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.
Vandenberghe E, Boshuizen B, Delesalle CJG, Goehring LS, Groome KA, van Maanen K, de Bruijn CM.In May 2018, Wolvega Equine Hospital (WEH) experienced an EHV-1 outbreak. This outbreak caused significant economic losses and negative publicity for the hospital. How should hospitals prepare themselves for these outbreaks and prevent shedding of the virus on multiple neighboring premises? The hospital transformed most of its activities into mobile practice and the entire infected hospital population was moved to a separate remote location. The hospital was cleaned and disinfected according to the latest recommendations before reopening. Four neighboring professional equine businesses and thr...
Pusterla N, James K, Bain F, Barnett DC, Chappell D, Gaughan E, Craig B, Schneider C, Vaala W, Papich M.The aim of this study was to determine if bi-weekly administration of diclazuril at half the label dose would reduce seroprevalence and magnitude of titers to S. neurona in healthy horses naturally exposed to the apicomplexan protozoal parasite. 12 healthy adult horses were moved from a low-risk exposure to a farm with high exposure rate to S. neurona in their horse population. The horses were randomly assigned to either a treatment or a control group. Treatment consisted in the administration of half the label dose (0.5 mg/kg) of diclazuril (Protazil) pelleted top dress twice weekly (every 3-...
Porcellato I, Mecocci S, Brachelente C, Cappelli K, Armando F, Tognoloni A, Chiaradia E, Stefanetti V, Mechelli L, Pepe M, Gialletti R, Passeri B....In horses, penile squamous cell carcinomas (epSCCs) are among the most common cutaneous neoplastic lesions. These tumors usually arise in benign lesions such as viral plaques and papillomas frequently induced by papillomavirus type 2 (EcPV2) infection. In the last decade, the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) for the treatment of human cancers has demonstrated promising results. Among the most commonly targeted pathways, there is PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and CTLA-4 in the tumor microenvironment of ...
Keller LE, Tait Wojno ED, Begum L, Fortier LA.To gain insight into Treg interactions with synovial tissues in early OA, an equine tri-culture model of OA was used to test the hypothesis that Tregs, in the absence of T Helper 17 cells, are sufficient to resolve inflammation elicited by IL-1β. Unassigned: To model normal and OA joints, synoviocytes were co-cultured with chondrocytes in a transwell system and ± stimulated with IL-1β. Tregs were activated and enriched, then added to co-cultures, creating tri-cultures. At culture end, synoviocytes and chondrocytes were analyzed for gene expression, Treg Foxp3 expression was reexamined b...
Cooper HE, Davidson EJ, Slack J, Ortved KF.To report the clinical features, treatment, and outcome in horses with cellulitis and concurrent septic tendonitis and/or desmitis. Methods: Short case series. Methods: Medical records from 2000 to 2019 were reviewed, identifying horses with cellulitis and concurrent septic tendonitis and/or desmitis based on sonographic examination and positive bacterial culture. Signalment, ultrasonographic results, bacterial culture, treatment, duration of hospitalization, and complications were recorded. Long-term outcome data were obtained from follow-up examinations and/or telephone interviews. Successfu...
Warda FF, Ahmed HES, Shafik NG, Mikhael CA, Abd-ElAziz HMG, Mohammed WA, Shosha EA.Equine herpesvirus-1 infection in horses causes a wide range of manifestations affecting the respiratory tract. The virus can cause serious economic losses through sporadic abortion in pregnant mares, perinatal death, respiratory disease in young foals. This study was designed to prepare inactivated equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) vaccine using both 0.005 M binary ethylenimine (BEI) and 0.0006% formaldehyde (FA) to decrease the use of BEI and provide a good immunological response. The efficacy, safety, and duration of immunity of the prepared inactivated EHV-1 vaccine were evaluated. Methods: The...
Ferrer MS, Canisso IF, Podico G, Ellerbrock RE, Hurley DJ, Palomares R.Different stallions exhibit a high level of variation in the ability of their sperm to survive cryopreservation. A large fraction of stallions show poor post-thaw sperm motility, and their semen is not suitable for commercial freezing. In this study, we hypothesized that the presence of sperm-bound antisperm antibodies (ASAs) was associated with poor cryosurvival of stallion sperm. Our objective was to assess the level of ASA binding to stallion sperm, and determine if it was associated with good or poor sperm cryosurvival. In Experiment 1, cooled shipped semen from 27 stallions was frozen usi...
