Mares and horses are integral components of equine studies, focusing on the reproductive and behavioral aspects of equine biology. Mares, or adult female horses, play a significant role in breeding programs and are often studied for their reproductive physiology, gestation, and maternal behaviors. Horses, as a broader category, encompass both sexes and all age groups, providing a comprehensive view of equine anatomy, physiology, and behavior. Research in this area often investigates the differences and similarities between mares and other horses in terms of hormonal cycles, reproductive health, and social interactions. This page compiles peer-reviewed studies and scholarly articles that explore the biological and behavioral characteristics of mares and horses, offering insights into their roles in equine science and management.
Lindinger H, Wehrend A.In horse breeding, birth monitoring is an important factor in minimizing losses during parturition. Although different birth monitoring systems are available for this purpose, the current literature lacks systematic suitability analyses. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature. In order to achieve this, we examined a large number of foaling mares to assess the suitability of a transponder-based birth monitoring system attached to the vulva. Unassigned: Seventy warmblood mares were observed during foaling, and 86 foals were born during the foaling seasons of 2021 and 2022. Video ...
Oddsdóttir C, Jónsdóttir HK, Sturludóttir E.Few studies have been conducted on haematological reference intervals (RIs) in Icelandic horses. Reference intervals have been published for Icelandic horses in Austria and a preliminary study in Iceland compared haematological values in riding horses to published RIs for other breeds as well as Icelandic horses abroad. Haematological parameters can vary greatly due to factors such as breed, gender, age, reproductive status, and training, as well as feeding, prior exercise and management method. Icelandic broodmares are kept on pasture under supervision throughout the year, with haylage provid...
Shen Y, Ulaangerel T, Ren H, Liu Q, Davshilt T, Yi M, Dugarjaviin M, Bou G.The reproductive cycle of equines tends to be seasonal and is influenced by factors such as light and temperature. The process and methods of regulating the mare oestrous cycle in the anestrus period are still immature. The effects of noncoding RNAs and mRNAs on the oestrous cycle have aroused much interest, but corresponding analyses of seasonal mare ovaries have not been reported. Here, we report a whole transcriptome analysis of the Mongolian horse ovarian cortex collected in anestrus and diestrus periods. In total, 1081 mRNAs, 205 lncRNAs, 54 circRNAs, and 13 miRNAs were upregulated in win...
Herman M, Caceres AM, Albuquerque ALH, Leite RO, Araújo CET, Delfiol DJZ, Curi RA, Borges AS, Oliveira-Filho JP.In Brazil, the production of mules with a comfortable gait primarily involves the breeding of marching saddle mules. This is achieved by crossing gaited Pêga donkeys with horses from the Mangalarga Marchador and Campolina breeds. The :g.22999655C>A SNP is implicated in regulating gait phenotypes observed in various horse breeds, including the batida (CC) and picada (CA) gaits found in these horse breeds. We aimed to determine if genotypes influenced gait type in 159 mules and 203 donkeys genotyped for the SNP by PCR-RFLP analysis. About 47% of mules had the CC-genotype, while 53% had the ...
Fernández-Hernández P, Valero-González M, Fuentes-Romero B, Iglesias-García M, Ezquerra-Calvo LJ, Martín-Cuervo M, Macías-García B.Currently, for in vitro embryo production in live mares, immature oocytes are retrieved by transvaginal follicular aspiration or ovum pick up (OPU). Occasionally, ovarian abscesses have been described after OPU, but no current consensus exists on how to treat this condition. Objective: To describe diagnosis and successful treatment of ovarian abscesses in two mares subjected to OPU. Methods: Case report. Methods: Case records were reviewed and summarised. Results: In the first case, a pony mare showed tachypnoea, tachycardia, high temperature, leukocytosis, left hindlimb lameness and slight in...
Varasteh F, Ebrahimi SH, Naserian AA, Zerehdaran S, Miri VH.This study aimed to 1) evaluate the interaction of corn grain micronization and starch levels per meal on equine plasma glucose, and 2) determine if micronization affects the risk of hindgut acidosis. Six mature (aged 6 to 10 years), healthy, non-pregnant mares (initial body weight [BW]: 301 to 463 kg) were used in a 2×3 factorial cross-over design. The treatments included two forms of corn grain (ground and micronized flaked) at three levels of starch (1, 1.5, and 2 g/kg BW per meal). The blood was sampled before and 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, and 300 min after morning feeding and the glucos...
