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.
WIDE M, WIDE L.THE use of a hæmagglutination inhibition reaction for the diagnosis of pregnancy in women was reported by Wide and Gemzell1 and Wide2. In this reaction human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) inhibited the agglutination of stable HCG-coated blood cells. The same immunological technique was applied for the assay of pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMS) and was used as a pregnancy diagnosis test in mares. Sera from pregnant mares containing elevated levels of gonadotrophin inhibited an agglutination reaction of PMS-coated formalinized erythrocytes in the presence of PMS anti-serum, while sera fro...
INGRAM DG.A method is described for the quantitative measurement of the reactions between sensitized cells and horse complement and between alexinated cells and conglutinin. The method is laborious but its application has allowed the determination of the optimal times of the reactions at various temperatures. The results obtained in these experiments indicate that the alexinated configuration with which conglutinin and immuno-conglutinin react is not one of the recognized intermediates formed during the process of immune haemolysis.
REBERS PA, HURWITZ E, HEIDELBERGER M.Rebers, Paul A. (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N. J.), Esther Hurwitz, and Michael Heidelberger. Immunochemistry of pneumococcal types II, V, and VI. II. Inhibition tests in the type VI precipitating system. J. Bacteriol. 82:920-926. 1961.-As in other immune systems involving polysaccharides, rabbit antibodies but not those engendered in the horse were found sensitive to degradation of type VI pneumococcal (Pn) polysaccharide (SVI), and were readily inhibited by fragments of SVI. Large amounts, 30 to 111 mumoles, of most sugars gave up to 15% inhibition, while sugar and polyol phosphates ...
van den Hoven R, Duvigneau JC, Hartl RT, Gemeiner M.On four occasions, four horses with heaves and four horses with small airway inflammatory diseases inhaled 0.9% saline based aerosol mixtures with or without lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Prior to the first saline and LPS inhalation, horses were untreated, while three and a half days prior to the third and forth inhalation horses had received 0.8 microg/kg clenbuterol intravenously twice daily. The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and interferon- gamma (IFN- gamma) was investigated by RT-PCR, all of which ...
Foster NM, Barber TL, Walton TE.Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) TC-84 vaccinal virus, from 10-1. quantities of infected duck embryo fibroblast cell culture fluids, was isolated by combined continuous-flow centrifugation with isopycnic banding in sucrose. Most of the recovered infectivity and hemagglutinating activity were in a single band at a buoyant density (rho) of 1.2. About 90% of the total input protein (450-520 mg) was removed with the effluent, whereas most of the remaining 10% also banded at a rho of 1.2. Infectivity was inactivated with formalin at a final concentration of 0.05% at 37 degrees C for 24 hr....
Jeronimo C, Archambault D.Equine arteritis virus (EAV), an enveloped positive-stranded RNA virus, is the prototype of the arterivirus group. In a previous paper (A. Kheyar, S. Martin, G. St.-Laurent, P. J. Timoney, W. H. McCollum, and D. Archambault, Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol. 4:648-652, 1997), we have shown that the unglycosylated membrane (M) protein, which is composed of 162 amino acids (aa), is a major target of equine antibody to EAV. In order to determine the antigenic regions of the M protein, the cDNA encoding the M protein of EAV was inserted into the procaryotic expression vector pGEX-4T-1 to produce recombin...
Bustos CP, Leiva CL, Gambarotta M, Guida N, Chacana PA.Equine salmonellosis is caused by several Salmonella serotypes, including Salmonella Newport, which cause enterocolitis and diarrhea. Treatment usually includes the administration of antibiotics. However, since multidrug-resistant Salmonella is commonly detected, alternative options to control the pathogen are needed. One of these options is the use of specific egg yolk antibodies (IgY) for passive immunotherapy. Thus, the aim of our work was to produce IgY antibodies against an equine S. Newport strain and assess their in vitro inhibitory activity. To this end, laying hens were immunized with...
