Omneity® Pellets
All-In-One Vitamin & Mineral Pellet
Topic:Immunology
The equine immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that work collaboratively to defend against pathogens and maintain homeostasis. It consists of innate and adaptive components, each with distinct functions and mechanisms. The innate immune system provides the first line of defense through physical barriers, phagocytic cells, and the complement system. The adaptive immune system involves lymphocytes, such as B cells and T cells, which generate specific responses to antigens and provide immunological memory. Research in equine immunology explores the interactions between these components, the impact of genetic and environmental factors on immune function, and the development of vaccines and therapeutics. This page gathers peer-reviewed studies and scholarly articles focusing on the mechanisms, regulation, and clinical applications of the equine immune system in health and disease.
Fractionation and partial characterization of alpha-1-protease isoinhibitors of horse. The principal alpha-1-protease inhibitor of horse was fractionated by classical methods and analysed with a modified fibrinogen-agarose gel electrophoretic method of high sensitivity and resolving power. Starting with an electrophoretically homogeneous inhibitor in unfractionated serum, two isoinhibitor bands became apparent after fractionation with (NH4)2SO4 and DEAE-cellulose DE-52 ion-exchange chromatography. The isoinhibitors differed in electrophoretic migration and in the elution pattern from Sephadex G-100 gel filtration, but possessed identical antigenic determinants and enzyme specifi...
Lymphocyte responses to virus and mitogen in ponies during experimental infection with equine herpesvirus 1. Six pony foals, experimentally infected with equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1), were studied for their lymphocyte responses to EHV-1 and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulations. Lymphocyte blastic transformation in the presence of EHV-1 appeared as early as 2 days after the foals were inoculated, reached a peak in 7 to 10 days, and subsequently decreased. In contrast, the lymphocyte blastic transformation in the presence of PHA increased sharply, reaching a peak in 2 to 3 days, and then decreased to its lowest level in 10 days after which it returned to its near preinoculation level. As for the mecha...
Lymphocyte immunostimulation in the diagnosis of Corynebacterium equi pneumonia of foals. A lymphocyte stimulation test using antigens of Corynebacterium equi was used to compare the response of peripheral blood lymphocytes from foals with C equi pneumonia with those of clinically normal foals and adult horses. The test clearly distinguished infected foals from normal foals when tested in animals less than or equal to 2 months old. After the 2nd month, stimulation response from individual normal foals sometimes exceed those from infected foals, but mean stimulation response to C equi antigens was significantly (P less than 0.025) greater in 3- to 5-month-old infected foals when com...
[The immunological relation between human and equine Gc proteins (author’s transl)]. The immunological comparison of human and equine Gc proteins showed partial identical reactions between both species. Immunizations of goats and rabbits with horse serum produced antisera able to recognize human Gc proteins.
Serologic responses of pregnant thoroughbred mares to vaccination with an inactivated equine herpesvirus 1 vaccine. The immunogenic potency and safety of a chemically inactivated equine herpesvirus 1 vaccine with added adjuvant was evaluated by testing serum-neutralizing and complement-fixation antibody responses of pregnant Thoroughbred mares. The vaccinated population comprised 321 pregnant mares on 7 farms; 3 in Normandy, France; 1 in Kildare, Ireland; and 3 in central Kentucky. The pattern of antibody response to vaccination was found qualitatively and quantitatively similar to that of pregnant mares previously vaccinated and determined by challenge exposure to be immune to abortigenic infection under e...
Conformation of Immunoglobulin M. III. Structural requirements of antigen for complement fixation by equine IgM. 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...
Antibody activities of immunoglobulins in anti-leptospiral horse sera. 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...
Recent experience with heart transplantation. 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...