Equine asthma is an inflammatory respiratory disorder, classified as mild-moderate (MEA) and severe (SEA). SEA is characterized by recurrent exacerbations, consisting of dyspnea, coughing and exercise intolerance; MEA causes poor performance, occasional cough and mucus hypersecretion. Although a precise pathogenesis is not completely understood, allergic mechanisms are considered an important pathophysiological feature of equine asthma. In equine medicine, intradermal testing (IDT) is effective in identifying hypersensitivity to specific allergens. However, to date, the studies about IDT in as...
Bocking T, Singh B.The lung is a complex organ, and its physiology and immunology are regulated by various immune molecules and cells. Lung surfactant, a mixture of phospholipids and proteins produced by the bronchiolar and type II alveolar epithelial cells, is one such important player in lung physiology. Compared to knowledge about the biology of the surfactant in rodents and humans, only limited data are available on the surfactant in the horse. Although there are data linking levels of surfactant proteins with respiratory disease in the horse, there are no data on the cellular localization of surfactant prot...
Sallé G, Canlet C, Cortet J, Koch C, Malsa J, Reigner F, Riou M, Perrot N, Blanchard A, Mach N.The widespread failure of anthelmintic drugs against nematodes of veterinary interest requires novel control strategies. Selective treatment of the most susceptible individuals could reduce drug selection pressure but requires appropriate biomarkers of the intrinsic susceptibility potential. To date, this has been missing in livestock species. Here, we selected Welsh ponies with divergent intrinsic susceptibility (measured by their egg excretion levels) to cyathostomin infection and found that their divergence was sustained across a 10-year time window. Using this unique set of individuals, we...
Boos GS, Failing K, Colodel EM, Driemeier D, de Castro MB, Bassuino DM, Diomedes Barbosa J, Herden C.Like humans, horses are susceptible to neurotropic and neuroinvasive pathogens that are not always readily identified in histological sections. Instead, alterations in astrocytes and microglia cells can be used as pathological hallmarks of injured nervous tissue in a variety of infectious and degenerative diseases. On the other hand, equine glial cell alterations are poorly characterized in diseases. Therefore, in this study, we provide a statistically proved score system to classify astrogliosis and microgliosis in the central nervous system (CNS) of horses, based on morphological and quantit...
Stefanetti V, Pascucci L, Wilsher S, Cappelli K, Capomaccio S, Reale L, Passamonti F, Coletti M, Crociati M, Monaci M, Marenzoni ML.Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are proviral phases of exogenous retroviruses, which have coevolved with vertebrate genomes for millions of years. The conservation of ERV genes throughout evolution suggests their beneficial effects on their hosts' survival. An example of such positive selection is demonstrated by the syncytin gene, which encodes a protein with affinity for various mammalian placentas that is involved in the formation of syncytiotrophoblasts. Although the horse has an epitheliochorial placenta, in which the fetal trophoblasts are simply apposed to the intact uterine epithelium, ...
Halpin K, Graham K, Durr PA.Hendra virus (HeV) is a high consequence zoonotic pathogen found in Australia. The HeV vaccine was developed for use in horses and provides a One Health solution to the prevention of human disease. By protecting horses from infection, the vaccine indirectly protects humans as well, as horses are the only known source of infection for humans. The sub-unit-based vaccine, containing recombinant HeV soluble G (sG) glycoprotein, was released by Pfizer Animal Health (now Zoetis) for use in Australia at the end of 2012. The purpose of this study was to collate post-vaccination serum neutralising anti...
Pusterla N, Miller J, Varnell S, Armstrong W, Frost L, Michon C, Lambert K, Whitfield S, Cowles B.The objective of this study was to study the SAA response of horses with various forms of EHV-1 infection. Archived serum samples from 153 horses with various disease forms of EHV-1 infection (48 healthy non-infected horses, 48 subclinically infected horses, 40 horses with respiratory EHV-1 infection and 17 horses with neurological EHV-1 infection) were available for SAA testing. SAA values ranged from 0 to 31 µg/mL (median 0 µg/mL) in healthy horses, from 0 to 2,416 µg/mL (median 8.5 µg/mL) in subclinically infected horses, from 0 to 3,000 µg/mL (median 597 µg/mL) in horse with respirat...
