Immunoglobulins in horses are antibodies produced by the immune system to identify and neutralize pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. These proteins are essential components of the horse's immune response and are involved in recognizing foreign antigens. The primary classes of immunoglobulins in horses include IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE, and IgD, each with distinct roles in immune function. IgG is the most abundant and plays a key role in systemic immune responses, while IgA is important for mucosal immunity. IgM is the first antibody produced in response to an antigen, and IgE is involved in allergic reactions. IgD's function is less well-defined but is thought to be involved in respiratory immune responses. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the structure, function, and clinical relevance of immunoglobulins in equine health.
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...
Pemberton DH, Thomas KW, Terry MJ.The prevalence of hypogammaglobulinaemia in 82 young foals was determined. Twelve foals were considered clinically abnormal at birth and ten died within two weeks. All of these foals were hypogammaglobulinaemic. Seven (10%) of the other 70 apparently normal foals were hypogammaglobulinaemic despite having suckled normally. Three of these foals developed significant disease and one died at one month of age. Rapid detection of foals with low serum immunoglobulin levels was achieved by adapting the zinc sulphate turbidity test to partially evacuated blood collection tubes. This permitted test to ...
Otani S, Arimitsu Y, Akama K.Antileptospiral sera from hyperimmunized horses were fractionated by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200 or by starch block electrophoresis. The fractions were examined quantitatively for leptospiricidal, agglutinating and complement fixing activities. The leptospiricidal activity was higher in the 78 globulin fraction than in the 19S globulin fraction, while the agglutinating activity was shared by both the fractions being higher in the 19S fraction. Complement fixing activity was found evenly in both the fractions. Leptospiricidal and complement fixing activities were higher in gamma-globulin t...
British medical journalSeptember 13, 1980
Volume 281, Issue 6242 699-702 doi: 10.1136/bmj.281.6242.699
English TA, Cooper DK, Cory-Pearce R.The major factors contributing to the recommencement of clinical heart transplantation in the United Kingdom last year were the steadily improving results from Stanford University, the clarification of the diagnosis of brain death, and advances in preserving donor hearts. Twelve men aged 16 to 52 years received heart transplants at Papworth Hospital from January 1979 to July 1980. Six had cardiomyopathies and six ischaemic heart disease. The donors were aged 16 to 35 (mean 21) years. A combination of road and air transport was used to transport the heart to Papworth in seven cases. The total d...
Perryman LE, McGuire TC, Torbeck RL.The capacity of cells from thymus, liver, spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes, peripheral blood, and bone marrow to respond to in vitro phytolectin and allogeneic lymphocyte-stimulation was determined in 16 pony fetuses 61 to 200 days old (gestational age). Phytolectin-responsive cells were detected in the thymus at the 80th gestational day, peripheral blood at 120 days, lymph node at 160 days, and spleen at 200 days. Mixed lymphocyte culture-responsive cells were detected in thymus at 100 days and in the spleen at 200 days (gestational age). Immunoglobulins (Ig) M and IgG were quantitated by radio...
Thomas KW, Pemberton DH.Components of plasma or serum, including immunoglobulins, were concentrated two-fold by freezing then collecting 40-50% of the initial volume during thawing. This concentrated plasma (or serum) was administered intravenously to treat hypogammaglobulinaemic foals and calves. An adaptation of this method suitable for field use is described.
Abdou NI, Amare M, Sagawa A, Abdou NL.To understand the mechanism by which deaggregated horse anti-human thymocyte globulin (dATG) fails to induce untoward immunological reactions in man, three patients who received ATG and two patients who received dATG were studied for evidence of sensitization or tolerance to the foreign globulin. The ATG but not the dATG recipients developed allergic or serum sickness reactions; antihorse serum antibody could be detected in their serum and their blood cells proliferated in vitro in the presence of horse serum and secreted antihorse serum antibodies (P less than 0.001). Tolerance of the dATG re...
Liefman CE.The protection afforded by active, passive and combined active-passive methods of immunisation against tetanus was examined in previously unimmunised horses. Three groups of horses were injected; one with tetanus toxoid alone, one with tetanus antitoxin alone and one in which the tetanus toxoid and tetanus antitoxin were injected simultaneously. The protection afforded was determined by monitoring the levels of antitoxin achieved in the horses by each of these methods. The results obtained demonstrated the effectiveness of the combined active-passive method in affording rapid and prolonged pro...