Koch DW, Berglund AK, Messenger KM, Gilbertie JM, Ellis IM, Schnabel LV.Tendon injury in the horse carries a high morbidity and monetary burden. Despite appropriate therapy, reinjury is estimated to occur in 50-65% of cases. Although intralesional mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy has improved tissue architecture and reinjury rates, the mechanisms by which they promote repair are still being investigated. Additionally, reevaluating our application of MSCs in tendon injury is necessary given recent evidence that suggests MSCs exposed to inflammation (deemed MSC licensing) have an enhanced reparative effect. However, applying MSC therapy in this context is limited...
McClure JJ, Koch C, Traub-Dargatz J.A red cell antigen of donkeys and mules was identified using antibodies in serum from a mare which produced a mule foal affected with neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI). Subsequently antibodies with similar activity were identified in the sera of other mares which had produced mule foals and were produced by immunization of horses with blood from donkeys. The antigen detected by these antibodies does not correspond to any recognized horse red cell alloantigen. This may be a xenoantigen since all donkeys (and mules) tested have shared this antigen and all horses tested have lacked the antigen. The r...
Soares SC, Trost E, Ramos RT, Carneiro AR, Santos AR, Pinto AC, Barbosa E, Aburjaile F, Ali A, Diniz CA, Hassan SS, Fiaux K, Guimarães LC....Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the causative agent of several veterinary diseases in a broad range of economically important hosts, which can vary from caseous lymphadenitis in sheep and goats (biovar ovis) to ulcerative lymphangitis in cattle and horses (biovar equi). Existing vaccines against C. pseudotuberculosis are mainly intended for small ruminants and, even in these hosts, they still present remarkable limitations. In this study, we present the complete genome sequence of C. pseudotuberculosis biovar equi strain 258, isolated from a horse with ulcerative lymphangitis. The genome...
Bollinger A, Eckert J, Rüttimann B, Becker F.Intermittent claudication (IC) due to arterial occlusive disease was first diagnosed by the French veterinary surgeon Jean-François Bouley jeune in a horse drawing a cabriolet in the streets of Paris as early as 1831. The animal was repeatedly exercised and always started to limp with the hind legs at similar work loads. Autopsy revealed partially thrombosed aneurysm of the abdominal aorta and occlusions of both femoral arteries which were correctly identified as the cause of IC. In 1858 the famous neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot working at the Salpêtrière in Paris first discovered the cond...
Koch DW, Schnabel LV.Tendon injuries are common in both veterinary and human clinical patients and result in morbidity, pain, and lost athletic performance. Consequently, utilizing naturally occurring injuries in veterinary patients as a comparative model could inform the development of novel therapies and increase translation for the treatment of human tendon injuries. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown considerable efficacy for the treatment of experimental and clinical superficial digital flexor tendon injury in the horse; however, the reinjury rate following treatment can remain high and MSC efficacy in ...
Hejmej A, Wiszniewska B, Kosiniak-Kamysz K, Sadowska J, Bilińska B.Distribution of androgen receptors (ARs) in the epididymal duct and prostate of three entire stallions and one bilaterally cryptorchid horse was studied immunohistochemically using a polyclonal rabbit antiserum against the ARs. In both the healthy stallions and the cryptorchid, the epithelial cells of the epididymides showed nuclear staining for ARs. The intensity of AR-staining in the principal cells of the epididymis was stronger than that of the basal cells. In the prostate, the glandular secretory cells were moderately stained whereas the basal cells expressed weak AR-staining. Immunostain...
Laroucau K, Colaneri C, Jaÿ M, Corde Y, Drapeau A, Durand B, Zientara S, Beck C.To evaluate the routine complement fixation test (CFT) used to detect Burkholderia mallei antibodies in equine sera, an interlaboratory proficiency test was held with 24 European laboratories, including 22 National Reference Laboratories for glanders. The panels sent to participants were composed of sera with or without B mallei antibodies. This study confirmed the reliability of CFT and highlighted its intralaboratory reproducibility. However, the sensitivity of glanders serodiagnosis and laboratory proficiency may be improved by standardising critical reagents, including antigens, and by dev...