Blanco M, Foss R, Tönißen A, Rohn K, Burger D, Sieme H.This retrospective evaluation of data from a large commercial embryo transfer facility aimed to determine the extent to which age and treatment on the day of embryo transfer in recipient mares influence the likelihood of pregnancy. Methods: Embryo recovery was carried out on days 8-10 post-ovulation using transcervical uterine flushing. Recipient mares grouped according to their age were treated once on the day of embryo transfer (Day 3-8 post ovulation) and were assigned randomly to 1 of 3 groups: Mares in Group A (n=101) received antispasmodic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory drugs. Mar...
Robles M, Rousseau-Ralliard D, Dubois C, Josse T, Nouveau É, Dahirel M, Wimel L, Couturier-Tarrade A, Chavatte-Palmer P.In horses, the prevalence of obesity is high and associated with serious metabolic pathologies. Being a broodmare has been identified as a risk factor for obesity. In other species, maternal obesity is known to affect the development of the offspring. This article is a follow-up study of previous work showing that Obese mares (O, n = 10, body condition score > 4.25 at insemination) were more insulin resistant and presented increased systemic inflammation during pregnancy compared to Normal mares (N, n = 14, body condition score < 4 at insemination). Foals born to O mares were more insulin-resi...
Abbas G, Ghafar A, Beasley A, Stevenson MA, Bauquier J, Koehler AV, Wilkes EJA, McConnell E, El-Hage C, Carrigan P, Cudmore L, Hurley J, Gauci CG....This study reports the spatial and temporal distribution of ascarid and strongylid nematodes in Thoroughbred horses by age category across different climatic zones in Australia over an 18-month period. Faecal samples (n = 2046) from individual horses were analysed using the modified McMaster technique for faecal egg counts (FECs). Strongylids were identified using PCR-directed next-generation sequencing of the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Yearlings had the highest prevalence (82%) of strongyle eggs followed by weanlings (79%), foals (58%), wet mares ...
El-Hage C, Gilkerson J.While well known as a zoonotic pathogen of birds, Chlamydia psittaci is less well recognised as a cause of abortion in mares and severe infection in foals. However, in the past decade it has been causing epizootics of both in south-eastern Australia, as Charles El-Hage and James Gilkerson explain.
Podico G, Canisso IF.This study aimed to compare the morphometry of horse and mule embryos. The study's hypothesis was that the micronuclei and nuclear fragmentation indexes are higher in mule embryos than in horse embryos. Twenty-two mares were randomly assigned in a crossover design to receive semen from a horse and a donkey; thirteen horse and thirteen mule embryos were obtained. Embryos were recovered eight days post-ovulation and classified according to the stage of development and quality with a score from 1 (excellent) to 4 (degenerate). Embryos were stained with Hoechst33342, and images were acquired with ...
de-Lima TC, de-Sobral GG, de-França Queiroz AES, Chinelate GCB, Porto TS, Oliveira JTC, Carneiro GF.Foals require maternal colostrum in the first hours of life to prevent failure of transfer of passive immunity (FTIP). Innovative storage methods such as lyophilization may enable conservation of colostrum immunoglobulins by a differentiated process of dehydration. The current study aimed to compare the quality of equine colostrum after freezing and after the lyophilization process. Thirty-one pregnant Quarter Horse mares were used. The IgG concentration of frozen and lyophilized colostrum was determined by simple radial immunodiffusion (SRID) and Brix refractometry. The physical-chemical comp...
Sharapatov T, Assanbayev T, Shauyenov S, Aubakirov K, Iskhan K.The purpose of the study was to determine the milk productivity and chemical composition of the milk of mares of the Kazakh breed of the jabe type (KJ) and the Novoaltay-Kazakh crossbreeds of the 1st generation (NA x KJ) in the conditions of herd keeping. To determine the milk productivity of mares, 2 experimental groups were formed with a total of 30 mares, 15 individuals were selected in each group. The studied animals were formed according to the principle of pairs of analogues in the context of full-age groups from 5 to 11 years. Kazakh horses of the jabe type in the group of experimental ...