A survey of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin antibody in human and animal sera in western Canada. Sera from human, cattle, sheep, swine, and horse populations in western Canada were tested for the presence of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin antibody by the passive hemagglutination (PHA) test, supplemented by an immunodiffusion test and by counterimmunoelectrophoresis. A total of 224 human, 345 cattle, 165 sheep, 620 swine, and 768 horse serum samples were examined. Low-titer reactions in the PHA test were detected in human, cattle, horse, and swine sera, in that order, with no titers demonstrated in sheep. The titers in human sera ranged up to 1:128 and three of these samples were also...
Equine leukocyte antigen system. II. Serological and mixed lymphocyte reactivity studies in families. Mono- and oligospecific lymphocytotoxic alloantibodies from primiparous mares were tested on cells from horse families of various breeds in the two-step microcytotoxicity assay. The results showed that the detected antigens were inherited co-dominantly and autosomally as simple Mendelian traits. The membrane antigens showed different linkage with one or more other antigens and seem to be coded by a limited number of loci (at least three) from one chromosome. In the families tested one recombinant for the serologically defined antigens was recognized. The mixed leukocyte reactions of cells from...
Immunologic aspects of combined immunodeficiency disease in Arabian foals. Tests for T- and B-cell quantitation and immune function were developed, and their application in the diagnosis of primary severe combined immunodeficiency disease (CID) in Arabian foals was investigated. Foals with CID had severe lymphopenia and had small or zero numbers of B cells, as shown by immunofluorescence of surface immunoglobulin (Ig), erythrocyte-antibody-complement rosetting, and staphylococcal protein A rosetting. Serum IgM was undetectable in four CID foals 25 to 71 days old. Demonstrable antibody responses were not elicited in CID foals by phage phi X-174, a potent antigen in no...
Ontogeny of lymphocyte function in the equine fetus. 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...
Assembly of intra- and interspecies hybrid apoferritins. An intraspecies hybrid apoferritin was assembled by mixing subunits of horse heart ferritin, which consists mainly of H-type subunits, and horse spleen ferritin, in which L-type subunits predominate. Interspecies hybrid apoferritins were reconstituted from subunits of human liver-horse spleen ferritins and from rat liver-horse spleen ferritins. All the hybrid ferritins migrated as single zones with electrophoretic mobilities intermediate between those of the parent ferritins. Isoelectric focusing data and immunological patterns were consistent with the view that the reassembled apoferritins we...
Transplacental transmission of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus in horses. Transplacental passage of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, epizootic strain P-676, occurred in four of nine fetuses studied. The mares were infected near term. Virus was recovered in high titer from fetal blood and organs, while no virus was detected in maternal blood but neutralizing antibodies were present. No evidence of in utero infection was found in two fetuses from mares infected with MF-8, another epizootic strain of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus.
Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in equids in north India. The prevalence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii was investigated among equids in 3 localities of north India, using the direct haemagglutination test. Of the 603 animals sampled, titres ranging from 1:8 to 1:512 were found in 71 (11.8 per cent). Specific titres of 1:64 or more were found in 34 (5.6 per cent) sera. The number of positive titres at Babugarh (Uttar Pradesh) was considerably higher than at 2 other localities. Although the likelihood of positive sera appeared to increased with age, the animal's sex appeared to have little influence. Subjects with reproductive disorders or eye ail...
Murine infection model for contagious equine metritis: a new venereal disease of horses. An infection model in laboratory mice for studying the bacterium (proposed name Haemophilus equigenitalis) causing contagious equine metritis is described. Small porous chambers were implanted subcutaneously into mice and after 1 to 3 weeks were inoculated with H equigenitalis. Infections that persisted for > 30 days were established by direct transfer of infective chamber fluid or by injection of laboratory-grown cultures. Immunization of mice with formaldehyde-treated cells induced significant, strain-related immunity to infection and did not appear to require complement as a protection medi...