Hussain KA, Issel CJ, Schnorr KL, Rwambo PM, West M, Montelaro RC.Monoclonal antibodies (MCAbs) were used to dissect the antigenic sites of the surface glycoproteins of the prototype cell-adapted Wyoming strain of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). Serologic reactivities of these MCAbs were determined by ELISA, additive ELISA, competitive ELISA, and Western blot assays. The results indicated that antigenic reactivity of gp90 was localized on at least four distinct epitopes, two of which were important in neutralization. Our studies also revealed that these epitopes were localized on overlapping antigenic sites on gp90. On the other hand, only two distinc...
Crawford AM, Mills JN.Venoms of the tiger snake and brown snake were procoagulant, in vitro, when tested with cat, dog, horse and wallaby plasma. In the absence of calcium and phospholipid the coagulant activity of tiger snake venom was minimal. In contrast, brown snake venom alone had marked procoagulant activity. This activity, however, was enhanced by the presence of calcium and phospholipid. Death adder venom exerted an anticoagulant effect. Apparent species' differences in susceptibility to the coagulant venoms were noted. However, the probable explanation of these differences was attributed to variation in th...
Loftus JP, Johnson PJ, Belknap JK, Pettigrew A, Black SJ.Inflammation and dysregulation of endogenous matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) production are implicated in the development of equine laminitis. In this study, we examine quantitative relationships among levels of leukocyte-derived proMMP-9 and MMP-9, lamellar proMMP-2 and MMP-2, and expression of proMMP-2 processing enzymes, MT1-MMP/PACE4, as steps towards determining whether inflammation and dysregulation of endogenous MMP production are independent or co-dependent processes. Methods: Archived samples of lamellae from horses with naturally acquired laminitis (n = 12), and from horses administer...
Verdon M, Lanz S, Rhyner C, Gerber V, Marti E.Genetic, epidemiologic, and clinical evidence suggests that, in horses, there are manifestations of hypersensitivity that can occur together. Objective: To investigate whether concurrent insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) and severe equine asthma (EA) is associated with higher allergen-specific and total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) concentrations than only EA or IBH. Methods: Healthy control horses (C, n = 40), horses with IBH (IBH, n = 24), severe EA (EA, n = 18), and both conditions (IBH/EA, n = 23) were included. Methods: In our retrospective comparative study, sera from ho...
Frolov VA, Derx H, Riguer P.Guinea pigs were sensitized by three subcutaneous injections of 0.1 ml native horse serum at 2-day intervals, 21 days after the third injection the animals developed marked sensitization to this antigen which was manifested by anaphylactic reaction to the subcutaneous challenge with this antigen. At this time, the myocardium of the sensitized animals showed signs of extra- and intracellular oedema, a sharp increase in the number of lysosomes, damage of their membranes, 2 1/2 months after sensitization the animals showed no anaphylactic reaction to the challenge dose of the antigen. There were ...
Adolf GR, Traxler E, Maurer-Fogy I.Equine interferon-beta 1 (EqIFN-beta 1) was purified from extracts of recombinant Escherichia coli by sequential chromatography on hydroxylapatite, anion-, and cation-exchangers. The resulting protein was greater than 98% pure as determined by sodium dodecylsulfate gel electrophoresis, gel permeation HPLC, and reverse-phase HPLC. Amino-terminal amino acid sequencing revealed that essentially all molecules contained an additional amino-terminal methionine. The specific antiviral activity of EqIFN-beta 1 determined on equine dermal fibroblasts challenged with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) was...
