-5 mutant of Escherichia coli 0111:B4, and the R 595 mutant of Salmon...
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...
Fessler JF, Bottoms GD, Coppoc GL, Gimarc S, Latshaw HS, Noble JK.Endotoxin (LPS) was quantitated in experimental subjects and in horses with naturally occurring gastrointestinal strangulation obstruction and/or septicaemic diseases to establish the fate of LPS and the clinical usefulness of the Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. The assay was validated for sensitivity (10 pg/ml), recovery (90 to 106 per cent), intra-assay precision (CV = 5.5 per cent) inter-assay precision (CV = 11 per cent), and stability of diluted, heat treated, frozen samples (at least 90 days). Plasma concentrations of LPS after sublethal (3 micrograms/kg) jugular or portal vein bo...
Palmer JE, Benson CE, Lotz GW.Ten healthy, mature ponies were orally infected with Ehrlichia risticii using Ehrlichia-infected P388D1 mouse monocyte tissue culture cells. Seven developed signs of equine ehrlichial colitis including fever, depression, anorexia, reduced borborygmi, increased abdominal hyperresonance, and diarrhoea. Three remained clinically normal apart from early fever in one. Indirect fluorescent antibody titres were detected in the clinically affected ponies by Days 12 to 17 post infection and increased rapidly to high levels (1:640 to 1:5120) which were maintained until the end of the observation period ...
Bürki F, Nowotny N, Rossmanith W, Pallan C, Möstl K.During 3 foaling seasons around 150 Lipizzaner foals were vaccinated against ERP with commercial vaccines and groups thereof were serotested in CF and SN for their humoral immune response. In addition, 6 horses of cheaper common breeds were vaccinated on the University premises, were continuously serologically screened and subjected to virulent nasal test infection. The live-virus vaccine Prevaccinol interfered so profoundly and up to the 20th week of life with maternal antibodies that its further use was discontinued. The inactivated vaccine Pneumabort-K proved to be of impressive immunogenic...
Pycock JF, Allen WE.The uteri of normal pony mares in oestrus were infected experimentally with Streptococcus zooepidemicus. Uterine contents were collected 30, 60, 120 or 240 minutes later and were tested for their chemotactic effect on equine-neutrophils both with a morphological assay based on neutrophil shape changes and with a modified Boyden chamber technique. By 30 minutes after infection the uterine contents were markedly chemotactic for isolated peripheral neutrophils and remained so at the 240-minute collection. Uterine contents from uninfected mares had minimal chemotactic properties. These results cou...
Morgan SJ, Storts RW, Stromberg PC, Sowa BA, Lay JC.Factors involved in the proliferation of equine vascular smooth muscle cells were studied in vitro. The most prominent proliferative responses in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells were induced by Strongylus vulgaris larval antigen extract (LAE) and platelet-derived factors. Less significant proliferative responses were obtained with conditioned media from S. vulgaris LAE stimulated and from unstimulated equine mononuclear leukocytes. Additionally, vascular smooth muscle cells exposed to S. vulgaris LAE developed numerous perinuclear vacuoles and were more spindle-shaped than control or smo...
Tobin T, Kwiatkowski S, Watt DS, Tai HH, Tai CL, Woods WE, Goodman JP, Taylor DG, Weckman TJ, Yang JM.We have developed and evaluated a one step enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test for sufentanil and a 125I radioimmunoassay test for alfentanil as part of a panel of pre- and post-race tests for narcotic analgesics in racing horses. Our sufentanil ELISA test detects sufentanil with an I-50 of about 0.5 ng/ml. The test is rapid and economical in that it can be read with an inexpensive spectrophotometer, or even by eye. The test readily detects the presence of sufentanil or its metabolites in equine blood and urine from 1 to 24 hours respectively after administration of therapeutic or s...