Lee H, Yun SH, Hyon JY, Lee SY, Yi YS, Choi CW, Jun S, Park EC, Kim SI.Streptococcus equi subspecies equi is a pathogenic bacterium that causes strangles, a highly contagious respiratory infection in horses and other equines. The limitations of current vaccines against S. equi infection warrants the development of an affordable, safe, and effective vaccine. Because gram-positive extracellular vesicles (EVs) transport various immunogenic antigens, they are attractive vaccine candidates. Here, we purified the EVs of S. equi ATCC 39506 and evaluated them as a vaccine candidate against S. equi infection in mice. As an initial step, comparative proteomic analysis was ...
Jonsdottir S, Torsteinsdottir S, Svansson V, Gudbrandsson J, Stefansdottir SB, Mar Bjornsson J, Runarsdottir A, Marti E.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is an allergic dermatitis of horses, an IgE-mediated reaction to Culicoides midges. Causative Culicoides spp. are not indigenous in Iceland resulting in high prevalence of IBH in horses born in Iceland and exported as compared to Icelandic horses born in a Culicoides rich environment. The aims were (i) to compare IgE levels in sera of IBH-affected horses born in Iceland (n = 47) with horses of the Icelandic breed (n = 23) and of other breeds (n = 27) born in Culicoides infested area; (ii) to investigate if barley could be a useful production system of allerge...
Dhakal P, Tsunoda N, Nambo Y, Taniyama H, Nagaoka K, Watanabe G, Taya K.Although equine gestation is unique from the standpoint of fetal gonadal enlargement and regression, the activator of this process is still unknown. The present study aimed to show a possible role of activin during equine gestation. In the first experiment, weekly plasma samples from six pregnant mares were used to measure activin A. In the second experiment, eight pregnant mares carrying female (gestational days 110, 140, 180, and 270) and male fetuses (gestational days 120, 180, 225, and 314) were used for immunohistochemistry of activin receptors (IA, IB, IIA, IIB), and their intracellular ...
Todini L, Malfatti A.An instance of hormone assay method flaw is reported. In this journal Chronobiology International, two papers appeared in which an ELISA method for human serum or plasma was utilized for blood serum of horse and sheep, respectively. From our testing, it is resulted that such method does not work at all for equine, sheep and other animal species. The use of commercial hormone assay kits for heterologous species always needs a careful validation procedure. First, the same hormone molecule by different species could not share enough homology to be regognized by and react with antibodies utilized ...
Galiazzo G, Tagliavia C, Giancola F, Rinnovati R, Sadeghinezhad J, Bombardi C, Grandis A, Pietra M, Chiocchetti R.Colic is a common digestive disorder in horses and one of the most urgent problems in equine medicine. A growing body of literature has indicated that the activation of cannabinoid receptors could exert beneficial effects on gastrointestinal inflammation and visceral hypersensitivity. The localisation of cannabinoid and cannabinoid-related receptors in the intestine of the horse has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this study was to immunohistochemically localise the cellular distribution of canonical and putative cannabinoid receptors in the ileum of healthy horses. Distal ileum spec...
Araki M, Ohtaki T, Kimura J, Hobo S, Taya K, Tsunoda N, Taniyama H, Tsumagari S, Nambo Y.Immunohistochemical investigations of the expression of surfactant protein A (SP-A) and surfactant protein D (SP-D) in the uterine and placental tissues of 13 pregnant mares were performed using anti-horse monoclonal primary antibodies. Strong positive reactions for both SP-A and SP-D were observed in the trophoblasts in the microcotyledons of the placentae at 182 to 314 days of gestation; in uterine glandular epithelial cells, faint-to-weak reactions were observed during gestation. This study describes, for the first time, the changes in the SP-A and SP-D expression levels in the endometrium ...
Zayed M, Adair S, Dhar M.Synovial fluid contains cytokines, growth factors and resident mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The present study aimed to (1) determine the effects of autologous and allogeneic synovial fluid on viability, proliferation and chondrogenesis of equine bone marrow MSCs (BMMSCs) and (2) compare the immunomodulatory properties of equine synovial fluid MSCs (SFMSCs) and BMMSCs after stimulation with interferon gamma (INF-γ). To meet the first aim of the study, the proliferation and viability of MSCs were evaluated by MTS and calcein AM staining assays. To induce chondrogenesis, MSCs were cultured in ...
