In vivo studies involving horses refer to research conducted within living organisms to understand various biological processes, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic interventions in equine species. These studies provide insights into the physiological and pathological responses of horses under natural conditions. In vivo research encompasses a range of investigations, including pharmacokinetics, disease modeling, and the evaluation of treatment efficacy. It often involves the use of controlled environments to simulate real-life scenarios while observing the effects of specific variables on equine health. This page gathers peer-reviewed research articles and scholarly studies that explore the methodologies, findings, and implications of in vivo research in horses, contributing to the advancement of equine science and veterinary medicine.
Gupta S, Vohra S, Sethi K, Gupta S, Kumar S, Kumar R.The kinetoplastid protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma evansi causes a fatal disease condition known as Surra in equines throughout the globe. Disease condition being acute in nature, entrust a huge economic and health impact on the equine industry. Till date, quinapyramine methyl sulphate (QPS) is the first line of treatment and a panacea for the T. evansi infection in equines. Still after the >70Â years of its discovery, there is no clue about the mode of action of QPS in T. evansi. The establishment of in vitro cultivation of T. evansi in HMI-9 media has provided opportunity to study the alte...
Cota LO, Júnior OS, Oliveira APL, Paz CFR, Maróstica TP, Duarte PC, Leme FOP, Faleiros RR.Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is a common condition in horses with gastrointestinal disorders. If not prevented or controlled, SIRS promotes multiple organ dysfunctions that may culminate in serious disabilities or even death. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of Lithothamnion supplementation on systemic inflammatory response and organ function variables in horses undergoing oligofructose overload (OFO) intake. Twelve healthy horses were randomly divided into control and treated groups. The treated group received Lithothamnion (100 mg/kg bw PO BID) for 7 ...
Migliorisi A, Hart K, Vaughn S, Austin S, Aldridge B, Wilkins P.To describe ascorbic acid (AA) concentrations, plasma antioxidant capacity (PAC) and markers of oxidative stress, as measured by derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (dROMs), in healthy foals at birth and during the first month of life. Methods: Venous blood samples were collected from healthy Standardbred (n = 13) and Quarter Horse (n = 10) foals. Plasma AA, PAC, and dROMs were assessed at 3 to 12 hours, 3 days, and 1, 2, and 4 weeks of age. Methods: AA was measured via high-performance liquid chromatography. PAC and dROMs were measured with a free radical analytical system. Comparisons...
Biegel U, Mevissen M, Schuller S, Ruess K, Christen O, Ayrle H, Koch C, Walkenhorst M.Cancer is a common disease in humans and in companion animals and treatment is challenging. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and assess the potential use of Viscum album L. extracts (VAE) for treatment of neoplastic diseases in companion animals. Peer-reviewed animal, in vivo and in vitro studies were included, considering the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement and A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR). Overall, 6,148 references were identified. Following a predefined protocol, 114 full-text references were ...
Reich P, Falker-Gieske C, Pook T, Tetens J.Genotype imputation is a cost-effective method to generate sequence-level genotypes for a large number of animals. Its application can improve the power of genomic studies, provided that the accuracy of imputation is sufficiently high. The purpose of this study was to develop an optimal strategy for genotype imputation from genotyping array data to sequence level in German warmblood horses, and to investigate the effect of different factors on the accuracy of imputation. Publicly available whole-genome sequence data from 317 horses of 46 breeds was used to conduct the analyses. Results: Depend...
Finding EJT, Elliott J, Harris PA, Menzies-Gow NJ.Previously laminitic (PL) ponies are reported to have higher blood pressure than non laminitic (NL) ponies. This relative hypertension may be related to endothelial cell dysfunction, similar to humans with metabolic syndrome. To investigate the relationship between laminitis predisposition and endothelial dysfunction, the effect of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition on the change in circulating nitric oxide (NO) concentrations and systemic blood pressure (BP) was determined. An intravenous NO sensor was used to measure changes in blood NO concentration during and after intravenous infusion...
Amorim GB, Segabinazzi LG, Oliveira OM, Perecmanis S, Arruda R, Canisso IF.Misoprostol, a synthetic PGE1, is becoming a common therapy for mares with suspected uterine tube obstruction. Recently, there have been concerns that uterine administration of misoprostol induces exacerbated uterine inflammation; however, this has not been critically evaluated. This study aimed to assess the inflammatory response and potential systemic reactions after uterine administration of misoprostol, either during prebreeding or immediately after postembryo flushing. Privately owned embryo donor mares (n = 11) were randomly assigned in a crossover design to receive misoprostol (3 mL +...