Fukushi N, Fukushi H.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) is a devastating pathogen of horses, their natural hosts, and causes fatal encephalitis in non-natural hosts. We previously demonstrated that acylation of the tegument protein UL11 is required for viral replication in cultured cells. We created a mutant virus (EHV-1 UL12 trunc UL11 G2AC7AC9A), in which glycyl and cysteinyl residues at positions 2, 7 and 9 of UL11 that are normally acylated were replaced with alanyl residues. This virus, designated the 2/7/9 mutant, has a limited-replication cycle (LRC), in which replication stops after just a few cycles. Here,...
Colombo I, Podico G, Rudolf-Vegas A, Bauersachs S, Canisso IF.Progesterone is pivotal to maintain pregnancy in the first trimester and low concentration ( .05). Multiple ovulations were associated with greater progesterone concentration and luteal tissue area (P = .0001). There was a moderate positive association between the number of ovulations and luteal tissue area (r = 0.54; P = .0001). The lack of change in the progesterone concentration and luteal tissue area between bred and non-bred mares suggests that horse seminal plasma does not affect luteal function in mares. As all mares had progesterone above 4 ng/mL after 5-days post-ovulation; it i...
Slater J, Hannant D.The identification of some of the adaptive immune responses to infection with equine viruses has been the first step toward rational immunoprophylactic design. Sufficient knowledge of infection-induced immunity and informed estimates of the requirements for long-term immunity for EIV have now been obtained. Thus, the future for inactivated EIV vaccines is promising now that new adjuvants have been applied to induce cellular immunity and safe methods have been designed to stimulate virus-neutralizing (VN) antibody at mucosal surfaces. Adenoviruses induce circulating VN antibody, the presence of...
Bochsler PN, Slauson DO, Neilsen NR.The essential role of the CD11/CD18 family of leukocyte adhesion molecules (LeuCams) in neutrophil-substrate adhesion is well documented. We have found that a monoclonal antibody designated 60.3 (MoAb 60.3) that recognizes the common beta-subunit (CD18) on human neutrophils (PMN) also recognizes a surface antigen on equine PMN. Antigen expression as assessed by immunofluorescence flow cytometry was enhanced by zymosan-activated serum (ZAS) or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) stimulation. Pretreatment of equine PMN with MoAb 60.3 inhibited ZAS-stimulated aggregation, indicating that the mo...
Hofmaier F, Hauck SM, Amann B, Degroote RL, Deeg CA.Autoimmune uveitis is a sight-threatening disease in which autoreactive T cells cross the blood-retinal barrier. Molecular mechanisms contributing to the loss of eye immune privilege in this autoimmune disease are not well understood. In this study, the authors investigated the changes in the matrix metalloproteinase network in spontaneous uveitis. Methods: Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) MMP2, MMP9, and MMP14 expression and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-2 and lipocalin 2 (LCN2) expression were analyzed using Western blot quantification. Enzyme activities were examined with zymog...
Liu L, Yu W, Cai K, Ma S, Wang Y, Ma Y, Zhao H. () is a zoonotic opportunistic pathogen that can cause life-threatening infections. The rapid evolution of multidrug-resistant and the fact that there is no currently licensed effective vaccine against warrant the need for vaccine development. Reverse vaccinology (RV), which involves screening a pathogen's entire genome and proteome using various web-based prediction tools, is considered one of the most effective approaches for identifying vaccine candidates. Here, we performed a pangenome analysis to determine the core proteins of . We then used the RV approach to examine the subcellular l...
Carpenter MA, Broad TE.Transferrin, the iron transport protein of the blood, is highly polymorphic in many species, including the horse. A number of sequence polymorphisms that distinguish several of the variants of horse transferrin are reported here. Previous studies indicated that exons 12 and 15 were likely to be polymorphic. Sequencing regions of exons 12 and 15 from D and R variants revealed 10 nucleotide substitutions that encoded six amino acid replacements. The F1, F2, H2, and * variants were identical to D, and the O variant was almost identical to R, in the regions studied. The data indicated that the hor...