Hallman I, Tapio H, Raekallio M, Karikoski N.To assess the effects of an α-adrenoceptor agonist (detomidine) constant rate infusion (CRI) with and without an α-adrenoceptor antagonist (vatinoxan) CRI on blood insulin and glucose concentrations, heart rate, intestinal borborygmi, and sedation during and after infusion in horses. Methods: Randomized, blinded, crossover, experimental study. Methods: A total of nine healthy, adult Finnhorse mares. Methods: Horses were treated with an intravenous (IV) detomidine loading dose (0.01 mg kg), followed by CRI (0.015 mg kg hour), and the same doses of detomidine combined with an IV vatinoxan load...
Pieroni C, Grassi A, Pantoli M, Berretti M, Messina S, Giovannini C, Lubas G, Diamanti D.The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a widely used diagnostic assay in human medicine but nowadays poorly applied in veterinary medicine. This test measures the speed (millimeters per hour) at which red blood cells settle in a whole anticoagulated blood tube. In human medicine, high ESR values are associated with various disorders, including infections, rheumatoid arthritis, oncologic diseases, and other inflammatory conditions. The ESR can also be influenced by some factors such as age and gender. In veterinary medicine, the ESR with the Westergren manual method was almost forgotten ov...
Luthersson N, Þorgrímsdóttir ÚÝ, Harris PA, Parkin T, Hopster-Iversen C, Bennet ED.A high prevalence of both squamous (ESGD) and glandular (EGGD) ulcers was previously found in, mainly young, Icelandic horses coming into training for the first time. This study evaluated risk factors for gastric ulcers in Icelandic riding horses at various ages and stages of training. The horses (n = 211) were gastroscoped from 21 equine establishments across Iceland. A variety of morphometric, clinical, behavioural and management factors were evaluated as potential risk factors for gastroscopically significant (grade ≥ 2/4: found in 27% of horses) or gastroscopically severe (grade 3 or 4/4...
Ellerbrock M, Wehrend A.Dystocia represents a life-threatening condition for mare and foal. Morbidity and mortality rates due to a difficult birth, as well as the influence on fertility of the mare were analyzed, based on a review of publications. This was aggravated by the fact that no standardized diagnostic code was used and that most publications do not clearly describe how extensively the examinations were performed beforehand. Retentio secundinarum is the most common complication caused by dystocia. Other complications are injuries to the soft birth canal and the colon. These occur more frequently after surgica...
Richards T, Burron S, McCorkell TC, Trevizan L, Patterson K, Minikhiem D, Ma DWL, Pearson W, Shoveller AK.Camelina oil is derived from a low-input, high-yield crop and, in comparison to many other dietary fat sources currently used in equine diets, provides a greater amount of α-linolenic acid [ALA; (n-3)], than linoleic acid [LA; (n-6)]. However, no research exists assessing the effects of feeding camelina oil to horses in contrast to other commonly used oils. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of supplementing camelina oil to that of flaxseed and canola oil supplementation, on outcomes related to skin and coat health in horses. Thirty adult horses [23 mares, 7 geldings; 14.9 ...
Newcombe JR, Wilsher S, Silva ESM, Sala-Ayala L, Cuervo-Arango J.Two experiments were conducted in the Northern (UK) and Southern (Brazil) hemispheres to determine the effect of season (month of conception) on the development of supplementary CL (SCL) and the relationship with pregnancy loss. In experiment 1, 199 pregnancies were followed between Day 14 and term, to determine the number of SCL and pregnancy viability (Northern Hemisphere). From the 199 pregnancies, 178 were obtained from inseminations during the breeding season (March-September), while the rest, 21 pregnancies resulted from conceptions in the non-breeding season (October to February). Pregn...
Armando F, Porcellato I, de Paolis L, Mecocci S, Passeri B, Ciurkiewicz M, Mechelli L, Grazia De Ciucis C, Pezzolato M, Fruscione F, Brachelente C....Vulvo-vaginal epithelial tumors are uncommon in mares, and data on the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the tumor-immune microenvironment (TIME) are still lacking. This is a study investigating the equus caballus papillomavirus type 2 (EcPV2) infection state as well as the EMT process and the tumor microenvironment in vulvo-vaginal preneoplastic/ benign (8/22) or malignant (14/22) epithelial lesions in mares. To do this, histopathological, immunohistochemical, transcriptomic, hybridization, and correlation analyses were carried out. Immunohistochemistry quantification showed tha...