Guelfi JF, Kraouchi DE.Chemotaxis and superoxide anion production of neutrophils in healthy horses were investigated before and 8 h after, a single injection of dexamethasone at a dose of 0.045 mg/kg. Chemotaxis was studied by the technique of migration under agarose and superoxyde production was measured by ferricytochrome c reduction. Superoxide anion production was not changed, but the chemotactic index, with zymosan activated horse serum, was increased. The FMLP chemoattractant effect, at 10(-4) M, was slightly enhanced.
Ruckebusch Y, Roger T.The electromyogram of the terminal ileum, the caecum and the proximal right ventral colon was recorded in fasted conscious ponies receiving intravenously equiactive doses of pilocarpine (0.05 mg/kg) and carbachol (0.01 mg/kg) as acetylcholine analogues; cisapride (0.1 mg/kg) and metoclopramide (2 mg/kg) facilitating acetylcholine release from myenteric neurones and naloxone (0.05 mg/kg) as an antagonist of the endogenous inhibitory opioid system. Both cisapride and naloxone induced typical migrating spike bursts in the colon associated with contractions of caecal body and caecal base. Both pil...
Saad B, Corradin G, Bosshard HR.The antigenic determinants for two monoclonal antibodies directed against horse apo-cytochrome c, a protein of disordered structure, as judged by spectroscopic and hydrodynamic criteria, have been studied by a combination of methods: antigen competition in solution by radio immunoassay and enzyme-linked immunoassay, and differential acetylation of free and antibody-bound antigen. In the latter method the accessibility of lysine residues of the antigen in the antigen-antibody complex is compared to the accessibility in the free antigen. The two antibodies against the heme-free protein do not re...
Watson ED, Stokes CR.The rate of clearance of 125I-labelled polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) from blood was measured in mares as an indicator of macrophage function. In three out of four cycling mares, PVP clearance was slower during oestrus than dioestrus. Similarly, administration of oestrogen to four ovariectomised mares tended to depress PVP clearance compared with clearance from the same mares before they received oestrogen. However, the effect of oestrogen was not statistically significant. Mares susceptible to persistent endometritis had rates of PVP clearance which were similar to those of genitally normal mare...
Rott R, Herzog S, Richt J, Stitz L.Borna disease is an endemic progressive encephalomyelitis of horses and sheep prevalent in central Europe. A wide variety of animal species, ranging from chickens to primates can be infected experimentally with the causative virus, which is only poorly characterized. Furthermore, BD virus-specific antibodies have been detected in sera and cerebrospinal fluids of psychiatric patients. Our studies on the pathogenesis of BD have shown that-at least in rats-the disease is not caused by the infecting virus itself, but by a virus-induced immunopathological reaction. Thus, after intracerebral infecti...
Watson ED.Incubation of blood neutrophils with uterine flushings collected from ovariectomised mares treated with oestradiol, stimulated migration under agarose, whereas flushings from mares treated with progesterone or oily vehicle, inhibited migration. After intra-uterine infusion of bacteria, however, flushings from oestradiol-treated and vehicle-treated mares inhibited migration, whereas progesterone treatment stimulated migration. Migration of uterine-derived neutrophils under agarose was less than that of blood neutrophils and was not influenced by treatment with ovarian steroids. Uterine suscepti...
Mair TS, Stokes CR, Bourne FJ.An indirect immunoperoxidase technique was used to demonstrate both free immunoglobulin and immunoglobulin-containing plasma cells of IgG, IgA, and IgM classes in the mucosa of the equine respiratory tract. IgA-producing plasma cells predominated in the upper airways, whereas IgG-producing cells predominated in the lower respiratory tract. IgM-secreting cells were uncommon, but present in their highest numbers in the nasopharynx. Plasma cells specific for all of the immunoglobulin classes were identified in the surface epithelium, lamina propria connective tissue, glandular tissue and organise...
Magro AM, Rudofsky UH, Schrader WP, Prendergast J.In vitro IgE-mediated histamine release by equine blood basophils was characterised as the basis for a screening test for immediate hypersensitivity responses in horses. The responses are initiated by inducing agents that are capable of crosslinking or bridging the membrane-bound IgE molecules. The release process is complete within 40 mins. In vitro histamine release is dose-dependent, with a submaximal response at less or greater than the optimal dose of inducing agent. Exogenous calcium is required but not magnesium; the optimal release calcium concentration is 1.0 to 1.5 mM. If an IgE-medi...
