Inflammation is a biological response of the horse's body to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. It is a complex process that involves the activation of immune cells, the release of inflammatory mediators, and changes in blood flow. In horses, inflammation can manifest in various forms, affecting different tissues and organs, including the joints, respiratory system, and skin. The inflammatory response is an essential component of the horse's immune system, aiming to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury, clear out damaged cells and tissues, and establish tissue repair. This topic page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the mechanisms, effects, and management of inflammation in equine health.
Krohn J, Ennen S, Hospes R et al. Use of a cervical stent for long-term treatment of pyometra in the mare: A report of three cases. Reprod Dom Anim 2019; 55: 1155–1159 DIE PYOMETRA DER STUTE IST EIN CHRONISCHER ENTZüNDUNGSZUSTAND DES ENDOMETRIUMS, DER HäUFIG MIT DER AKKUMULATION GROßER MENGEN AN SEKRET EINHERGEHT. PRäDISPONIERT SIND STUTEN MIT VERäNDERUNGEN DER ZERVIX, DURCH DIE DIE UTERINE CLEARANCE BEEINTRäCHTIGT WIRD. DIE HäUFIG UNSPEZIFISCHEN SYMPTOME UMFASSEN LEISTUNGSMANGEL, KONDITIONSVERLUST, SUBFEBRILE TEMPERATUR ODER KOLIKARTIGE SCHMERZEN. MANCHE TIERE PRäSENTIEREN SICH SYMP...
Ochi A, Sekiguchi M, Tsujimura K, Kinoshita T, Ueno T, Katayama Y.Equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis (EMPF) is a recently described form of interstitial pneumonia associated with equine herpesvirus type 5 (EHV-5). This disease has been reported in North and South America, Europe and Oceania but not, to our knowledge, in horses in Japan. We diagnosed EMPF in two Thoroughbred horses in Japan on the basis of gross and histopathological findings. In both cases, significant gross lesions, restricted to the lungs, consisted of numerous firm and coalescing nodules widely distributed throughout the lung. The nodules were <3 cm in diameter and pale white to t...
Kleine LG, Solano M, Rusckowski M, Hunt KE, Johnson KL, Kirker-Head CA.To evaluate the use of technetium Tc 99m-labeled EDTA-biotin monomer ((99m)Tc-EB1) as a scintigraphic imaging agent for soft tissue inflammatory lesions in horses. Methods: 6 healthy adult horses. Methods: First (phase 1), the agent's safety and blood-tissue clearance and an appropriate imaging protocol were determined in 6 horses. Each horse was injected with (99m)Tc-EB1 (1.1 GBq, IV, once); images were acquired at intervals during the following 24-hour period. Subsequently (phase 2), inflammation was induced via injection of 200 mg (10 mL) of mepivacaine (0.4 mg/kg) into the right neck muscu...
Wheat JD.The migration of strongyle larvae is the most common or basic underlying cause of colic in the horse. Disease conditions producing symptoms of colic occur in all sections of the intestinal tract and consist of impactions, torsions, herniations and foreign bodies. Colic also occurs as a result of pre- and post-partum diseases such as torsion of the uterus, haemorrhage, rupture and inversion of the uterus. In general, lesions resulting in circulatory obstruction are the types requiring surgical intervention. There are six general types of small intestine obstruction that lend themselves to surgi...
Dern K, van Eps A, Wittum T, Watts M, Pollitt C, Belknap J.Although continuous digital hypothermia (CDH) protects lamellae from injury in the oligofructose (OF) model of sepsis-related laminitis (SRL), conflicting results exist from these studies regarding effects of CDH on lamellar inflammatory events. Objective: To determine the effect of CDH on lamellar inflammatory events in normal and OF-treated horses when instituted at a clinically relevant time point (onset of clinical signs of sepsis in this model). Methods: Standardbred geldings (n = 15) aged 3-11 years were used. Methods: In a randomized, controlled discovery study, animals were administ...
Nogradi N, Couetil LL, Messick J, Stochelski MA, Burgess JR.Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) may benefit humans and animals with chronic inflammatory diseases. Objective: Omega-3 PUFA supplementation improves clinical signs, lung function, and airway inflammation in horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) and inflammatory airway disease (IAD). Methods: Eight research horses and 35 client-owned horses. Methods: A pilot study examined the dose of PUFA that can alter plasma PUFA composition. Then, a randomized, controlled clinical trial was performed in horses with RAO and IAD. Horses were fed a complete pelleted diet with no hay and rando...