Rotchanapreeda T, Sae-Chew P, Lohnoo T, Yingyong W, Rujirawat T, Kumsang Y, Payattikul P, Jaturapaktrarak C, Intaramat A, Pathomsakulwong W....Pythiosis, a life-threatening disease caused by , has been increasingly diagnosed worldwide. A recently developed immunochromatographic test (ICT) enables the rapid diagnosis of pythiosis. During the 3-year clinical implementation of ICT in Thailand, we collected the laboratory reports of 38 animals with suspected pythiosis and detected ICT false-positive results in three horses and a dog with basidiobolomycosis. and cause infections with indistinguishable clinical and microscopic features. This study investigated cross-reactive antibodies by probing and crude extracts and cell-free synthe...
Tomlinson JE, Wolfisberg R, Fahnøe U, Patel RS, Trivedi S, Kumar A, Sharma H, Nielsen L, McDonough SP, Bukh J, Tennant BC, Kapoor A, Rosenberg BR....Equine hepacivirus (EqHV) is phylogenetically the closest relative of HCV and shares genome organization, hepatotropism, transient or persistent infection outcome, and the ability to cause hepatitis. Thus, EqHV studies are important to understand equine liver disease and further as an outbred surrogate animal model for HCV pathogenesis and protective immune responses. Here, we aimed to characterize the course of EqHV infection and associated protective immune responses. Seven horses were experimentally inoculated with EqHV, monitored for 6 months, and rechallenged with the same and, subsequen...
Samoilowa S, Giessler KS, Torres CEM, Hussey GS, Allum A, Fux R, Jerke C, Kiupel M, Matiasek K, Sledge DG, Goehring LS.Equid herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) causes respiratory disease, abortion and myeloencephalopathy in horses worldwide. As member of the , latency is key to EHV-1 epidemiology. EHV-1 latent infection has been detected in the trigeminal ganglion (TG), respiratory associated lymphoid tissue (RALT) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) but additional locations are likely. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of viral DNA throughout the equine body. Twenty-five horses divided into three groups were experimentally infected via intranasal instillation with one of three EHV-1 virus...
Raza F, Babasyan S, Larson EM, Freer HS, Schnabel CL, Wagner B.Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is a key cytokine secreted by type 2 T helper (Th2) cells that orchestrates immune responses during allergic reactions. Human and mouse studies additionally suggest that basophils have a unique role in the regulation of allergic diseases by providing initial IL-4 to drive T cell development towards the Th2 phenotype. Equine Culicoides hypersensitivity (CH) is a seasonal immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergic dermatitis in horses in response to salivary allergens from Culicoides (Cul) midges. Here, we analyzed IL-4 production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) o...
Tatum RC, McGowan CM, Ireland JL.Measurement of basal adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) is currently used to diagnose pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) in horses, yet a systematic review of the evidence for its use has not been undertaken. This study aimed to systematically review evidence regarding the sensitivity and specificity of the basal ACTH diagnostic test. Electronic databases were systematically searched in January 2019, September 2020 and January 2021, for English language publications published prior to these dates. Screening, data extraction and quality assessment of publications was undertaken by th...
Cameron AD, Even KM, Linardi RL, Berglund AK, Schnabel LV, Engiles JB, Ortved KF.Joint injury can cause posttraumatic inflammation, which if severe enough can lead to posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA), a progressive and debilitating condition. Posttraumatic inflammation is characterized by an influx of T lymphocytes and upregulation of inflammatory cytokines and degradative enzymes by activated chondrocytes and synoviocytes. Intra-articular bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BM-MSC) injection for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) has been of interest due to the immunomodulatory properties of these cells. Interleukin (IL)-10, a potent immunomodulatory cytokine,...
Morini M, Peli A, Rinnovati R, Magazzù G, Romagnoli N, Spadari A, Pietra M.Severe equine asthma (EA) syndrome is a chronic obstructive disease characterized by exaggerated contraction, inflammation, and structural alteration of the airways in adult horses, when exposed to airborne molds and particulate material. However, little is known about the relationship between the degree and type of inflammation on one hand, and the severity of the disease and the response to treatment on the other. Furthermore, to date, very few studies evaluate the diagnostic value of histology and immunohistochemical features of endoscopic biopsies on subjects with severe equine asthma. To ...