Werners A, Karasek I, Butler C, Yeatts J, Enomoto H, Baynes R.Several different tick species are known to infest horses. Aside from causing serious health and welfare issues, including anaemia, ill thrift, and immunosuppression, ticks can transmit a variety of important, sometimes zoonotic, pathogens. The successful prevention and treatment of tick infestations have been described, but the information is scarce and, in many instances, anecdotal. Here we describe a practical and affordable prevention of tick infestation by using abamectin-impregnated cattle ear tags affixed to a safety collar. We have assessed the radial distribution of abamectin by analy...
Ishak GM, Feugang JM, Pechanova O, Pechan T, Peterson DG, Willard ST, Ryan PL, Gastal EL.The complex composition of the follicular fluid (FF), the intimate proximity to the oocyte, and the continual changes in their composition have a major effect on folliculogenesis and oogenesis. To date, the profiling of FF proteomes during follicle selection, development, and ovulation has not been comprehensively investigated. Therefore, a shotgun proteomics approach and bioinformatics analyses were used to profile the proteomes of equine FF harvested in vivo from follicles at the following development stages: predeviation (18-20 mm), deviation (22-25 mm), postdeviation (26-29 mm), preo...
Mohammadi A, Te Moller NCR, Ebrahimi M, Plomp S, Brommer H, van Weeren PR, Mäkelä JTA, Töyräs J, Korhonen RK.In this study, we mapped and quantified changes of proteoglycan (PG) content and biomechanical properties in articular cartilage in which either blunt or sharp grooves had been made, both close to the groove and more remote of it, and at the opposing joint surface (kissing site) in equine carpal joints. In nine adult Shetland ponies, standardized blunt and sharp grooves were surgically made in the radiocarpal and middle carpal joints of a randomly chosen front limb. The contralateral control limb was sham-operated. At 39 weeks after surgery, ponies were euthanized. In 10 regions of interest (...
Bhutia WD, Gupta S, Rani R, Batra K, Sethi K, Kumar S, Kumar R.Trypanosoma evansi is a causative agent of chronic wasting and fatal disease of livestock and wild animals known as surra. In this study, repurposing approach based on drug target was used to investigate the efficacy of kinase inhibitors (Barasertib-HQPA, BAR and Palbociclib isethionate, PAL) and protease inhibitors (Z-pro-prolinal, Z-PRO and Leupeptin hemisulphate, LEU) against T. evansi in HMI-9 medium. BAR, PAL and Z-PRO exhibited IC values of 13.52 µM, 0.6375 µM and 63.20 µM against T. evansi in terms of growth inhibition, in the contrary, LEU failed to exhibit a significant growth i...
MartÃnez MarÃn AL, Valle E, Bergero D, Requena F, Forte C, Schiavone A.Several authors have developed equations for estimating digestible energy in horse feeds as an alternative to the inconveniences of in vivo digestibility assays. We aimed to evaluate two of such equations. A dataset was constructed from the literature with 32 mixed feeds and diets of known proximate composition, whose digestibility was measured in in vivo assays. Then, the digestible energy of the mixed feeds and diets was predicted with both equations from their proximate components. Precision, accuracy, reproducibility, bias, and decomposition of total error of predictions were determined. B...
Mercer MA, McKenzie HC, Byron CR, Pleasant RS, Bogers SH, Council-Troche RM, Werre SR, Burns T, Davis JL.Acetaminophen has been used clinically in horses alone or combined with traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for treatment of musculoskeletal pain in horses. Objective: To determine the pharmacokinetics and efficacy of acetaminophen at two doses in horses with mechanically induced lameness compared with phenylbutazone or placebo control. Methods: In vivo experiment. Methods: Nine healthy mares with mechanical lameness induced via a reversible sole pressure horseshoe model were treated with acetaminophen (20 mg/kg PO; A20), acetaminophen (30 mg/kg PO; A30), phenylbutazone (2.2â...