Experimental studies on the pathogenesis of Corynebacterium equi infection in foals. Four month-old foals were infected orally with 75 mL of a suspension of 5.0 x 10(8)Corynebacterium equi per mL. Two foals were killed after ten days and had scanty number of C. equi in the caeco-colic lymph nodes. No C. equi were recovered from the other two foals, killed 20 days after infection. No gross pathological change was detected in these four foals, although mild microscopic lesions were seen in the ileum of one foal. Results of lymphocyte blastogenesis using peripheral blood lymphocytes and C. equi antigens showed, however, that lymphocytes became sensitized to C. equi following this...
Evaluation for immune system failures in horses and ponies. Between January 1973 and September 1979, 2,092 horses and ponies were evaluated for immunologic disorders. A total of 418 abnormalities were detected in 416 (20%) of the animals tested. Disorders encountered were failure or partial failure of colostral immunoglobulin transfer from mare to foal (228 cases), combined immunodeficiency (159 cases), selective immunoglobulin M deficiency (19 cases), agammaglobulinemia (3 cases), transient hypogammaglobulinemia (2 cases), and lymphosarcoma (7 cases). Four conclusions were drawn from the study. (1) Immunologic abnormalities occur commonly in horses an...
Combined immunodeficiency of Arabian horses: confirmation of autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. A 3-year prospective breeding trial was designed to verify the mode of inheritance of combined immunodeficiency (CID) in Arabian horses. Twenty-six mares that had previously produced foals with CID were mated to a stallion that had sired foals with CID. Of 53 foals obtained, 15 (28.3%) had CID. The ratio of female to male foals was 28:25, and the ratio of female CID to male CID foals was 8:7. The results of this trial confirmed a suggestion that CID in Arabian horses is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using staphylococcal protein A for detecting virus antibodies. A modification of the indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed which used staphylococcal protein A linked to horseradish peroxidase. Virus antibodies in equine, bovine, porcine, feline, canine, lagomorphic (rabbit), and human sera were detected, using the indirect ELISA in which the antiglobulin enzyme conjugate was replaced by protein A linked to horseradish peroxidase. Results of the ELISA were compared with the results of the serum-virus neutralization test. The application of the test in laboratories performing serologic assays with sera from diverse animal species ...
Leptospirin – an intradermic test for the diagnosis of leptospirosis. IN the State of Bahia (Brazil) the leptospirin produced in Germany for experimental use by the Institute for Veterinary Medicine, Federal Health Office, Berlin, was administered to humans and animals in order to diagnose leptospirosis in collaboration with this Institute. The results were compared with the microscopic agglutination reaction. The total number of test persons or animals was 268; this group included 81 human patients. 60 heads of cattle, 50 goats, 40 pigs, 25 horses, and 12 dogs. All were tested serologically and simultaneously the intracutaneous test was carried out. This test w...
Biochemical characterization of equine herpesvirus type 3-induced deoxythymidine kinase purified from lytically infected horse embryo dermal fibroblasts. Infection of horse KyED cells with equine herpesvirus type 3 (EHV-3) resulted in a sevenfold increase in cytosol deoxythymidine kinase (dTK) activity. The EHV-3 dTK was purified from KyED cytosol dTK by affinity chromatography on deoxythymidine-Sepharose and characterized with respect to its electrophoretic mobility, molecular weight, substrate specificity, phosphate donor specificity, and immunological specificity. The purified EHV-3 dTK migrated in polyacrylamide gels with an Rf of 0.30 and sedimented in glycerol gradients with an S value of 5.13, corresponding to a molecular weight of 83,00...
Observations on vaccine and post-infection immunity in contagious equine metritis. The vaccination of four ponies on two occasions with a formolised culture of Haemophilus equigenitalis produced a high circulating antibody titre to the organism in each pony. Three out of four vaccinated and all of three unvaccinated ponies developed typical symptoms of contagious equine metritis (CEM) when subsequently challenged with a vaginal exudate containing H equigenitalis. Similarly, three ponies which had previously been infected with H equigenitalis and which had recovered spontaneously also developed contagious equine metritis when rechallenged with the organism. The clinical and b...
