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.
Marasas WF, Kellerman TS, Gelderblom WC, Coetzer JA, Thiel PG, van der Lugt JJ.Each of two horses was dosed by stomach tube with culture material on maize of Fusarium moniliforme MRC 826. One horse developed severe hepatosis and mild oedema of the brain after 6 doses of 2.5 g of culture material/kg body mass/day in 7 days. The second horse, in a similar experiment but at a dosage rate of 1.25 g/kg/day, developed mild hepatosis and moderate oedema of the brain. In both animals the brain oedema was particularly noticeable in the medulla oblongata. The mycotoxin fumonisin B1 was extracted and purified from the culture material of F. moniliforme MRC, 826 which contained appr...
Dumasia MC, Houghton E.The in vivo biotransformation of (1,2(n)-3H)1-dehydrotestosterone was studied in three equine male castrates and a number of neutral metabolites were identified in the urinary unconjugated and glucuronic acid conjugate fractions by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The metabolites were extracted from aliquots of the 0-24 h urine samples by Amberlite XAD-2 and separated into combined unconjugated plus glucuronic acid conjugated and sulphoconjugated fractions by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. After enzymatic hydrolysis of the glucuronides, the crude neutral unconjugated steroids plus ...
Bauer C.The prevalence of Eimeria leuckarti infection and the intensity of faecal oocyst output were determined in a herd of 14 mares and their foals in northwest Germany using a sedimentation technique at weekly intervals during a summer grazing season from May to September. None of the mares, but all foals shed oocysts on at least one occasion. The patent periods lasted up to 16 weeks. The mean intensity of oocyst output (0.1-33 o.p.g.) was very low. No clinical signs of gastrointestinal disorder were noticed in any of the foals during this study.
Sullins KE, McIlwraith CW, Yovich JV, MacHarg MA, Fessler J.Unilateral ureteral ectopia was diagnosed in three-year-old and 10-month-old fillies exhibiting urinary incontinence since birth. In one case reimplantation of the ureter onto the bladder was planned but considered to be impractical intra-operatively. Unilateral nephrectomy was performed successfully in both cases which alleviated the urinary incontinence. Both horses had normal urinary function postoperatively and became healthy, serviceable animals.
Ellendorff F, Schams D.The neuroendocrine reflex theory of milk ejection was investigated in the horse under natural suckling conditions. To this end 12 lactating mares were provided with acute jugular catheters and with intramammary pressure (IMP) recording catheters. The foal had free access to the contralateral mammary complex. Intramammary pressure could thus be recorded while blood was drawn simultaneously for oxytocin analysis from the undisturbed animal. Suckling periods associated with a characteristic increase in IMP lasted significantly longer than unsuccessful nursing attempts. Elements of successful suck...
Watson ED, Stokes CR.The rate of clearance of 125I-labelled polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) from blood was measured in mares as an indicator of macrophage function. In three out of four cycling mares, PVP clearance was slower during oestrus than dioestrus. Similarly, administration of oestrogen to four ovariectomised mares tended to depress PVP clearance compared with clearance from the same mares before they received oestrogen. However, the effect of oestrogen was not statistically significant. Mares susceptible to persistent endometritis had rates of PVP clearance which were similar to those of genitally normal mare...
Cummings JF, Fubini SL, Todhunter RJ.Digital neurectomies, performed to relieve pain and lameness, are often complicated postoperatively by formation of painful neuromas. In this study attempts were made to deliver lethal doses of neurotoxin to the cell bodies of the transected digital nerve fibres via long-distance retrograde axon transport and, thereby, prevent the regenerative changes that lead to neuroma formation. After applying doxorubicin in various ways to the digital nerve stumps of ponies, degenerating or necrotic neurones appeared only sporadically in the spinal ganglia. Although doxorubicin was largely ineffective in ...
DiPietro JA, Lock TF, Todd KS, Sanecki RK.A controlled test was carried out on 15 pony foals inoculated with 1,500 +/- 108.8 infective Parascaris equorum eggs. The foals were assigned to 3 treatment groups. Treatments given on postinoculation day 11 included 0.2 mg of ivermectin/kg of body weight, formulated as paste (n = 5), or liquid (n = 5), or no treatment (controls; n = 5). The foals were euthanatized on postinoculation day 25, and examined for larvae in the small intestine, lungs, and liver. Larvae were not found in foals treated with ivermectin liquid or paste, whereas significantly (P less than 0.05) higher mean numbers (960.9...