Marchant EA, Semevolos SA.The marginal transitional zone is peripherally located within the diarthrodial joint, and represents the interface of articular cartilage, periosteum, and the fibrous joint capsule. The purpose of this study is to characterize the protein expression of matrix and molecular regulators in the marginal transitional zone of foals having osteochondrosis (OC) compared to normal foals. Several families of proteins with known roles in cartilage and bone development are investigated, including matrix molecules, Wnt signaling, apoptotic factors and paracrine cell signaling molecules. Our results demonst...
Höglund N, Koho N, Rossi H, Karttunen J, Mustonen AM, Nieminen P, Rilla K, Oikari S, Mykkänen A.Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound particles that engage in inflammatory reactions by mediating cell-cell interactions. Previously, EVs have been isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of humans and rodents. The aim of this study was to investigate the number and size distribution of EVs in the BALF of asthmatic horses (EA, = 35) and healthy horses ( = 19). Saline was injected during bronchoscopy to the right lung followed by manual aspiration. The retrieved BALF was centrifuged twice to remove cells and biological debris. The supernatant was concentrated and EVs w...
Kimura S, McCoy AM, Boothe DM, Wooldridge AA, Graff E, Hammack SM, Cresci L, Hofmeister E, Lascola KM.To describe misoprostol pharmacokinetics and anti-inflammatory efficacy when administered orally or per rectum in endotoxin-challenged horses. Methods: 6 healthy geldings. Methods: A randomized 3-treatment crossover design was performed with a minimum washout period of 28 days between treatment arms. Prior to endotoxin challenge (lipopolysaccharide, 30 ng/kg IV over 30 minutes), horses received misoprostol (5 µg/kg once) per os (M-PO) or per rectum (M-PR) or water as control (CON). Clinical parameters were evaluated and blood samples obtained to measure plasma misoprostol free acid concentrat...
Knickelbein KE, Lassaline ME, Kim S, Thomasy SM.The iridocorneal angle (ICA) is the major pathway of aqueous humour outflow from the anterior chamber of the eye. Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) has been utilised to characterise the morphology of this drainage pathway in numerous species. UBM may allow for early recognition of aqueous humour outflow obstructions in horses, allowing for earlier recognition of risk for glaucoma, a vision-threatening and painful disease. UBM morphology of the normal equine ICA has yet to be described. Objective: To determine the ultrasonographic morphology of the equine ICA by UBM in standing sedated horses. Met...
Goodwin M, Klufts M, Workman J, Thambyah A, Vanholsbeeck F.To explore the ability of polarisation-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) to rapidly identify subtle signs of tissue degeneration in the equine joint. Polarisation-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) images were systematically acquired in four locations along the medial and lateral condyles of the third metacarpal bone in five dissected equine specimens. Intensity and retardation PS-OCT images, and anomalies observed therein, were then compared and validated with high resolution images of the tissue sections obtained using Differential Interference contrast (DIC) optic...
Doll CU, von Pueckler K, Offhaus J, Berner D, Burk J.In equine medicine, experience regarding MRI of chronic tendon lesions is limited, and evidence on the suitability of different sequences in 3 T high-field MRI is scarce. Therefore, macroscopically healthy and altered tendons were examined by histology and in 0.27 T low- and 3 T high-field MRI, focusing on T1-weighted (T1w) sequences to visualize chronic lesions. In high-field MRI, tendons were positioned parallel (horizontal) and perpendicular (vertical) to the magnetic field, acknowledging the possible impact of the magic angle effect. The images were evaluated qualitatively and signal inten...
Taylor SD, Serpa PBS, Santos AP, Hart KA, Vaughn SA, Moore GE, Mukhopadhyay A, Page AE.A systemic and dysregulated immune response to infection contributes to morbidity and mortality associated with sepsis. Peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (PB-MSC) mitigate inflammation in animal models of sepsis. Allogeneic PB-MSC administered IV to horses is well-tolerated but therapeutic benefits are unknown. Objective: After IV lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion, horses treated with PB-MSC would have less severe clinical signs, clinicopathological abnormalities, inflammatory cytokine gene expression, and oxidative stress compared to controls administered a placebo. Methods: ...