Perryman LE, O'Rourke KI, McGuire TC.Six normal and four immunodeficient horses were injected with a cloned variant of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). The six normal horses had detectable EIAV in their plasma by 7 days postinjection. During their primary viremic episode, which was accompanied by fever and anemia, maximum titers of EIAV in plasma ranged from 10(3.8) to 10(4.8) 50% tissue culture infective doses per ml. All six normal horses cleared detectable virus from their plasma by 21 to 35 days after injection. Horses with combined immunodeficiency became viremic by 9 days postinjection and also developed anemia. In co...
Niebauer GW, Wolf B, Yarmush M, Richardson DW.Thirty-one horses with secondary osteoarthritis as a sequel of trauma (chip fractures) or osteochondritis dissecans were screened for immune complexes (IC) and anticollagen antibodies. Eighty-two percent of horses with joint disease had circulating C1q-binding IC; 77% of those horses had IC in synovial fluids of affected joints. Although only a few horses had anticollagen type-II antibodies, anticollagen type-I antibodies were found in sera of 25% of the horses and in 41% of their synovial fluids. This correlated well with the clinical data and suggested that antibodies might have been elicite...
Bailey E, Albright DG, Henney PJ.Foals with the Ca blood group antigen on their RBC were given colostrum with anti-Ca antibodies (6 foals) or colostrum without anti-Ca antibodies (6 foals). The PCV were determined at birth and 2, 4, and 6 days after birth for the foals in each group. Significant differences were not observed for the PCV between the 2 groups, indicating that foals were not adversely affected by ingesting colostrum with the anti-Ca antibody. Standardbred mares without the Aa blood group antigen were evaluated to determine whether production of anti-Ca antibodies influenced production of anti-Aa antibodies. Of 2...
Woods WE, Wang CJ, Houtz PK, Tai HH, Wood T, Weckman TJ, Yang JM, Chang SL, Blake JW, Tobin T.A one step enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a particle concentration fluorescent immunoassay (PCFIA) test for furosemide were evaluated as part of a panel of pre- and post-race tests for illegal medication of racing horses. These tests are very sensitive to furosemide with an I-50 for furosemide of about 20 ng/ml. The test is also rapid; an average pre-race complement of 10 samples can be analyzed in 90 minutes or less. The ELISA test results can be read with an inexpensive spectrophotometer, or even by eye. Both the PCFIA test and the ELISA test readily detect the presence of fur...
Morris DD, Strzemienski PJ, Gaulin G, Spencer P.Neutrophil function was evaluated in six clinically normal adult horses, immediately before and 3-6 hours after they were given one dose of hydrocortisone sodium succinate (1 mg/kg body weight). Random migration, stimulated migration to zymosan-activated serum, bacterial phagocytosis and bactericidal capacity of neutrophils were determined in vitro. The mean indices of stimulated migration (net migration and migration ratio) were significantly greater after CS administration (net migration = 62 +/- 23 micron; migration ratio = 11.5 +/- 6.7) than before CS administration (net migration = 44 +/-...
Madison JB, Scarratt WK.The deposition of immune complexes in the synovial membrane resulted in polysynovitis in 4 foals. All 4 foals had an infection at a site other than the joints. The polysynovitis was characterized by marked effusions of affected joints and joint stiffness. Bacterial and mycoplasmal cultures of the joints did not yield growth. Staining of synovial membrane biopsy specimens with fluorescein-labeled anti-equine IgG revealed immune complexes in the synovial membrane. Immune-mediated polysynovitis might develop in foals with bacterial infections. We propose that deposition of immunoglobulin in the s...