Zhang P, Sun Y, Tan C, Ling M, Li X, Wang W, Cong Y.To prevent and control H3N8 subtype equine influenza, we prepared virus-like particles (VLPs) comprising the HA, NA and M1 proteins of H3N8 equine influenza virus (EIV) through the insect cell-baculovirus expression system. The results of Western blot and hemagglutination analyses demonstrated that the constructed VLPs comprising HA, NA and M1 proteins have good hemagglutination activity. Immunoelectron microscope revealed that the VLPs share similar morphology and structure with natural virus particles. The hyperimmune serum from horses immunized with the VLPs were injected into mice by means...
van Rijn PA, Maris-Veldhuis MA, Potgieter CA, van Gennip RGP.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is a virus species in the genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae. Currently, nine serotypes have been defined showing limited cross neutralization. AHSV is transmitted by species of Culicoides biting midges and causes African Horse Sickness (AHS) in equids with a mortality up to 95% in naïve domestic horses. AHS has become a serious threat for countries outside Africa, since endemic Culicoides species in moderate climates are competent vectors of closely related bluetongue virus. AHS outbreaks cause huge economic losses in developing countries. In the dev...
Sato H, Matsumori Y, Tanabe T, Saito H, Shimizu A, Kawano J.A new type of staphylococcal exfoliative toxin (sET) was isolated from the culture filtrate of a Staphylococcus aureus strain isolated from a horse with skin infection including phlegmon. The new sET was purified by precipitation with 80% saturated ammonium sulfate, column chromatography on DEAE-cellulofine A-500, gel filtration on a Sephadex G-75 column, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (7.5% polyacrylamide). The new sET elicited general exfoliation of the epidermis with the so-called Nikolsky sign when inoculated into both 3-day-old mice and 1-day-old chicks, whereas sETA and sETB from...
Patton KM, McGuire TC, Fraser DG, Hines SA.The goal of this research was to examine the role of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in the control of Rhodococcus equi and specifically to determine if R. equi-specific CD8+ CTL occurred in the blood of immune horses. Equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with antigen-presenting cells either infected with R. equi or exposed to soluble R. equi antigen lysed R. equi-infected target cells. Lysis was decreased to background by depletion of either CD2+ or CD3+ cells, indicating that the effector cell had a T-lymphocyte, but not NK cell, phenotype. Stimulation induced an increased perc...
Andersson LS, Swinburne JE, Meadows JR, Broström H, Eriksson S, Fikse WF, Frey R, Sundquist M, Tseng CT, Mikko S, Lindgren G.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is a chronic allergic dermatitis common in horses. Affected horses mainly react against antigens present in the saliva from the biting midges, Culicoides ssp, and occasionally black flies, Simulium ssp. Because of this insect dependency, the disease is clearly seasonal and prevalence varies between geographical locations. For two distinct horse breeds, we genotyped four microsatellite markers positioned within the MHC class II region and sequenced the highly polymorphic exons two from DRA and DRB3, respectively. Initially, 94 IBH-affected and 93 unaffected Sw...
Gupta GD, Lakritz J, Kim JH, Kim DY, Kim JK, Marsh AE.Parasite-specific antibody responses to Neospora spp. and Toxoplasma gondii, antigens were detected using the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and immunoblot analysis in a korean equine population located on Jeju island, South Korea (126 degrees 12' E and 33 degrees 34' N). For comparison, a naturally infected Neospora hughesi horse and an experimentally inoculated T. gondii equid (pony) were used. In addition, all samples were tested for antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona by immunoblot analysis. A total of 191 serum samples from clinically normal horses were evaluated. Only 2% (4 out ...
Sasaki M, Hasebe R, Makino Y, Suzuki T, Fukushi H, Okamoto M, Matsuda K, Taniyama H, Sawa H, Kimura T.The endotheliotropism of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) leads to encephalomyelitis secondary to vasculitis and thrombosis in the infected horse central nervous system (CNS). To identify the host factors involved in EHV-1 infection of CNS endothelial cells, we performed functional cloning using an equine brain microvascular endothelial cell cDNA library. Exogenous expression of equine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I heavy chain genes conferred susceptibility to EHV-1 infection in mouse NIH3T3 cells, which are not naturally susceptible to EHV-1 infection. Equine MHC class I molecule...
McNabb L, Barr J, Crameri G, Juzva S, Riddell S, Colling A, Boyd V, Broder C, Wang LF, Lunt R.Hendra and Nipah viruses (HeV and NiV) are closely related zoonotic pathogens of the Paramyxoviridae family. Both viruses belong to the Henipavirus genus and cause fatal disease in animals and humans, though only HeV is endemic in Australia. In general and due to the acute nature of the disease, agent detection by PCR and virus isolation are the primary tools for diagnostic investigations. Assays for the detection of antibodies against HeV are fit more readily for the purpose of surveillance testing in disease epidemiology and to meet certification requirements in the international movement of...