Podstawski P, Ropka-Molik K, Semik-Gurgul E, Samiec M, Skrzyszowska M, Podstawski Z, Szmatoła T, Witkowski M, Pawlina-Tyszko K.An important component of tissues is the extracellular matrix (ECM), which not only forms a tissue scaffold, but also provides the environment for numerous biochemical reactions. Its composition is strictly regulated, and any irregularities can result in the development of many diseases, including cancer. Sarcoid is the most common skin cancer in equids. Its formation results from the presence of the genetic material of the bovine papillomavirus (BPV). In addition, it is assumed that sarcoid-dependent oncogenic transformation arises from a disturbed wound healing process, which may be due to t...
Moreno-Martinez F, Byrne D, Raisis A, Waldmann AD, Hosgood G, Mosing M.Equine respiratory physiology might be influenced by the presence of an endotracheal tube (ETT). This experimental, randomized cross-over study aimed to compare breathing pattern (BrP) and ventilation distribution in anesthetized horses spontaneously breathing room air via ETT or facemask (MASK). Six healthy adult horses were anesthetized with total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA; xylazine, ketamine, guaiphenesin), breathing spontaneously in right lateral recumbency, and randomly assigned to ETT or MASK for 30 min, followed by the other treatment for an additional 30 min. During a second anesthe...
Gurgul A, Szmatoła T, Ocłoń E, Jasielczuk I, Semik-Gurgul E, Finno CJ, Petersen JL, Bellone R, Hales EN, Ząbek T, Arent Z, Kotula-Balak M....In recent years, a vast amount of sequencing data has been generated and large improvements have been made to reference genome sequences. Despite these advances, significant portions of reads still do not map to reference genomes and these reads have been considered as junk or artificial sequences. Recent studies have shown that these reads can be useful, e.g., for refining reference genomes or detecting contaminating microorganisms present in the analyzed biological samples. A special case of this is RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) reads that come from tissue transcriptomes. Unmapped reads from RNA-...
Cota LO, Malacarne BD, Dias LA, Neto ACP, Kneipp MLA, Cavalcante MA, Cunha MSLD, Paz CFR, Carvalho AM, Faleiros RR, Xavier ABDS.The analgesic specificity of navicular bursa (NB) anesthetic infiltration is still questionable. The study aimed to determine the mechanical nociceptive threshold of non-specific analgesia in the dorsal lamellar stratum, as well as in the sole, coronary band, and heel bulbs of the hoof, after navicular bursa anesthetic infiltration. Six healthy horses with no clinical or radiographic changes of the digits and no communication between the NB and the distal interphalangeal joint, were used. After random selection, the NB of one of the forelimbs was infiltrated with 2% lidocaine and the contralat...
da Cunha Neto CAV, Badial PR, de Oliveira-Filho JP, de Andrade DGA, Araujo JP, Borges AS.Hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA) is a genetic disease that alters collagen biosynthesis. Affected horses exhibit fragile, hyperextensible skin, especially over the dorsal region. Although ultraviolet (UV) radiation seems to contribute to the regional distribution of lesions and worsening of clinical signs, the molecular mechanisms involved are largely unknown. Objective: To evaluate the effect of solar radiation on matrix metalloproteinase MMP1, MMP8 and MMP13 gene expression in the dorsal and ventral skin of HERDA-affected and HERDA-unaffected horses [wild-type (WT) horses]....
Mageed M, Dyab S, Swagemakers JH, Gerlach K.The impact of different acquisition times (AqT) and technetium-99Â m-labeled ( Tc) diphosphonates on the image quality of bone scintigraphy is poorly documented in horses. The aim of this prospective experimental study was to evaluate the impact of varying Tc-disphosphonates and AqT on semiquantitative and qualitative image parameters of bone scintigraphy in horses. Twenty-four horses undergoing bone scintigraphy were divided equally and randomly into methylene- (MDP), hydroxymethylene- (HDP), and dicarboxypropane diphosphonate (DPD) groups. Lateral scintigraphic images of the antebrachium we...
Cheung HW, Wong KS, Lin VYC, Farrington AF, Bond AJ, Wan TSM, Ho ENM.The concern about gene doping has remained high in horseracing and other equestrian competitions. Our laboratory has previously developed a duplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay capable of detecting in equine blood the human erythropoietin (hEPO) transgene and equine tubulin α 4a (TUBA4A) gene as an internal control the latter providing quality control over DNA extraction and qPCR. This study aimed to optimize the method for routine testing of regulatory samples. The use of an automated DNA extraction system has increased the sample throughput, consistency of DNA extracti...