Siegel RC, Cathou RE.Complexes of IgM equine anti-dansyl antibodies and different dansyl substituted carriers were tested for their ability to fix complement (C). Only dansyl92-Ficoll and dansyl12-poly-L-lysine were found to be effective. Dansyl13-bovine serum albumin, dansyl127-keyhole limpet hemocyanin, and reduced and alkylated dansyl10-ribonuclease were all ineffective. Lack of C fixation by the dansyl-ribonuclease was not due to lack of antibody-antigen complex formation, since binding at the concentrations employed for C fixation was established. However, in contrast, polymerized dansyl-ribonuclease (polydis...
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...
Tobin T, Kwiatkowski S, Watt DS, Tai HH, Tai CL, Woods WE, Goodman JP, Taylor DG, Weckman TJ, Yang JM.We have developed and evaluated a one step enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test for sufentanil and a 125I radioimmunoassay test for alfentanil as part of a panel of pre- and post-race tests for narcotic analgesics in racing horses. Our sufentanil ELISA test detects sufentanil with an I-50 of about 0.5 ng/ml. The test is rapid and economical in that it can be read with an inexpensive spectrophotometer, or even by eye. The test readily detects the presence of sufentanil or its metabolites in equine blood and urine from 1 to 24 hours respectively after administration of therapeutic or s...
Wichtel MG, Anderson KL, Johnson TV, Nathan U, Smith L.Functional activities (phagocytosis and killing) of neutrophil leucocytes (NL) and immunoglobulin G concentrations were evaluated in six healthy foals from birth to 6 months of age. Peripheral blood NL were reacted with Streptococcus equisimilis in 20 per cent pooled equine serum for 30, 60 and 90 mins and functional activities of NL were determined using a fluorochrome microassay. Values for foal NL function were compared with those of healthy adult horses (n = 28). Foal neutrophil function was influenced by age. Killing capacity of NL decreased, whereas phagocytic capacity increased, until 1...
McKibbin LS, Cheng RS.This study showed that subcutaneous injection of a solution of D-amino acids produced effective analgesia in horses. It is postulated that systemic D-phenylalanine and D-leucine may become one of the safe, effective and nonaddictive drugs for acute and chronic pain treatment. These D-amino acids cause analgesia by presumably preserving brain endorphins. They may bind reversibly to enkephalinases and prevent enzymatic degradation of enkephalins.
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...
Asmis R, Jörg A.Horse eosinophils preincubated with 3H-labelled acetate and stimulated with the Ca2+ ionophores ionomycin or A23187 form a radioactive compound, which we have shown to be 1-O-alkyl-2-[3H]acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (platelet-activating factor). We could detect no 1-O-acyl-2-[3H]acetyl-glycero-3-phosphocholine in the radioactive fraction. The formation of platelet-activating factor was strongly correlated to the generation of leukotriene C4, the main arachidonate metabolite in horse eosinophils, suggesting that platelet-activating factor and leukotriene C4 have a common precursor pool (1...
Perryman LE, Magnuson NS.Significant contributions to understanding the role of lymphocyte subpopulations in the immune response and to the characterization of immunodeficiencies in children have been achieved through study of animal models of immunodeficiency. Additional contributions can be made in two important areas. One is through identification of relevant, naturally-occurring models of adenosine deaminase deficiency and purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency. The second, and potentially more important contribution, would be the identification of the metabolic basis for existing immune deficiencies. The nece...
Blue HB, Blue MG, Kenney RM, Merritt TL.Forty uterine fluid samples were obtained from 4 mares classified as resistant to uterine bacterial infection. The uterus of each mare was flushed with 50 ml of saline solution during estrus and diestrus of successive estrous cycles. Bacteria or fungi were isolated from 4 samples, and 7 additional samples were obtained from a mare with active intrauterine infection. Fluid volumes obtained during estrus (means = 40.3 +/- 11 ml) tended to be greater than those recovered during diestrus (means = 36.8 +/- 7.9 ml), but the difference was not significant. Concentrations and yields of protein in reco...