Fernandez C, Möller G.After a primary immune response to the alpha 1-6 epitope of dextran B512, dextran high responder strains exhibit a specific inability to produce IgM and IgG antibodies against this epitope, although they gave an expected secondary response to horse erythrocytes. Spleen cells from dextran-primed and-suppressed mice responded well to dextran after transfer to lethally irradiated previously untreated mice, indicating that tolerance or exhaustive proliferation of dextran reactive B cells is not responsible. Thymus-dependent dextran-protein conjugates also induced specific suppression. Suppression ...
Lee HF, Lee JD, Lee YC.In course of immunizing horses with snake venoms, tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, a new serum component, T-globulin, was formed and migrated between the beta- and gamma-globulins. The T-globulin content was parallel with the antibody titre after the middle course of immunization. There were many components in snake antivenin and T-globulin was composed of most of those components. The components of diphtheria T-globulin were the same as those of crude antitoxin and tetanus T-globulin except one precipitin.
Jansen BC, Knoetze PC.An intramuscular injection of 8-16 Lf tetanus toxoid in water-in-oil emulsion protected adult horses against tetanus for at least 128 weeks. A booster dose of 8 Lf toxoid in aqueous solution protected them for a further period of at least 3 1/2 years. Colostral immunity protected foals for at least 10 weeks. An intramuscular injection of 8 Lf toxoid in water-in-oil emulsion given to foals from immune dams when they were 10-18 weeks old did not elicit any antibody response. They did respond, however, to a booster injection of 8 Lf toxoid in aqueous solution given 12 weeks after the first dose. ...
Worthington RW, Mülders MS.Antibodies against epsilon toxin were isolated from hyperimmune horse serum by affinity chromatography. Purified epsilon prototoxin covalently bound to Affigel 202 was used as immunosorbent, and antibodies were eluted with 6.0 M guanidine chloride. In a single run 80 mg of antibody could be recovered from a 20 microliter column of immunosorbent. The antibody was shown to belong to the IgG(T) class of immunoglobulins.
Perryman LE, Buening GM, McGuire TC, Torbeck RL, Poppie MJ, Sale GE.Six young horses with combined immunodeficiency were given liver cells intravenously or intraperitoneally and thymuses subcutaneously from equine fetuses ranging from 68 to 110 days of gestational age. Three of four horses given cells from fetuses over 90 days of age developed lesions compatible with graft versus host reactions. One horse given cells from an 80-day fetus developed mitogen-responsive lymphocytes, synthesized immunoglobulins of the four major equine classes, and survived to 11.5 months of age. The sixth foal receiving cells from a 68-day fetus showed no discernable effects from ...
Stalheim OH, Stone SS, Blackburn BO, Foley J.In horses given whole cultures or cells of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp capri (by subcutaneous and intravenous injections), antibody responses were measured by serologic procedures. During an immunization period of 22 weeks, horses produced an antiserum that was used to identify M mycoides subsp capri by agglutination, complement-fixation, and fluorescent antibody (FA) tests, but not by the growth-inhibition test. Horses that were injected with whole cultures of M mycoides subsp capri responded better than horses that were injected with only cells, ie, antibodies were detectable sooner by agar ge...
Veldman JE, Keuning FJ, Molenaar I.Two times sublethal total body-X-irradiation with weekly local thymus irradiation established a T-cell deprived experimental model in rabbits. Humoral immunity reactions in draining lymph nodes have been analyzed histologically and at the submicroscopical level after challenge with Salmonella Java vaccine, horse spleen ferritin, horse-gamma-globulin, a chemical sensitizer oxazolone (2 phenyl-4-ethoxymethylene-5-oxazolone) and after skin allografting respectively. The time sequence studies in these animals with an 'isolated B-cell system' are compared with similar experiments in normal non-irra...