Seabaugh KA, Barrett MF, Rao S, McIlwraith CW, Frisbie DD.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common problem in horses. Several oral supplements have been proposed as treatments for horses with OA. The object of this study was to evaluate the use of the oil extract from the seeds of (BO) for the treatment of experimentally induced OA in horses. OA was induced in 16, 2-5 year old horses in one middle carpal joint on Day 0; the other limb underwent a sham operation. Once daily oral treatment with BO or placebo was initiated on Day 0 and continued to Day 70. All horses were exercised 5 days a week starting on Day 14 through Day 70. The horses were evaluated every...
Elane GL, Biedrzycki AH, McCarrel TM, Banks SA, Morton AJ.To quantify the translation and angular rotation of the distal sesamoid bone (DSB) using computed tomography (CT) and medical modeling software. Methods: 30 thoracic limbs from equine cadavers. Methods: Partial (n = 12), full (8), and matched full and subsequently transected (10) thoracic limbs were collected. Bone volume CT images were acquired in three positions: extension (200° metacarpophalangeal angle), neutral (180°), and maximal flexion (110°). Mean translation and angular rotation of each DSB were recorded. Differences were determined with two-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's tests fo...
Caniglia CJ, Schramme MC, Smith RK.Collagen fibril size is decreased in repair tissue following tendon injury compared to normal tendon matrix in horses. Mesenchymal stem cells have been suggested to promote regeneration of tendon matrix rather than fibrotic repair following injury, although this concept remains unproven. Objective: To explore the hypothesis that implantation of autologous mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow into a surgically created central core defect in the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) of horses would induce the formation of a matrix with greater ultrastructural similarities to tendon...
Raudsepp T, Santani A, Wallner B, Kata SR, Ren C, Zhang HB, Womack JE, Skow LC, Chowdhary BP.We herein report a detailed physical map of the horse Y chromosome. The euchromatic region of the chromosome comprises approximately 15 megabases (Mb) of the total 45- to 50-Mb size and lies in the distal one-third of the long arm, where the pseudoautosomal region (PAR) is located terminally. The rest of the chromosome is predominantly heterochromatic. Because of the unusual organization of the chromosome (common to all mammalian Y chromosomes), a number of approaches were used to crossvalidate the results. Analysis of the 5,000-rad horse x hamster radiation hybrid panel produced a map spannin...
The Journal of parasitologyFebruary 24, 2001
Volume 86, Issue 6 1276-1280 doi: 10.1645/0022-3395(2000)086[1276:COTLCO]2.0.CO;2
Dubey JP, Saville WJ, Lindsay DS, Stich RW, Stanek JF, Speert CA, Rosenthal BM, Njoku CJ, Kwok OC, Shen SK, Reed SM.Sarcocystis neurona is the most important cause of a neurologic disease in horses, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). The complete life cycle of S. neurona, including the description of sarcocysts and intermediate hosts, has not been completed until now. Opossums (Didelphis spp.) are definitive hosts, and horses and other mammals are aberrant hosts. In the present study, laboratory-raised domestic cats (Felis domesticus) were fed sporocysts from the intestine of a naturally infected opossum (Didelphis virginiana). Microscopic sarcocysts, with a maximum size of 700 x 50 microm, developed...
Bauersachs S, Wolf E.Different reproductive strategies evolved in various mammalian groups to achieve recognition, establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. The complexity of these processes is reflected by a high incidence of embryonic loss during this critical period in many mammalian species. Besides studies in mice and humans a number of transcriptome studies of endometrial tissue samples and also of early embryos have been performed during the pre-implantation phase in cattle, swine and horse to identify genes associated with embryo-maternal interaction. Results of these studies are reviewed and compared be...
Yang GC, Croaker D, Zhang AL, Manglick P, Cartmill T, Cass D.Lethal white foal syndrome (LWFS) is a congenital anomaly of horses characterized by a white coat colour and aganglionosis of the bowel, which is similar to Hirschsprung disease (HSCR). We decided to investigate possible mutations of the endothelin-B receptor gene ( EDNRB ) in LWFS as recent studies in mutant rodents and some patients have demonstrated EDNRB defects. First, we identified a full-length cDNA for horse EDNRB . This cDNA fragment contained a 1329 bp open reading frame which encoded 443 amino acid residues. The predicted amino acid sequence was 89, 91 and 85% identical to human, bo...