Lopez BS, Hurley DJ, Giancola S, Giguère S, Hart KA.Immunological and endocrine immaturity in foals increases foal morbidity and mortality from bacterial sepsis. Dendritic cells (DC) are critical in activating the adaptive immune response, but foal DC are phenotypically and functionally different than those of adult horses. Age-related variations in availability of some soluble plasma factors, such as hormones, might govern some age-related differences in DC function. Effects of exposure to plasma factors on equine DC phenotype and function have not been described. We hypothesized that exposure to plasma from foals or adult horses would differe...
McCandless EE, Rai SK, Mwangi D, Sly L, Franz LC.Hydrocortisone is widely accepted as an anti-inflammatory agent and there are many products available containing hydrocortisone as an active ingredient. Surprisingly, there is little data available specifically on the immunological effects of hydrocortisone in large animals. Glucocorticoids are well-characterized for their ability to repress inflammation via a wide variety of mechanisms including suppression of cytokine production. In this study the effects of hydrocortisone on IFN-γ production by equine, bovine, and ovine PBMCs were assessed using flow cytometric or ELISpot analysis. Hydroco...
Amerault TE, Frerichs WM, Stiller D.An agglutinating antigen and a rapid card test (CT) for equine piroplasmosis was developed. The antigen for the CT was prepared from lyophilized Babesia caballi complement-fixation (CF) antigen. Serum and plasma samples for testing were obtained from known B caballi-infected horses and clinically normal horses maintained at the laboratory. Serum samples also were obtained from horses outside the continental United States, in areas where piroplasmosis is endemic. Comparative CT and CF tests were done on all samples. The CT correctly identified 85% of 192 plasma samples from known infected and n...
Riley CB, McClure JT, Low-Ying S, Dolenko BK, Somorjai RL, Shaw RA.To assess the feasibility of a serum-based test using infrared spectroscopy to identify a subpopulation of mares at risk of producing foals susceptible to failure of passive transfer of immunity (FPT) because of mare-associated factors. Methods: Serum was collected from post-parturient mares (n = 126) and their foals at 24-72 h of age. A radial immunodiffusion IgG test was used to determine each foal's serum IgG concentration. Infrared absorbance spectra of dam sera were collected in the wave number range of 400-4000 cm(-1). Following data preprocessing, pattern recognition techniques were use...
The Journal of nutritionOctober 1, 1995
Volume 125, Issue 10 2711-2716 doi: 10.1093/jn/125.10.2711
Greiwe-Crandell KM, Kronfeld DS, Gay LA, Sklan D.Vitamin A influences growth and reproduction in horses. A retinol dose response (RDR) test for retinol has been shown to be better than serum retinol concentration for assessing vitamin A status in other species, so we have compared these two methods in the horse. Forty-five Thoroughbred broodmares were assigned randomly to three groups fed pasture and hay (PH), pasture, hay and vitamin A-free concentrate (PHC), or hay and concentrate (HC) in early summer (May 1991). Mares in pasture groups produced 23 foals (March through June) that had access to their dam's diets and were also studied. In th...
Ząbek T, Semik E, Wnuk M, Fornal A, Gurgul A, Bugno-Poniewierska M.DNA methylation patterns and their relation with genetic polymorphisms were determined in the equine OAS1 locus. Genetic variants of OAS1 were previously found to be associated with susceptibility to West Nile virus infections in horses. The subject of the study were white blood cells of 13 juvenile and 13 old horses from AA and HC breed and a set of solid tissues from a single adult horse. The aim was to determine the degree of variation of CpG methylation profiles with concern for tissue type, horse breed and age. Results of direct BSPCR and cloned BSPCR sequencing revealed that all of deter...
Montgomery PC, Bello AC, Rockey JH.N-terminal tetrapeptides from heavy chains of equine γGab- and γT-globulins, and of human γG and γA myeloma proteins and a γM macroglobulin, have been studied. The equine and human heavy chains lacked free α-amino-terminal groups. After mild alkaline hydrolysis, glutamic acid was identified as the terminal amino acid by reaction with dimethylaminonaphthalenesulfonyl chloride, tentatively identifying pyrrolid-2-one-5-carboxylic acid (PCA) as the unreactive terminal residue of each heavy chain. Peptides lacking a free α-amino group were isolated from subtilisin and pronase digests of the ...