Allen PZ, Heidelberger M, Rappaport IA, Ward GM.Serial bleedings were obtained from two mules during prolonged immunization, one with type XXV the other with type VIII pneumococcal vaccine. IgGa, IgGb, IgGc, IgB, IgG(T) and IgM present among purified Pn anti-XXV and Pn anti-VIII immunoglobulin isolated from various bleedings were identified by use of rabbit anti-equine heavy chain specific reagents. Radioimmunodiffusion with 14C-labelled type XXV pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide and horse and donkey reagents with species specificity directed against donkey or horse IgGa respectively, demonstrated both parental horse and donkey IgGa heav...
Rumbaugh GE, Ardans AA, Ginno D, Trommershausen-Smith A.Four procedures for assessment of adequacy of colostral immunoglobulin (Ig) transfer in foals were evaluated. Results of zinc sulfate turbidity test, serum electrophoresis, total serum protein refractometry, and sodium sulfite precipitation test were compared with immunoglobulin G content determined by single radial immunodiffusion. The zinc sulfate turbidity test gave acceptable results for IgG, except that hemolyzed serum samples gave higher than expected values. A correction factor for hemolyzed serum was found to be useful. Serum electrophoresis was a satisfactory method of estimating IgG ...
Buening GM, Perryman LE, McGuire TC.Nasal washings and tears were collected from seven Arabian foals with combined immunodeficiency and nine normal foals. The major immunoglobulin in the external secretions of normal foals over 2 months of age was secretory immunoglobulin A, whereas foals with combined immunodeficiency lacked this immunoglobulin. The external secretions of both normal and immunodeficient foals contained free secretory component at birth.
Weitkamp LR.Polymorphism of equine Gc protein was demonstrated by immunofixation electrophoresis with a goat anti-human Gc antibody. Three different phenotypes, F, FS and S, were found. Family data supported the genetic theory of two autosomal codominant alleles, GcF and GcS. Both alleles occurred in Standardbred, Thoroughbred and Arabian horses and in Shetland ponies. A frequency of 0.23 for GcS in the American Standardbred horse indicates the system should be useful for problems of identification and parentage.
Jebbawi F, Olomski F, Inversini V, Keller G, Rhiner T, Waldern N, Lam J, Pantelyushin S, Canonica F, Birkmann K, Johansen P, Kündig TM....Skin allergies are among the most frequent types of allergies, where continuous investigation of the pathological immune mechanisms is required for a better understanding and a more effective treatment of the disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of interleukin (IL)-5 vaccination on allergen-specific IgE antibodies as well as T cell cytokine modulation in skin allergy using a mouse model and a naturally occurring disease in horses. Methods: Ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice, as well as horses affected by equine insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) were administered an anti-IL-...
Ostuni A, Frontoso R, Crudele MA, Barca L, Amati M, Boni R, De Vendel J, Raimondi P, Bavoso A.Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV), a lentivirus marked by considerable genetic variability, poses significant diagnostic challenges. Existing diagnostic tools encompass the Agar Gel Immunodiffusion Assay (AGID), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and Western blotting (WB). ELISA and AGID mainly utilize the p26 capsid protein, often sourced from the Wyoming reference strain. To broaden the range of viral proteins and strains employed in these immunoassays, we previously developed a novel p26/double-strain gp45 indirect ELISA. In this study, we evaluated the performance of this ELISA...
Fernandes I, Takehara HA, Mota I.Horse immunoglobulins were obtained from normal serum defatted with dextran sulfate and precipitated with ammonium sulfate. Eight mg of this preparation was submitted to affinity chromatography with protein A-Sepharose CL-4B. Low temperature (4 degrees C) and a starting buffer at pH 8.0 were conditions required for all IgG subclasses to bind to protein A, even those with low affinity. The IgGs bound to protein A were eluted with glycine buffer at pH 2.8. The yield was about 90%. It is suggested that isolated IgG, instead of whole Igs, be used in serum therapy, reducing the amount of Igs and di...
Perryman LE, Mason PH.Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have been successfully used to evaluate immune responses in horses, and to target important antigens of equine infectious agents to which protective immune responses may be directed (1–5). Most of these studies are performed with murine MAb produced by fusing spleen cells from immunized mice with an appropriate myeloma cell line, as described in Chapter 3. However, there are experimental questions for which murine MAb are not adequate. These include:
1.Definition of microbial epitopes recognized by the infected host;
2.Identification of immunodominant epito...