Ortved KF, Begum L, Mohammed HO, Nixon AJ.Cartilage injury often precipitates osteoarthritis which has driven research to bolster repair in cartilage impact damage. Autologous chondrocytes transduced with rAAV5-IGF-I were evaluated in chondral defects in a well-established large animal model. Cartilage was harvested from the talus of 24 horses; chondrocytes were isolated and stored frozen. Twenty million cells were cultured and transduced with 10(5) AAV vg/cell prior to implantation. Chondrocytes from eight horses were transduced with rAAV5-IGF-I, chondrocytes from eight horses with rAAV5-GFP, and chondrocytes from eight horses were n...
Creutz C, Sutin N.The kinetics of the reduction of horseheart ferricytochrome c by sodium dithionite (phosphate buffer-sodium chloride; pH 6.5, mu = 1.0, 25 degrees ) features two reaction pathways; one with the rate constant k(3) = 1.17 x 10(4) M(-1) sec(-1), the other with the rate constant k(1)k(2)/k(-1) = 6.0 x 10(4) M(-1) sec(-1). These pathways are interpreted in terms of remote attack (possibly by way of the exposed edge of the porphyrin system) and adjacent attack (requiring the opening of the heme crevice). The limiting rate for the adjacent pathway (k(1) = 30 sec(-1)) is in good agreement with the rat...
Nasir L, Reid SW.The sarcoid is a benign locally invasive dermal fibroblastic lesion, commonly affecting horses and donkeys. The aetiology of the equine sarcoid is equivocal. Bovine papillomaviral (BPV) DNA (type 1/2) is frequently demonstrable in equine sarcoid tumour biopsies. However, the exact role of the virus in the disease process and its contribution to the phenotypic differences in sarcoids is not known. It was sought to assess the transcriptional activity of BPV-1 found in sarcoid tissues. Of 20 tumours examined, 18 were positive for E2 expression and ten positive for L1 expression. Viral oncogenes E...
Watts AE, Nixon AJ, Yeager AE, Mohammed HO.A consistent and clinically relevant model for the induction of core lesions confined to the mid-metacarpal superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) has not been previously reported. Injection of bacterial collagenase is commonly used but often results in large, irregular and inconsistent lesions that disrupt the superficial tendon layers and epitenon. Objective: To develop and evaluate a new injection technique for collagenase induction of SDFT injury. Methods: Collagenase gel was injected into a physical columnar defect created by longitudinally placing a curved 16 gauge 8.89 cm needle in ...
Deeg CA, Ehrenhofer M, Thurau SR, Reese S, Wildner G, Kaspers B.Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is the most serious eye disease in horses worldwide. Despite the fact that ERU is generally considered to be immune mediated, a detailed description of the histopathology of the posterior part of ERU eyes is lacking. Here, we examined sections of paraffin-embedded eyes using histological and immunhistological methods. Twenty seven eyes of 20 horses with ERU and 30 eyes of 15 healthy control horses were included in this study. We could consistently demonstrate an involvement of the retina and the choroid in all examined eyes of horses with spontaneous ERU. In eyes...
Salamone DF, Canel NG, RodrÃguez MB.Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has become a useful technique for clinical applications in the horse-breeding industry. However, both ICSI blastocyst and offspring production continues to be limited for most farm and wild species. This article reviews technical differences of ICSI performance among species, possible biological and methodological reasons for the variable efficiency and potential strategies to improve the outcomes. One of the major applications of ICSI in animal production is the reproduction of high-value specimens. Unfortunately, some domestic species like the bovine s...
Katz LM, Bailey SR.With the increasing number of studies being published on the different experimental models used to induce and study acute laminitis, the pathophysiological events associated with these various models (i.e. starch overload, oligofructose overload, black walnut extract and hyperinsulinaemia) can be compared more realistically. Within this review, the mechanisms for metabolic vs. inflammatory laminitis are discussed, and the question of how pasture laminitis may fit into any of the proposed mechanisms is addressed.