Jefcoat AM, Wagner JG, Robinson NE.The research article involves an in-depth exploration of the role of neutrophils, a type of immune cell, in inflammation, especially in relation to horse diseases. The study discusses the historical […]
Asif S, Umar T, Umar Z, Jamil H, Feng H, Zhang P, Umer S.Endometritis plays an important role in mare infertility. Certain infectious agents interfere with the innate immune system of endometrium, causing a systemic inflammatory response that lasts for a long time and circulates via the blood or cellular degeneration, leading to endometritis due to bacterial endotoxins. Different small, non-coding RNA molecules are involved in many biological functions. For instance, microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. These miRNAs are important regulators of gene expression, primarily via inhibiting transcripti...
Jebbawi F, Chemnitzer A, Dietrich M, Pantelyushin S, Lam J, Rhiner T, Keller G, Waldern N, Canonica F, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is the most frequent skin allergy of horses and is highly debilitating, especially in the chronic phase. IBH is caused by IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions to culicoides midge bites and an imbalanced immune response that reduces the welfare of affected horses. Unassigned: In the present study, we investigated the pathological mechanisms of IBH, aiming to understand the immune cell modulation in acute allergic skin lesions of IBH horses with the goal of finding possible biomarkers for a diagnostic approach to monitor treatment success. Unassigned: By qPC...
Yaneselli K, Ávila G, Rossi A, Rial A, Castro S, Estradé MJ, Suárez G, Algorta A.Platelet lysate (PL) is investigated as a potential replacement for fetal bovine serum (FBS) in cell culture. However, there is limited research on its impact on the immune profile of equine mesenchymal stromal cells (eMSCs). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different PL formulations on the proliferative capacity, multipotentiality, and immune profile of equine adipose tissue-derived MSCs (eAD-MSCs). growth kinetics and trilineage differentiation of eAD-MSCs ( = 7) were assessed under three culture conditions: medium-concentration PL (MPL), high-concentration PL (HPL), and FBS ...
Preston JF, Mustikka MP, Priestnall SL, Dunkel B, Fischer MC.There is limited literature regarding equine immune mediated keratitis (IMMK) in Europe. North America-based publications describe minimal blepharospasm, rare corneal ulceration and no uveitis; clinical impression suggests these are seen in Europe. Objective: Assess the prevalence of blepharospasm, corneal ulceration and uveitis and their impact on outcome in horses diagnosed with IMMK in Europe (UK and Finland). Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Clinical records of 94 horses with IMMK were evaluated. The UK and Finland populations were comparable; therefore, descriptive statistics ...
Ringo RS, Choonnasard A, Okabayashi T, Saito A. can establish persistent infections in animals such as equids, pigs, nonhuman primates, rodents, and possums. Some can even cause overt and severe diseases such as Equine Arteritis in horses and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome in pigs, leading to huge economic losses. have evolved viral proteins to antagonize the host cell's innate immune responses by inhibiting type I interferon (IFN) signaling, assisting viral evasion and persistent infection. So far, the role of the glycoprotein 5 (GP5) protein in IFN signaling inhibition remains unclear. Here, we investigated the inhibito...
Craig NM, Munguia NS, Trujillo AD, Chan AM, Wilkes R, Dorr M, Marsella R.This study investigated the effects of recombinant equine IL-31 (eIL-31) in vivo and in vitro. Methods: Equine IL-31 mRNA sequences were verified by sequencing. Recombinant eIL-31 was produced using mammalian and bacterial expression systems. From November 2019 through February 2021, 12 normal horses, 6 to 10 years old with no history or clinical signs consistent with allergic skin disease, were injected ID with eIL-31 and saline in 2 challenge studies. Pruritus-associated behaviors were recorded for a minimum of 15 minutes preinjection and 4 hours postinjection. Adherent monocytes from 3 prur...