Wise LM, Bodaan CJ, Mercer AA, Riley CB, Theoret CL.Wounds in horses often exhibit sustained inflammation and inefficient vascularization, leading to excessive fibrosis and clinical complications such as "proud flesh". Orf virus-derived proteins, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-E and interleukin (ovIL)-10, enhance angiogenesis and control inflammation and fibrosis in skin wounds of laboratory animals. Objective: The study aimed to determine if equine dermal cells respond to VEGF-E and ovIL-10. Equine dermal cells are expected to express VEGF and IL-10 receptors, so viral protein treatment is likely to alter cellular gene expression an...
Platt D, Bayliss MT.The effect of human recombinant interleukin-1 beta (rhIL-1 beta) on proteoglycan metabolism was investigated in cultures of full thickness explants of articular cartilage from horses 3-21 years of age. Proteoglycan synthesis was inhibited at all ages but no alteration in the hydrodynamic size or electrophoretic heterogeneity was observed in proteoglycan isolated from rhIL-1 beta stimulated cartilage. The sulphation pattern of the newly synthesised proteoglycan molecules was, however, significantly affected by the presence of the peptide regulatory factor. Interleukin-1 had no effect on the rat...
Sinovich M, Villarino NF, Singer E, Robinson CS, Rubio-Martínez LM.Serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations in blood and synovial fluid of horses with synovial sepsis have diagnostic value. Studies suggest serial blood SAA measurements could act as a prognostic indicator. This study evaluated the use of serial blood SAA concentrations for monitoring of horses with synovial sepsis. A prospective clinical trial was performed of horses referred to a single hospital with synovial sepsis that survived (n=17), synovial sepsis that were euthanised (n=5), non-septic intrasynovial pathologies (n=14) or extensive extrasynovial lacerations (n=5). SAA concentrations were det...
Woodrow JS, Hines M, Sommardahl C, Flatland B, Lo Y, Wang Z, Sheats MK, Lennon EM.Equine asthma is a naturally occurring lung disease characterized by chronic, partially reversible airway obstruction, pulmonary remodeling, and lower airway inflammation. Asthma is currently divided into two major groups, mild to moderate asthma (mEA) and severe asthma (sEA), but further subtyping by phenotype (i.e., clinical presentation) and/or endotype (i.e., cellular mechanisms) may be warranted. For this study, we were interested in further investigation of cellular and inflammatory characteristics of EA, including airway mast cells. The purpose of this study was to: (1) compare mast cel...
King JN, Gerring EL.Post operative ileus is a serious complication of abdominal surgery in horses and there is evidence that endotoxin plays a significant role in its pathogenesis. Pre-treatment with intravenous (i.v.) flunixin (1.1 mg/kg bodyweight [bwt]) or phenylbutazone (4.4 mg/kg bwt) significantly antagonised the acute disruption of gastric, small intestinal and large intestinal motility induced by 0.1 microgram/kg bwt i.v. endotoxin in ponies implanted with gastrointestinal strain gauges. Phenylbutazone was more effective than flunixin and this was significant (P < 0.01) for the stomach and left dorsal col...
El-Deeb WM, El-Bahr SM.A total of 30 horses were divided into two groups, one served as a control whereas other was rhabdomyolysis diseased horses. After blood collection, the resulted sera were used for estimation of the activities of creatin kinase (CK), aspartate transaminase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lactic acid, triacylglycerol (TAG), glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, urea, creatinine, Triiodothyronine (T(3)), calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, chloride, vitamin E, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis-α (TNF-α). In addition, whole blood was used for determination of selenium, reduce...
Janda J, Plattet P, Torsteinsdottir S, Jonsdottir S, Zurbriggen A, Marti E.Allergic horses react to innocuous environmental substances by activation of Th2 cells and production of allergen-specific IgE antibodies. The mechanisms leading to Th2 differentiation are not well understood. In humans and mice, epithelial cell-derived thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) plays a central role in this process. Little is known about equine TSLP (eqTSLP) and its role in allergic diseases and our current knowledge is limited to the assessment of TSLP mRNA expression. In order to be able to study eqTSLP at the protein level, the aim of the present study was to produce recombinant e...
van den Boom R, Rijkenhuizen AB.Septic inflammation of the synovial fossa in the horse is a severe disorder that can lead to permanent invalidity. The synovitis can occur as a result of a perforating trauma, or via the blood (haematogenous). The latter route is rare in the adult horse. Three cases of suspected haematogenous septic synovitis are described in adult horses (older than 1 year). In two horses, timely and adequate treatment resulted in recovery, but this was followed by fatal recurrence. In one of these horses a persistent primary infection was found as cause; the other horse was not available for autopsy. The thi...