Grigor'eva IA, Sergeevich EA, Lyskovtsev MM, Oleneva AG, Pushkarev VV.Dry erythrocytic diagnostic agents were obtained under experimental conditions for determination of antiglobulins forming in the organism of man and animals under the effect of serum preparations from the blood of horses and homologoum immunoglobulins. A study was made of the sera of 100 patients with tick-borne encephalitis treated with heterologous and homologous immunoglobulins of directed action; in response to the administration of horse gamma-globulin antiglobulins (in titres below 1 : 10000) appeared in the serum; they circulated in the blood for long periods and inhibited the accumulat...
Carroll EJ, Lasmanis J, Schalm OW.A method is described for production of an equine anti-bovine leukocyte serum (EABLS). Leukocytes were harvested from the milk of cow's udders which had been irritated with endotoxin. The washed leukocytes as antigens were administered to 2 horses in a series of subcutaneous and intravenous injections. There was a variably progressive increase in total serum proteins and a decrease in albumin/blobulin ratios, but the most pronounced change was an increase in beta2-globulins. Accompanying these changes was an increase in the number of precipitin lines as shown by Ouchterlony analysis. Four old ...
Liu IK, Brown SL, Kuo J, Neeley DP, Feeley JC.Serum tetanus antitoxin (TAT) concentrations were measured in a group of 30 foals from birth to 4 months of age. Five of 30 foals (16.6%) had serum titers less than 0.01 IU of TAT/ml by 1 month of age. At 2 months of age, 17 of 28 foals (60.7%) had titers less than 0.01 IU/ml. By 3 months of age, 22 of 29 (75.5%) foals tested had titers of less than 0.01 IU/ml. At the age of 4 months, 24 of 29 foals (82.1%) had titers of less than 0.01 IU/ml. The TAT given to foals at birth resulted in an immediate increase in titer when circulating antitoxin was absent or minimal. Titers considered protective...
Perryman LE, Wyatt CR.Equine lymphocytes incubated with Con A and isolated on discontinuous BSA density gradients suppressed mixed lymphocyte reactions in a cell dose- and Con A dose-dependent manner. Suppressor lymphocytes were radiosensitive, even after the initial Con A incubation phase was completed. Suppressor activity was consistently demonstrated using peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes from normal horses, but was absent in thymus cells and variably present in lymph node cells. Suppressor lymphocytes were present in horses with selective IgM deficiency, and within neoplastic lymph nodes from a horse wit...
Lezica FP, Filip R, Gorzalczany S, Ferraro G, de Erausquin GA, Rivas C, Ladaga GJ.In the present study, we determined the incidence and effects of season and weather on clinical manifestations of endophyte-infected ryegrass toxicity, performed chemical detection and pharmacological bioassays on ryegrass extracts, and conducted trials on: (i) effects of domperidone or metochlopramide on ovarian inactivity induced by endophyte-infected ryegrass; (ii) efficacy of buspirone or dihydrochloro phenyl piperazine (m-CPP) for preventing suppressed milk production induced by endophyte-infected ryegrass; and (iii) efficacy of domperidone to induce ovulation during winter anestrus. Mare...
Matthews AG, Imlah P, McPherson EA.Fc specific anti-human IgE serum induced prolonged reversed cutaneous anaphylaxis (RCA)-like reactions in horse skin. Morphologically and histologically, these reactions resembled passively induced late cutaneous anaphylaxis responses in human skin, but differed from reversed passive Arthus responses induced in horse skin using anti-horse IgG serum. The induction of RCA-like responses in horse skin by anti-human IgE indicates shared Fc antigenic determinants on human IgE and a horse homocytotropic or reagin-like antibody.
Woods PR, Helman RG, Schmitz DG.A 5-year-old Quarter Horse mare was examined because of weight loss of 2 months' duration. The horse was anemic and in poor body condition, and had several areas of cutaneous ulceration, including areas on the muzzle and distal portion of the limbs. Histologic examination of a rectal mucosa biopsy specimen revealed a lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate in the lamina propria mucosa. Results of a glucose absorption test were suggestive of malabsorption. Histologic examination of a biopsy specimen from the cutaneous lesions revealed pronounced arteritis, and weak, patchy immunofluorescent staining for i...