González-Fernández L, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Macias-Garcia B, Salido GM, Peña FJ, Tapia JA.Protein tyrosine kinases have important roles in spermatozoa; however, little is known about the presence and regulation in these cells of their counterparts in signaling, namely, protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) and dual-specificity phosphatases (DSPs). The objectives of the present study were to identify PTPs and DSPs in boar, stallion, and dog spermatozoa; to characterize their subcellular distribution; and to investigate the roles of tyrosine phosphatases in maintenance of protein tyrosine phosphorylation level and in sperm motility. Using Western blotting with specific antibodies in b...
Müller J, Feige K, Wunderlin P, Hödl A, Meli ML, Seltenhammer M, Grest P, Nicolson L, Schelling C, Heinzerling LM.Melanoma is a disease with high incidence in gray horses and has limited therapeutic options in metastatic disease. Gene therapy has shown some success in animal models and human patients. A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted to investigate 2 treatment options using cytokine-encoding plasmid DNA in horses with metastatic melanoma to induce immunologic antitumor effects. Adult gray horses with spontaneously occurring metastatic melanoma (n=26) were included in the study. Treatment of 26 gray horses with metastatic melanoma consisted of interleukin-18-encoding plasmi...
Luo J, Bruice TC.Molecular dynamics and cross-correlation analysis of the horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase HLADH.NAD(+).PhCH(2)O(-) complex has established anticorrelated motions between the NAD(+)-binding domain and other portions of the enzyme. Four pairs of anticorrelated interactions are (i and ii) cofactor-binding domain: C(alpha) of V292 and the CG1 of V203 with C7 of PhCH(2)O(-); (iii) cofactor-binding domain: amide carbonyl oxygen of I318 with amide N of H67; and (iv) cofactor domain: C(alpha) of T178 with carbonyl oxygen of L141. The average distances between pairs are 9.2 A for i, 8.2 A for ii, 14.7...
Chang YF, Novosol V, McDonough SP, Chang CF, Jacobson RH, Divers T, Quimby FW, Shin S, Lein DH.Seven specific-pathogen-free (SPF) ponies, 1-5 years old, were exposed to Borrelia burgdorferi-infected adult ticks while being treated with dexamethasone over 5 consecutive days. One SPF pony (pony No. 178) was first exposed to laboratory-reared nymphs without B. burgdorferi infection and 3 weeks later was exposed to B. burgdorferi-infected adult ticks with concurrent dexamethasone treatment for 5 consecutive days. Four uninfected ponies treated with dexamethasone, exposed to laboratory-reared ticks without B. burgdorferi infection served as uninfected controls. Clinical signs, bacteriologic ...
Lykkjen S, Dolvik NI, McCue ME, Rendahl AK, Mickelson JR, Roed KH.Osteochondrosis (OC), a disturbance in the process of endochondral ossification, is by far the most important equine developmental orthopaedic disease and is also common in other domestic animals and humans. The purpose of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) at the intermediate ridge of the distal tibia in Norwegian Standardbred (SB) using the Illumina Equine SNP50 BeadChip whole-genome single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay. Radiographic data and blood samples were obtained from 464 SB yearlings. Based on the radiographi...
Adams AA, Breathnach CC, Katepalli MP, Kohler K, Horohov DW.A number of model systems have been employed to investigate age-associated changes in immune function. The purpose of the current study was to characterize senescent T cells and to investigate the inflamm-aging phenomenon both in vitro and in vivo using the old horse as a model. We examined whether decreased T cell proliferation induced by Con A is caused by increased apoptosis. We also utilized intracellular CFSE to analyze changes within each round of cell proliferation, in particular cytokine production. Intracellular staining with flow cytometry, RT-PCR, and ELISA were used to measure pro-...
Clabough DL, Gebhard D, Flaherty MT, Whetter LE, Perry ST, Coggins L, Fuller FJ.An adult horse infected with a virulent, cell culture-adapted strain of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) developed cyclical thrombocytopenia in which the nadir of platelet counts coincided with peak febrile responses. In order to investigate the mechanism of thrombocytopenia during acute febrile episodes, four adult horses were experimentally infected with the wild-type Wyoming strain of EIAV. Platelet counts decreased from baseline as rectal temperature increased. Serum reverse transcriptase activity increased above background levels in all horses, coincident with increase in rectal temp...