Hietala SK, Ardans AA, Sansome A.An enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay was developed to measure naturally occurring Corynebacterium equi specific antibody in horse serum. Antibody against C equi was demonstrated in normal adults and was passively transferred to foals. Adult levels of specific antibody were reached by 5 to 6 months of age in healthy foals. Decreased early antibody levels were demonstrated in a limited number of foals with confirmed C equi infection.
van der Meulen KM, Nauwynck HJ, Pensaert MB.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) may cause abortion in vaccination- and infection-immune horses. EHV-1-infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) play an important role in virus immune evasion. The mechanisms by which infected PBMCs can avoid destruction by EHV-1-specific antibody and equine complement were examined. The majority of EHV-1-infected PBMCs (68.6 %) lacked surface expression of viral antigens and these cells were not susceptible to complement-mediated lysis. In infected PBMCs with surface expression of viral antigens, 63 % showed focal surface expression, whereas 37 % showed ...
Lightbody KL, Davis PJ, Austin CJ.Tapeworm infections pose a significant threat to equine health as they are associated with clinical cases of colic. Diagnosis of tapeworm burden using fecal egg counts (FECs) is unreliable, and, although a commercial serologic ELISA for anti-tapeworm antibodies is available, it requires a veterinarian to collect the blood sample. A reliable diagnostic test using an owner-accessible sample such as saliva could provide a cost-effective alternative for tapeworm testing in horses, and allow targeted deworming strategies. Objective: The purpose of the study was to statistically validate a saliva ta...
Wilson WD, Mihalyi JE, Hussey S, Lunn DP.Influenza and tetanus-specific antibodies of the IgG sub-isotypes are posively transferred to foals via colostrum and inhibit their response to inactivated influenza vaccines and tetanus toxoid. High titres of influenza antibodies of IgGa and IgGb subisotypes and tetanus antibodies of the IgGa, IgGb and IgG(T) subisotypes were detected in postsucking serum samples collected from foals born to mares that had received booster doses of multicomponent vaccines during the last 2 months of gestation. Thereafter, titres declined in an exponential manner but were still detectable in all foals at age 2...
Peat FJ, Colbath AC, Bentsen LM, Goodrich LR, King MR.This study aimed to examine the influence of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser irradiation on equine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) viability, proliferation, and cytokine expression in vitro. Background: Photobiomodulation of cells using monochromatic light is a technique designed to influence cellular processes. Previous studies have shown dose-dependent effects of low-level laser irradiation on cell proliferation and cytokine expression in a range of cell types and species. Evidence for the influence of 1064 nm wavelength near-infrared irradiation on M...
Khatibzadeh SM, Gold CB, Keggan AE, Perkins GA, Glaser AL, Dubovi EJ, Wagner B.To compare antibody responses of horses naturally infected with West Nile virus (WNV) and those vaccinated against WNV, to identify whether vaccination interferes with the ability to diagnose WNV infection, and to determine the duration of antibody responses after vaccination. Methods: Sera from horses naturally infected with WNV (n = 10) and adult WNV-naïve horses before and after vaccination with a live canarypox virus-vectored vaccine (7) or a killed virus vaccine (8). Methods: An established WNV IgM capture ELISA was used to measure IgM responses. Newly developed capture ELISAs were used ...
Hill JA, Cassano JM, Goodale MB, Fortier LA.OBJECTIVE To determine whether major histocompatability complex (MHC) class II expression in equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) changes with exposure to a proinflammatory environment reflective of an inflamed joint. SAMPLE Cryopreserved bone marrow-derived MSCs from 12 horses and cartilage and synovium samples from 1 horse euthanized for reasons other than lameness. PROCEDURES In part 1 of a 3-part study, the suitability of a quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) assay for measurement of MHC class II expression in MSCs following stimulation with interferon (IFN)-γ was assessed. I...
Chuma T, Le Blois H, Sánchez-Vizcaíno JM, Diaz-Laviada M, Roy P.The major core protein, VP7, of African horsesickness virus serotype 4 (AHSV-4), the aetiological agent of a recent outbreak of the disease in southern Europe, was expressed in insect cells infected with a recombinant baculovirus containing a cloned copy of the relevant AHSV gene (S7). Analyses of its biochemical and antigenic properties confirmed the authenticity of the protein expressed. The high-level expression of VP7 under the control of the strong polyhedrin promoter of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus induced disc-shaped crystals in infected insect cells. This enabled u...