Müntener CR, Bruckner L, Gassner B, Stürer A, Demuth DC, Althaus FR, Zwahlen R.We received 190 reports of suspected adverse events (SARs) following the use of veterinary drugs for the year 2006: 118 declarations for veterinary drugs and 72 declarations following the application of immunolgical medicinal products. Most of the 118 declarations relate to the use of antiparasitic drugs (48%) and every second declaration to drug use in dogs. Other drug classes concerned were, in decreasing order, antiinfectives (20%) and drugs used off-label (12%; other target species or other indication). For the vaccines, most of the reactions occurred in dogs (62%) followed by horses (11%)...
Caffrey CR, Ryan MF.An excretory-secretory (ES) preparation derived from adult Strongylus vulgaris in vitro was assessed for proteolytic activity using azocasein and synthetic, fluorogenic, peptide substrates. Fractionation was by molecular sieve fast protein liquid chromatography (molecular sieve FPLC) and resolution by gelatin-substrate sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (gelatin-substrate SDS-PAGE). The cysteine proteinase activator, dithiothreitol (DTT), enhanced azocaseinolysis and hydrolysis of carbobenzoxy-phenylalanyl-arginine-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin (Z-Phe-Arg-NMec) by the ES pre...
Alshahrani SH, Alameri AA, Kahar F, Alexis Ramírez-Coronel A, Fadhel Obaid R, Alsaikhan F, Zabibah RS, Qasim QA, Altalbawy FMA, Fakri Mustafa Y....Recently in vivo and in vitro studies have provided evidence establishing the significance of microRNAs (miRNAs) in both physiological and pathological conditions. In this regard, the role of miRNA-128 (miR-128) in health and diseases has been found, and its critical regulatory role in the context of some viral diseases has been recently identified. For instance, it has been found that miR-128 can serve as an antiviral mediator and significantly limit the replication and dissemination of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Besides, it has been noted that poliovirus receptor-related 4 ...
Bonenberger TE, Ihrke PJ, Naydan DK, Affolter VK.Immunostaining with polyclonal anti-Mycobacterium bovis (BCG) was evaluated as a single screening method for the histological identification of micro-organisms in skin biopsy specimens from various veterinary species. Confirmed archival cases infected with Mycobacteria, Nocardia, Actinobacillus, Actinomyces, Streptococcus/Staphylococcus, Dermatophilus, spirochetes, Blastomyces, Coccidioides, Cryptococcus, Histoplasma, dermatophytes, Malassezia, Sporothrix, Leishmania, Pythium, phaeohyphomycetes and Prototheca organisms were selected. A total of 70 skin biopsy specimens from the dog, cat, horse...
Jalali GR, Rezai A, Underwood JL, Mowbray JF, Surridge SH, Allen WR, Matthias S.We have shown that most of the IgG present on term syncytiotrophoblast, membrane, microvesicles is bound to an 80 kDa protein antigen (R80K). Methods: Microvesicles were prepared from term human placenta, and the IgG eluted at pH3. Results: When IgG antibody was eluted at pH3 and reacted with acid-treated vesicles of other placentae, the alloantibody always bound to the preparation from which it was obtained, but only to about 10% of acid-treated preparations from other placentae. A similar polymorphic protein found in association with IgG antibody was found in term horse placentae. Cross-reac...
Dolby CA, Hannant D, Mumford JA.Five yearling ponies were vaccinated with inactivated Equid herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) in Freund's complete adjuvant as a double emulsion and revaccinated 6 weeks later with EHV-1 in Freund's incomplete adjuvant. These ponies and three age-matched controls were challenged intra-nasally after a further 6 weeks with homologous live virus and monitored clinically, biologically and serologically. After challenge, clinical signs were mild in both groups. No cell-associated viraemias were detected in vaccinated ponies. Vaccination induced high levels of complement-fixing (CF) and virus-neutralizing ...