Nielsen MK, Steuer AE, Anderson HP, Gavriliuc S, Carpenter AB, Redman EM, Gilleard JS, Reinemeyer CR, Poissant J.Macrocyclic lactones have been the most widely used drugs for equine parasite control during the past four decades. Unlike ivermectin, moxidectin exhibits efficacy against encysted cyathostomin larvae, and is reported to have persistent efficacy with substantially longer egg reappearance periods. However, shortened egg reappearance periods have been reported recently for both macrocyclic lactones, and these findings have raised several questions: (i) are egg reappearance period patterns different after ivermectin or moxidectin treatment? (ii) Are shortened egg reappearance periods associated w...
Velie BD, Shrestha M, FranÒ«ois L, Schurink A, Tesfayonas YG, Stinckens A, Blott S, Ducro BJ, Mikko S, Thomas R, Swinburne JE, Sundqvist M....While susceptibility to hypersensitive reactions is a common problem amongst humans and animals alike, the population structure of certain animal species and breeds provides a more advantageous route to better understanding the biology underpinning these conditions. The current study uses Exmoor ponies, a highly inbred breed of horse known to frequently suffer from insect bite hypersensitivity, to identify genomic regions associated with a type I and type IV hypersensitive reaction. A total of 110 cases and 170 controls were genotyped on the 670K Axiom Equine Genotyping Array. Quality control ...
Stout TA, Allen WR.Between at least day 9 and day 16 after ovulation the spherical equine conceptus migrates continuously throughout the uterine lumen, propelled by peristaltic myometrial contractions. This unusually long period of intrauterine movement ensures that the conceptus delivers its anti-luteolytic signal to the entire endometrium to achieve luteostasis. The present experiment tested the hypothesis that prostaglandins stimulate the myometrial contractions that result in the migration of the conceptus. Serial ultrasonographic examinations of the uteri of eight mares performed during 2 h periods between ...
Ludwig EK, Brandon Wiese R, Graham MR, Tyler AJ, Settlage JM, Werre SR, Petersson-Wolfe CS, Kanevsky-Mullarky I, Dahlgren LA.To investigate the serum and synovial fluid serum amyloid A (SAA) response in equine models of synovitis and septic arthritis and to compare handheld and validated immunoturbidometric assays for SAA quantification. Methods: Controlled, experimental study. Methods: Healthy adult horses (n = 9). Methods: Synovitis (n = 4) and septic arthritis (n = 5) were induced using lipopolysaccharide and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively, and serial serum and synovial fluid samples were collected. Serial synovial fluid cytology was performed for both models and synovial fluid from the septic ar...
Spirito F, Charlesworth A, Linder K, Ortonne JP, Baird J, Meneguzzi G.Recent achievements in the genetic correction of keratinocytes isolated from patients with junctional epidermolysis bullosa have paved the way to a gene therapy approach for the disease. Because gene therapy protocols require preclinical validation in animals, we have characterized spontaneous animal models of junctional epidermolysis bullosa. In this study we have elucidated the genetic basis of the hereditary junctional mechanobullous disease in the Belgian horse, a condition characterized by blistering of the skin and mouth epithelia, and exungulation (loss of the hoof). Immunofluorescence ...
Garner HE, Coffman JR, Hahn AW, Hutcheson DP, Tumbleson ME.Acute alimentary form of laminitis was uniformly induced in 11 of 12 horses by administration of a starch and wood flour gruel and could be graded by previously established (Obel) and presently defined criteria. The experimentally induced laminitis was similar to naturally occurring laminitis, as determined on the basis of lameness severity and vital signs. Packed cell volume, leukocyte count, and total protein were significantly increased (P smaller than 0.05) at 24 and 40 hours after administration of gruel. Arterial systolic and diastolic pressures increased, central venous pressure decreas...
Aitken JB, Naumovski N, Curry B, Grupen CG, Gibb Z, Aitken RJ.This study demonstrates for the first time the presence of an L-amino acid oxidase (LAAO) enzyme in equine spermatozoa that is able to generate significant amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and create a state of oxidative stress. RT-PCR analysis revealed that the mRNA for this enzyme was present in the equine testis and spermatozoa, while immunocytochemical studies demonstrated that the mature LAAO protein was located in the sperm head, particularly in the acrosomal and postacrosomal domains. Experimental studies demonstrated that the aromatic amino acids (L-phenylalanine > L-tryptop...