Jang HK, Albrecht RA, Buczynski KA, Kim SK, Derbigny WA, O'Callaghan DJ.The sole immediate-early (IE) gene of equine herpesvirus 1 encodes a 1,487-amino-acid (aa) regulatory phosphoprotein that independently activates expression of early viral genes. Coimmunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that the IE protein physically interacts with the general transcription factor TFIIB. Using a variety of protein-binding assays that employed a panel of IE truncation and deletion mutants expressed as in vitro-synthesized or glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins, we mapped a TFIIB-binding domain to aa 407 to 757 of the IE protein. IE mutants carrying internal deletions of ...
Hunter LC, Miller JK, Poxton IR.The cause of grass sickness, an equine dysautonomia, is unknown. The disease usually results in death. Gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction is a common clinical manifestation in all forms of the disease. It is generally thought that equine grass sickness (EGS) is caused by an ingested or enterically produced neurotoxin which is absorbed through the GI tract. Clostridium botulinum was first implicated as a causative agent when it was isolated from the GI tract of a horse with EGS in 1919. The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that EGS results from toxicoinfection with C. b...
Wagner B, Burton A, Ainsworth D.Cytokines produced by T helper (Th) cells are important in orchestrating the immune response during health and disease. Recent reports indicated that cytokine mRNA expression in foals is often quantitatively lower than that of adult horses suggesting that foal T cells are not fully mature. Here, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from foals and adult horses were stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and analyzed for intracellular interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-10 production, representing the Th1, Th2 and regulatory TR1 cell phenotypes respectively, by flow ...
Skiöldebrand E, Ekman S, Mattsson Hultén L, Svala E, Björkman K, Lindahl A, Lundqvist A, Önnerfjord P, Sihlbom C, Rüetschi U.Clinical tools to diagnose the early changes of osteoarthritis (OA) that occur in the articular cartilage are lacking. Objective: We sought to identify and quantify a novel cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) neoepitope in the synovial fluid from the joints of healthy horses and those with different stages of OA. Methods: In vitro quantitative proteomics and assay development with application in synovial fluids samples obtained from biobanks of well-characterised horses. Methods: Articular cartilage explants were incubated with or without interleukin-1β for 25 days. Media were analysed...
Flaminio MJ, Rush BR, Shuman W.Infectious diseases are common in foals aged 1-5 months. The objectives of this investigation were to evaluate immunologic parameters in foals from birth to weaning to establish reference values for the proportion of circulating lymphocytes that were helper (CD4+) or cytotoxic (CD8+) T cells, or B cells; to measure serum immunoglobulin (IgM and IgG) concentrations; and to compare these immunologic parameters to values in foals with naturally occurring Rhodococcus equi pneumonia and in adult horses. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations were determined by flow cytometric analysis, and seru...
Difilippo E, Willems HA, Vendrig JC, Fink-Gremmels J, Gruppen H, Schols HA.Colostrum oligosaccharides are known to exhibit prebiotic and immunomodulatory properties. Oligosaccharide composition is species-specific, and equine colostrum has been reported to contain unique oligosaccharides. Therefore, equine oligosaccharides (EMOS) from colostrum from different horse breeds were analyzed by CE-LIF, CE-MS(n), HILIC-MS(n), and exoglycosidase degradation. Sixteen EMOS were characterized and quantified, of which half were neutral and half were acidic. EMOS showed about 63% structural overlap with human milk oligosaccharides, known for their bioactivity. Seven EMOS were not...
Antczak DF, Bright SM, Remick LH, Bauman BE.A genetic system controlling lymphocyte alloantigens of the horse is described. Alloantisera to paternal histocompatibility antigens induced as a result of pregnancy in mares were used in an antibody-mediated complement-dependent microcytotoxicity assay to define 15 Equine Leukocyte Antigen (ELA) specificities using cluster analysis. In this study 369 sera were screened for alloantibody using lymphocytes from 10 randomly selected, unrelated horses. A high proportion (83%) of these sera were found to be positive for antibody to lymphocyte alloantigens. After initial cluster analysis, 120 of the...
Crabb BS, MacPherson CM, Reubel GH, Browning GF, Studdert MJ, Drummer HE.We describe a type-specific ELISA, which distinguishes antibody to equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV4; equine rhinopneumonitis) and EHV1 (equine abortion virus) thereby identifying horses that have been infected with either or both of these antigenically related viruses. The antigens used are parts of the EHV4 and EHV1 glycoprotein G (gG) homologues expressed in E. coli as fusion proteins [Crabb and Studdert, 1993: J Virol 67: 6332-6338). The expressed proteins comprise corresponding regions of the gG molecules that are highly divergent and encompass strong, typespecific epitopes. Plasma samples from ...