Duncan JL, Arundel JH, Drudge JH, Malczewski A, Slocombe JO.These guidelines have been designed to assist in the planning, operation and interpretation of studies which would serve to assess the efficacy of drugs against internal parasites of horses. Although the term anthelmintic is used in the title and text, these guidelines include studies on drug efficacy against larvae of horse bot flies, Gasterophilus spp, which are non-helminth parasites commonly occurring in the stomach of horses. The advantages, disadvantages and application of critical and controlled tests are presented. Information is also provided on selection of animals, housing, feed, do...
Kelly CM, Hoyer PB, Wise ME.Dispersed horse luteal cells were used to evaluate the ability of horse LH, hCG and PMSG to stimulate progesterone secretion in vitro. Morphological characterization of these cells before gonadotrophin stimulation indicated the presence of two populations of cells based on cell diameters. In luteal cells incubated as suspended cells, horse LH and hCG stimulated (P less than or equal to 0.05) progesterone production at all levels of treatment. Stimulation of progesterone secretion by hCG was greater (P less than or equal to 0.05) than by horse LH over the range of concentrations utilized. When ...
Arden WA, Stick JA.To determine the reliability with which inorganic phosphorus (phosphate) concentrations can be used to predict major intestinal injury associated with equine colic, phosphate concentrations were measured in serum, peritoneal fluid, or both from 9 clinically normal adult horses (group A), 37 horses successfully managed medically for signs of abdominal pain (group B), 26 horses with signs of abdominal pain and undergoing exploratory laparotomy without intestinal resection (group C), and 26 horses undergoing intestinal resection or euthanasia for extensive intestinal lesions (group D). Peritoneal...
Frazer GS, Rossol TJ, Threlfall WR, Weisbrode SE.Endometrial fibrosis is a major cause of infertility in broodmares. Because of the proven anti-inflammatory effects of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and its influence on collagen, the effect of DMSO on the endometrium was investigated in mares. Solutions of DMSO (25%, 50%, or 75%) were infused into the uterus of clinically normal mares. Examination of serially obtained biopsy specimens revealed epithelial ulceration and stromal inflammation that were proportional to the DMSO concentration infused, but vasodilatation was not observed. In all mares, the endometrium had returned to normal by day 21 a...
Johnson GC, Kohn CW, Johnson CW, Garry F, Scott D, Martin S.Ultrastructural examination of a mechanobullous disease of probable hereditary nature in Belgian foals, confirmed light microscopic findings that separation of the dermo-epidermal junction occurred through the lamina lucida of the basement membrane, leaving the intact lamina densa adherent to the dermis and the plasmalemma of the basal epithelial cells intact. The location of the cleft and the presence of small hemidesmosomes in adjacent intact skin are additional characteristics which make this condition similar to junctional epidermolysis bullosa of man.
Bertone AL, Jones RL, McIlwraith CW.The tarsocrural joints of 11 horses were inoculated with 1.2 to 2.16 x 10(6) viable Staphylococcus aureus organisms susceptible to a trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (TMP-SDZ) combination with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.25 micrograms of TMP/ml and 4.75 micrograms of SDZ/ml. Antimicrobial treatment consisted of oral administration of a TMP-SDZ combination--30 mg/kg of body weight given once daily (group-1 horses) or 60 mg/kg given as 30 mg/kg every 12 hours (group-2 horses). Paired serum and synovial fluid samples were obtained before intra-articular inoculation with the S aureus, aft...
Dutta SK, Penney BE, Myrup AC, Robl MG, Rice RM.Fifty-five horses were inoculated IV and/or SC with materials containing Ehrlichia risticii, ie, infected whole blood, buffy coat cells, or cell culture, to study clinical and hematologic features of equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (Potomac horse fever). Major clinical and hematologic features of induced E risticii infection were biphasic increase in rectal temperature with peak increases of 38.9 C and 39.3 C on postinoculation days (PID) 5 and 12, respectively; depression; anorexia; decreased WBC count (maximal decrease of 47% on PID 12); and diarrhea from PID 14 to PID 18. Increased WBC count ...