Ida KK, Sauvage A, Gougnard A, Grauwels M, Serteyn D, Sandersen C.Ponies with tracheal collapse may have an increased anesthetic risk due to airway obstruction during induction and recovery. To our knowledge, there are no anesthetic descriptions of these patients, despite a reported 5.6% incidence and 77% mortality rate. Two Shetland ponies with tracheal collapse, a 12-year-old male (pony 1) and a 27-year-old female (pony 2), were referred for right eye enucleation due to a perforating corneal ulcer and severe recurrent uveitis, respectively. Pony 1 was stressed, had lung stridor and hyperthermia, and developed inspiratory dyspnea with handling. Radiography ...
Lebis C, Bourdeau P, Marzin-Keller F.Allergic diseases are often diagnosed clinically in the horse without performing diagnostic tests. The purpose of this work was to contribute to the validation of intradermal skin tests in the horse. Eighty-three horses, 14 showing skin or respiratory signs of supposed allergic origin, were subjected to an intradermal skin test using 6 different allergens, positive and negative controls. The tests were read for all animals after 20 min, and for 29 horses after 1 and 4 h. Additionally, 19 horses were tested a few months apart. The comparison after 20 min of the cutaneous reactions to allergens ...
Kirisawa R, Hashimoto N, Tazaki M, Yamanaka H, Ishii R, Hagiwara K, Iwai H.cDNA generated from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells was used to amplify and clone type I and type II equine interleukin-1 receptors (IL-1RI and IL-1RII) using primers derived from semi-conserved regions between human and mouse IL-1RI and IL-1RII sequences, respectively. 5' and 3' terminal sequences of equine IL-1RI and IL-1RII were amplified by 5' and 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The deduced amino acid sequence of equine IL-1RI demonstrated 77, 64 and 63% similarity with human, mouse and rat sequences, respectively. The predicted amino acid seque...
Freeman DE, Ferrante PL, Palmer JE.A Latin square design was used to compare the effects of laxatives and a corresponding volume of water on gastrointestinal tract function in 4 healthy horses. Horses were intragastrically infused with each of the following: dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DSS; 50 mg/kg of body weight); magnesium sulfate (0.5 g/kg--low dosage); magnesium sulfate (1.0 g/kg--high dosage); and an equal volume of water (6 L) given as a control infusion. From 5 to 33 hours after the high dosage of magnesium sulfate, feces were slightly softer than usual in all horses. In 1 horse, DSS caused mild colic, hyperpnea, and...
Burling K, Seguin MA, Marsh P, Brinkman K, Madigan J, Thurmond M, Moon-Massat P, Mannis M, Murphy CJ.OBJECTIVE-To characterize healing of corneal epithelial defects in horses and to evaluate the ability of epidermal growth factor (EGF) to modulate rate of corneal epithelial healing in horses. Methods: 20 eyes in 12 adult horses. Methods: Corneal epithelial wounds were created by mechanically debriding the limbus. Corneal healing was recorded for 3 treatment groups: 50 microg of EGF/ml (n = 5 eyes), 5 microg of EGF/ml (7), and PBS solution (8). Corneal healing was recorded once daily after instillation of fluorescein stain by use of photography and calculating the area of the wound, using imag...
Frisbie DD, Kawcak CE, McIlwraith CW, Werpy NM.To assess clinical, biochemical, and histologic effects of polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG) or sodium hyaluronan administered intra-articularly in treatment of horses with experimentally induced osteoarthritis. Methods: 24 horses. Methods: Osteoarthritis was induced arthroscopically in 1 middle carpal joint of all horses. Eight horses received hyaluronan (20 mg) and amikacin (125 mg) intra-articularly on study days 14, 21, and 28. Eight horses received PSGAG (250 mg) and amikacin (125 mg) intra-articularly on study days 14, 21, and 28. Eight control horses received 2 mL of saline (0.9% N...
Clutterbuck AL, Harris P, Allaway D, Mobasheri A.The extracellular matrix (ECM) of connective tissue is constantly being remodelled to allow for growth and regeneration. Normal tissue maintenance requires the ECM components to be degraded and re-synthesised in relatively equal proportions. This degradation is facilitated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their proteolytic action is controlled primarily by the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). Both MMPs and TIMPs exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium, with a slight excess of one or the other depending on the need for either ECM breakdown or synthesis. Long-term disrupti...
Pietra M, Morini M, Perfetti G, Spadari A, Vigo P, Peli A.In recent years, gastric ulceration has been recognized as a common, possibly performance-limiting disease, of adult horses. The aim of this study was to compare endoscopic features, histological diagnosis, and mRNA levels of various cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-13) from horse gastric biopsies. Eleven horses suffering from equine gastric ulcer syndrome and seven horses with normal histological gastric features were assessed. No correlation between endoscopic features and histology (i.e., the gold standard) was observed. Based on histological diagnosis, a significant (p < 0.05) increa...