Karlström A, Jacobsson K, Flock M, Flock JI, Guss B.Strangles is a serious disease in horses caused by Streptococcus equi subspecies equi. In this study, genes encoding putative extracellular proteins in this subspecies have been identified using signal sequence phage display. Among these, one showed similarities to the SclB protein, a member of the collagen-like proteins of Streptococcus pyogenes. The novel gene denoted sclC encodes a protein, SclC, of 302 amino acids, containing typical features found in cell wall-anchored proteins in Gram-positive bacteria. Based on similarities to the S. pyogenes collagen-like proteins the mature SclC prote...
Keggan A, Freer H, Rollins A, Wagner B.Horses have 11 immunoglobulin isotypes: IgM, IgD, IgA, IgE, and seven IgG subclasses designated as IgG1-IgG7, each of which are distinguished by separate genes encoding the constant heavy chain regions. Immunoglobulin (Ig) isotypes have different functions during the immune response and pathogen-specific isotypes can be used as indicators for immunity and protection from disease. In addition to existing monoclonal antibodies to various equine Igs, quantification of the individual isotypes requires pure isotype standards. In this report, we describe a fusion between X63-Ag8.653 mouse myeloma ce...
Postel A, Cavalleri JM, Pfaender S, Walter S, Steinmann E, Fischer N, Feige K, Haas L, Becher P.Novel viruses belonging to the genera Hepacivirus and Pegivirus have recently been discovered in horses and other animal species. Viral genomes of non-primate hepaciviruses (NPHV), equine pegivirus 1 (EPgV 1) and Theiler's disease associated virus (TDAV) were detected in a horse serum routinely used for cell culture propagation in our laboratory. Therefore, a study was carried out to further investigate the presence of these human Hepatitis C virus (HCV) related viruses in equine serum based products used in veterinary medicine and for research and to characterize the viral genomes. Without ex...
Goodman LB, Wimer C, Dubovi EJ, Gold C, Wagner B.Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) induces a variety of disease manifestations, including respiratory disease, abortions, and myeloencephalopathy. Several vaccines are commercially available but could not previously be distinguished by serologic testing from infection with EHV-1 (or the closely related EHV-4). Currently available vaccines are not reliably protective against the severe manifestations of the disease, including fatal myeloencephalopathy. We determined immunological parameters that can differentiate vaccinated from previously infected animals by comparing humoral and cellular EHV-1-spec...
Go YY, Zhang J, Timoney PJ, Cook RF, Horohov DW, Balasuriya UB.Extensive cell culture passage of the virulent Bucyrus (VB) strain of equine arteritis virus (EAV) to produce the modified live virus (MLV) vaccine strain has altered its tropism for equine CD3(+) T lymphocytes and CD14(+) monocytes. The VB strain primarily infects CD14(+) monocytes and a small subpopulation of CD3(+) T lymphocytes (predominantly CD4(+) T lymphocytes), as determined by dual-color flow cytometry. In contrast, the MLV vaccine strain has a significantly reduced ability to infect CD14(+) monocytes and has lost its capability to infect CD3(+) T lymphocytes. Using a panel of five re...
Faubladier C, Sadet-Bourgeteau S, Philippeau C, Jacotot E, Julliand V.This study assessed the time-scale variability of bacterial community structure in foal feces from birth to 365 days of age using Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA). Fecal samples were collected from five foals 2 h after birth (meconium) and in the morning at days 1, 2, 5, 10, 30, 60, 120, 179, 183, 194 and 365. The ARISA profiles were compared using an analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). Although both the age effect and the foal effect were highly significant (P < 0.010), the R-ANOSIM value for the foal effect was very low (R-ANOSIM = 0.089), while that of the age eff...
Brindley MA, Maury W.Entry of wild-type lentivirus equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) into cells requires a low-pH step. This low-pH constraint implicates endocytosis in EIAV entry. To identify the endocytic pathway involved in EIAV entry, we examined the entry requirements for EIAV into two different cells: equine dermal (ED) cells and primary equine endothelial cells. We investigated the entry mechanism of several strains of EIAV and found that both macrophage-tropic and tissue culture-adapted strains utilize clathrin-coated pits for entry. In contrast, a superinfecting strain of EIAV, EIAV(vMA-1c), utilizes ...