Smith P, Samuelson D, Brooks D.The anterior vasculature of the pony eye was examined by the corrosion cast method. The anterior segment of the pony eye has a vascular pattern which is similar but distinct from that of other mammalian species. Large iridal veins collateralized directly with the anterior vortex venous system. The intrascleral plexus was present but formed a fine, radially oriented, extensive network. This contrasted to the circumferential larger-diameter intrascleral plexus noted in dogs and the canal of Schlemm present in primates. The intrascleral plexus only drained posteriorly in the pony as compared to t...
Bristol DG, Cullen J.Six animals were used to compare simple interrupted, simple continuous, and stapled techniques for end-to-end rotated small colon anastomoses. Three ponies were evaluated three days after surgery for adhesion formation and luminal diameter at each anastomosis site. Two ponies and one horse were evaluated 14 days after surgery for adhesion formation. All anastomosis sites were examined histologically for alignment of tissue planes, and evidence of inflammation. No single technique was superior in all areas examined. While only three of the nine anastomoses had mild fibrinous adhesions at three ...
Rubilar L, Cabreira A, Giacaman L.Thirteen thoroughbred foals with an adult infection and a presumed immature infection with Fasciola hepatica were treated with 12 mg triclabendazole/kg bodyweight. The absence of eggs from samples of faeces examined at intervals up to 110 days after treatment showed that all the animals were cured. In a second trial the same dose of triclabendazole cured 11 of 12 foals whereas nitroxynil at 7 mg/kg cured only six of 12 foals. No side effects were observed after treatment.
Brown CM, Kaneene JB, Walker RD.A survey of 584 veterinarians in equine practice was performed to determine their intramuscular injection techniques and the influence of those techniques on the development of clostridial myositis or cellulitis. Usable responses were obtained from 439 veterinarians (75.2%). Of these, 414 used a new needle and syringe for each injection, 241 swabbed the site with a cleansing/disinfectant agent, and 242 swabbed the top of multidose injection bottles with a similar solution. Only 2 clipped the hair at the injection site. Twenty eight of the respondents reported that at least 1 horse developed a ...
Scotti E, Jeffcott LB.An in vitro study on the calcaneus of adult horses (n = 5) and foals (n = 10) was carried out using radiographic photodensitometry, single photon absorptiometry, transmission ultrasound velocity and chemical analysis. Data for trabecular bone content, ash, calcium and phosphorus levels were obtained. As techniques for assessing bone quality, ultrasound velocity was not sufficiently sensitive nor accurate and radiographic photodensitometry was found to be limited value. Photon absorptiometry was both accurate and reproducible, although some variation in bone mineral content and bone mineral den...
Hanson RR, Nixon AJ, Calderwood-Mays M, Gronwall R, Pendergast JF.Two techniques for end-to-end anastomosis of the small colon were evaluated in each of 6 horses. A simple interrupted suture pattern that excluded the mucosa and was oversewn with an inverting suture was compared with a triangulated double-row pattern of stainless steel staples. Anastomotic sites were evaluated at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 6 months for extent of abdominal adhesions, lumen diameter at anastomotic sites, bursting pressures, and healing response. Clinical postoperative complications were not associated with either technique. At postmortem examination, there was extensive adhesion fo...
Jeffcott LB, Buckingham SH, McCarthy RN, Cleeland JC, Scotti E, McCartney RN.The current methods for non-invasive measurement of bone quality are reviewed. In the horse this has traditionally involved the use of radiography, but there are now two other modalities available for the critical evaluation of cortical bone quality and strength. These utilise single photon absorptiometry and ultrasound velocity. Photon absorptiometry gives a direct measurement of bone mineral content, by using a monoenergetic radionuclide source, and transverse ultrasound velocity in bone gives a measure of bone stiffness or elasticity. They can both be used conveniently on the metacarpus of ...