Woodrow JS, Palmisano M, Kulp J, Hopster K.Complications from general anesthesia, including pneumonia and decreased wound healing, are influenced by changes in immune cell function secondary to sedatives and anesthetics. It was hypothesized that immune cell function would be depressed in the early postanesthetic period. The objective was to investigate airway immune cell function before and after a general anesthetic episode in an equine in vivo model using ex vivo cell stimulations with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for assessment of immune function. Methods: Prospective experimental study. Methods: Six healthy, adult, institution-owned ...
Pooja , Thapa N, Rani R, Shanmugasundaram K, Jhandai P, Rakshita , Bhattacharya TK, Singha H.Immunological aspects of B. mallei infection were rarely studied in natural cases of equines. The present study was conducted to determine IgG, IgM, IgA and IgG (T) titre against recombinant Hcp1, TssA and TssB proteins and PilA-Hcp1-TssN-BipD and BpaB-BpaC- BMAA0553 chimeras and cytokine responses in glanders affected equine serum. Methods: The study was conducted on serum samples collected from 151 glanders positive equines which include horses (n = 134), mules (n = 16), and donkeys (n = 01). The IgM, IgG, IgA and IgG (T) titre were determined against recombinant antigens by indirect E...
Mainguy-Seers S, Holcombe SJ, Lavoie JP.Vitamin D deficiency is associated with asthma development and severity of symptoms in humans, but whether the same occurs in horses is unknown. We aimed to determine whether the serum vitamin D levels differ in horses with asthma compared to control animals and, secondarily, to explore clinical, respiratory, and environmental parameters associated with its concentration in equids in a retrospective cross-sectional study. The total serum vitamin D (25(OH)D) was measured by radioimmunoassay in 45 serum samples from the Equine Respiratory Tissue Biobank (15 control animals, 14 horses with mild o...
Ammons DT, Chow L, Goodrich L, Bass L, Larson B, Williams ZJ, Stoneback JW, Dow S, Pezzanite LM.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major source of pain and disability worldwide. Understanding of disease progression is evolving, but OA is increasingly thought to be a multifactorial disease in which the innate immune system plays a role in regulating and perpetuating low-grade inflammation. The aim of this study was to enhance our understanding of OA immunopathogenesis through characterization of the transcriptomic responses in OA joints, with the goal to facilitate the development of targeted therapies. Unassigned: Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was completed on cells isolated from the syno...
Holmes CM, Wagner B.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) enters through the upper respiratory tract (URT). Mucosal immunity at the URT is crucial in limiting viral infection and morbidity. Here, intranasal immune cells were collected from horses (n = 15) during an experimental EHV-1 infection. CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were the major intranasal cell populations before infection and increased significantly by day six and fourteen post-infection, respectively. Nasal mucosal T cells were further characterized in healthy horses. Compared to peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), mucosal CD8+ T-cell percentages were elev...
Jaworska J, Tobolski D, Salem SE, Kahler A, Wocławek-Potocka I, Mestre AM.Embryo implantation in the mare occurs just over one month after fertilization, coinciding with the production of chorionic gonadotropin. The factors that regulate this late implantation in the mare, and whether they are unique to horses or shared with more invasive embryo implantation in other species, remain poorly understood. This study aimed to determine and compare the transcriptome and subpopulations of endometrial cells before and after embryo implantation in the horse. Single-cell RNA sequencing was used to characterize the transcriptome of nearly 97,000 endometrial cells collected fro...
Chen JW, Stefanovski D, Haughan J, Jiang Z, Soma LR, Robinson MA.Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) are both upregulated following traumatic injury. As IL-1RA blocks inflammatory signaling by IL-1β, overexpression of IL-1β relative to IL-1RA may drive inflammatory diseases. As such, determination of the relationship between IL-1β to IL-1RA expression levels in horses may provide insight into disease states or serve as a therapeutic readout of response to medical interventions. As techniques to detect plasma concentrations of IL-1β and IL-1RA in horses lack sensitivity, we developed and validated novel enzyme-linked immunos...