Spurlock GH.The prognosis for returning horses with open joint injuries to athletic function is most closely related to the duration of the injury prior to treatment. Prompt diagnosis and appropriate therapy should yield a favorable result. Delayed diagnosis or inappropriate therapy that allow the wound to progress to an infected state makes the likelihood of return to athletic function poor. Refractory joint infection can occur despite early diagnosis and prompt appropriate therapy. The development of these infections is undoubtedly increased by tissue loss and gross contamination. Appropriate antibiotic...
Cordy DR.Bacterial meningoventriculitis was studied in 26 neonatal ungulates. Preceded by a substantial bacteremia, usually due to Escherichia coli, the fibrinopurulent inflammation involved leptomeninges, choroid plexuses, and ventricle walls, but largely spared the neuraxial parenchyma. It is proposed that this surface-relatedness results from the transport of bacteria by monocytes of low bactericidal power, migrating by normal pathways to maintain significant surface populations of macrophages. The neuraxial parenchyma is spared because of its normal lack of a macrophage population. A similar pathog...
Delesalle CJ, Callens C, Van Colen I, Lefebvre RA.Selective 5-HT4 receptor agonists such as prucalopride are used as human prokinetics, since activation of 5-HT4 receptors on intestinal cholinergic neurons facilitates acetylcholine release. 5-HT4 receptors, linked to adenylyl cyclase, act via generation of cAMP. None of the 4 in vitro studies on 5-HT in horses provided evidence for neuronal 5-HT4 receptors, but none used the protocol as described in human studies [1-4]. Objective: To investigate whether functional 5-HT4 receptors are present in the equine small intestine. Methods: In vitro organ bath set up, applying electrical field stimulat...
Hülskötter K, Aurich C, Köhne M, Baumgärtner W, Wohlsein P.Adenomatous hyperplasia of the equine allantoic epithelium (EAAH) is an infrequently observed nodular or plaque-like change in the placenta of the mare which is presented as a case description. EAAH is most frequently diagnosed in cases of aborted fetuses and is associated with inflammatory changes of the placenta. Histologically, different degrees of EAAH may be distinguished; however, these are not associated with specific clinical signs, degree of inflammation, a particular pathogen, or the frequency of abortions. It is assumed that EAAH represents a secondary, reactive change and has per s...
Aviad AD, Houpt JB.Various molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HA) preparations have been injected into joints for the treatment of human and equine osteoarthritis. A therapeutic advantage has been claimed for commercial products with a molecular weight in the range found in normal synovial fluid (SF), compared to lower molecular weight products. But a correlation between molecular weight and efficacy is not borne out by an analysis of the available literature on clinical results. SF viscosity, HA concentration, HA molecular weight and rate of synthesis in joint disease. It is proposed that the beneficial effect o...
Farr AC, Hawkins JF, Baird DK, Moore GE.To characterize features of diagnosis, treatment, and outcome in horses with foreign bodies, exclusive of enteric, inhaled, and foot-penetrating foreign bodies. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: 37 horses with foreign bodies. Methods: The incidence of equine foreign bodies from 1990 through 2005 was determined by review of data from veterinary schools participating in the Veterinary Medical Database (VMDB). Medical records of horses with foreign bodies at Purdue University were reviewed, and the following information was retrieved: clinical history; signalment; results of physical, ...
Schwarzbach SV, Melo CF, Xavier PLP, Roballo KC, Cordeiro YG, Ambrósio CE, Fukumasu H, Carregaro AB.Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the main locomotor disorders in horses. Although nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the first-line treatment for OA, opioids could also be used. In previous studies, opioids showed promising anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of two opioids (morphine and methadone) against inflammation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated synoviocytes by analyzing microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) expression. Synoviocytes were obtained from the joints at...
Palm F, Walter I, Budik S, Kolodziejek J, Nowotny N, Aurich C.After artificial insemination or mating an inflammatory response is induced by spermatozoa and components of the inseminate or ejaculate. In order to investigate the inflammatory reaction of the endometrium to different semen extenders, phosphate buffered saline (PBS), seminal plasma (SP), skim milk-based extender (SM) or egg yolk semen extender (EY) was inoculated into the uterus of oestrous mares (n=8) during four consecutive cycles in alternating order. Twelve hours after treatment, a uterine lavage was performed and an endometrial biopsy was taken. An additional biopsy was taken in the oes...