Hanson RR, Nixon AJ, Calderwood-Mays M, Gronwall R.In an attempt to determine the best method for surgical removal of devitalized small colon lesions, 12 horses underwent a double small colon resection and end-to-end anastomosis. In 4 horses (study 1), an appositional single-layer (APP-1) suture pattern was compared with an inverting 2-layer (INV-2) suture pattern. In 8 horses (study 2), an appositional 2-layer (APP-2) suture pattern was compared with the INV-2 suture technique. Polydioxanone suture (size 1-0), was used. Horses were evaluated at necropsy 3, 10, 14, 28, or 56 days after surgery. Postoperative complications (peritonitis, impacti...
Morris CM, Field HJ.Tissue specimens obtained from equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), subtype 1-infected aborted foetuses were analysed for the presence of virus DNA by means of Southern blot and dot blot hybridisations. The specificity of the methods was confirmed although the sensitivity was inferior to classical techniques such as virus isolation. However, the possibility of detecting the state of the virus DNA and the ability to distinguish between subtypes were important features, and the dot blot method was shown to have potential for a rapid diagnostic test. This report demonstrates some potential practical app...
McDowell KJ, Sharp DC, Grubaugh W, Thatcher WW, Wilcox CJ.Cycling pony mares were bred and used to test the effect of restricted conceptus mobility on luteal maintenance (i.e. maternal recognition of pregnancy). In Experiment 1, uterine horns were ligated to restrict conceptus mobility to one uterine horn, Group 1; one horn plus the uterine body, Group 2; or one horn, the body and approximately 80% of the second horn, Group 3. Pregnancies were monitored with real-time ultrasonography. Four of five mares in Group 1 and two of four mares in Group 2 returned to estrus (Day 16.0 +/- 1.9 and 14.5 +/- 0.7, respectively) and subsequently lost the embryonic ...
Peyton LC, Connelly MB.Bacterial quantification was evaluated in 15 cases as a means of wound assessment. This study suggests that bacterial quantification may be used as an aid in the evaluation of treatment procedures and wound preparation in veterinary surgery.
Bürki F, Nowotny N, Rossmanith W, Pallan C, Möstl K.During 3 foaling seasons around 150 Lipizzaner foals were vaccinated against ERP with commercial vaccines and groups thereof were serotested in CF and SN for their humoral immune response. In addition, 6 horses of cheaper common breeds were vaccinated on the University premises, were continuously serologically screened and subjected to virulent nasal test infection. The live-virus vaccine Prevaccinol interfered so profoundly and up to the 20th week of life with maternal antibodies that its further use was discontinued. The inactivated vaccine Pneumabort-K proved to be of impressive immunogenic...
Singh BR, Chandra M, Agrawal RK, Nagrajan B.The present study on antigenic competition among somatic 'O' antigens of different Salmonella groups (A, B, C1, C2, D and E1) in mares revealed that the immune response to most of the antigens was not (A, B, C2) or little (C1, D) affected by antigenic competition. However, E1 group antigen, which induced high antibody titres (Avg. 12967.3) when given alone, produced almost 3.5 log2 lower antibody titres on giving with other antigens, indicating the antigenic competition among some Salmonella group antigens. The antigenic competition varied for different antigens even of the similar chemical na...
Trostle SS, Markel MD.Incarceration of the large colon through a rent in the gastrosplenic ligament of a horse was surgically corrected via ventral midline celiotomy. Clinical signs were similar to those in other horses with nonstrangulating large colon disorders. Diagnosis of large colon incarceration in the gastrosplenic ligament was determined by surgical abdominal exploration. The findings of medial deviation of the spleen, location of the large colon lateral to the stomach and caudolateral to the spleen, and caudocraniad passage of the large colon through the gastrosplenic ligament are similar to findings in h...
Fintl C, Pearson GT, Mayhew IG, Hudson NP.The generation and maintenance of intestinal motility patterns involve the complex interactions of several components including the gastrointestinal pacemaker cells (interstitial cells of Cajal, ICC). Central to ICC function is the generation of rhythmic pacemaker currents, namely slow waves, which represent the rate limiting step for intestinal smooth muscle contractions. Currently, intracellular slow wave activity has not been demonstrated in the equine colon. Objective: To characterise the in vitro myoelectrical activity of the equine pelvic flexure using intracellular recording techniques....