Kashani-Carver A, O'Halloran C, Scurrell E, Featherstone H, de Freitas FF, Lowe R.Only 27 cases of equine conjunctival haemangiosarcoma have been reported in the literature over the past 37 years. Out of these, 22% of cases were lost to follow-up, 52% were euthanized, and 26% survived. A scarcity of cases and information is available for this rarely seen conjunctival tumour. Unassigned: To describe the clinical features, management, and outcome of conjunctival hemangiosarcoma in seven horses in the UK. Unassigned: Optivet medical records were reviewed for equine cases seen or advised on with a histopathological diagnosis of conjunctival haemangiosarcoma between January 2013...
White JM, Colbath AC, Schott HC.Treatment with phenylbutazone (nonselective COX inhibitor) decreases the diuretic and natriuretic effects of furosemide by nearly 30% but the effects of COX-2 specific inhibitors (firocoxib) and atypical NSAIDs (dipyrone) are unknown. Objective: Furosemide-induced diuresis after pretreatment with firocoxib or dipyrone is diminished to a lesser extent than after pretreatment with phenylbutazone. Methods: Eight healthy mares. Methods: Each mare received 4 treatments in a prospective experimental crossover study using a replicated 4 × 4 Latin Square design: furosemide alone (FU), furosemide an...
Borges MA, Curcio BR, Gastal GDA, Gheno L, Junior ASV, Corcini CD, Nogueira CEW, Aguiar FLN, Gastal EL.The most adequate fixative solution for equine ovarian tissue is still to be determined as a tool to evaluate the improvement of methodological studies in assisted reproductive techniques and fertility preservation. This study aimed to evaluate a short-time ethanol 70% (ST-EtOH, 45 min) exposure as an alternative fixative compared with two classically fixatives [Carnoy's (CAR) solution and paraformaldehyde 4% (PFA)] at different fixation times (6 h, 12 h). The end points evaluated were morphology and classes of preantral follicles, follicular and stromal cell densities, and follicular and o...
Sobotková E, Kopec T, Mikule V, Kuřitková D.The aim of the research was to assess how age, sex, sire, country of foaling, country of training and race distance influenced the international racing and performance of Thoroughbreds. The research was based on performance ratings of 6216 horses assigned by the International Federation of Racing Authorities between 2004 and 2022. The most common sex was stallion (58.54 %) and more than half of the population consisted of 3- and 4-year-old horses (54.68 %). The majority of the horses had the USA as their country of foaling (25.92 %) and also as their country of training (24.87 %). The ...
Christoffersen M, Nielsen SB, Madvig CB, Agerholm JS.Equine pregnancy failure can occur throughout gestation with etiologies varying by region. In Europe, umbilical cord torsion (UCT) has been reported to account for up to 52% of abortions and stillbirths. Little is known about what causes excessive twisting of the umbilical cord (UC), and up till now, only the length of the UC has been identified as a risk factor for UCT. The aim of the present study was to determine the association of potential maternal and fetal risk factors with UCT and umbilical cord length (UCL). A retrospective cohort study was performed on aborted or prematurely delivere...
Floriano D, Gorenberg E, Watkins A, Hopster K.To test the influence of increasing injectate volumes on the regional effects of xylazine and morphine epidural analgesia, with the hypothesis that increasing volume produces more cranial spread of analgesia as determined by thermal threshold (TT) testing. Methods: 6 university-owned research/teaching horses (2 mares, 4 geldings) deemed healthy on physical examination and basic lameness evaluation, aged 6-19 years and weighing 420-560 kg, were used in this prospective, randomized, blinded, cross-over experimental study. Methods: After routine placement of a caudal epidural catheter, all animal...
Abbas G, Ghafar A, Bauquier J, Beasley A, Ling E, Gauci CG, El-Hage C, Wilkes EJA, McConnell E, Carrigan P, Cudmore L, Hurley J, Beveridge I....The study presents the results of a cross-sectional survey to describe the epidemiology of ascarid and strongylid nematodes in horses, the impact of diverse climatic conditions on parasite diversity and the levels of faecal egg shedding in different age groups of managed Thoroughbred horses. Individual faecal samples (n = 1377) collected from 62 Thoroughbred farms across four climatic zones in Australia were analysed using the modified McMaster technique for faecal egg counts (FECs) and strongylid nematodes were identified utilising PCR-directed next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the second...
Hedia M, Angel-Velez D, Papas M, Peere S, Gerits I, De Coster T, Van den Branden E, Govaere J, Van Soom A, Leroy JLMR, Smits K.The in vitro production of equine embryos via ovum pick-up (OPU) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has increased rapidly. There is a marked effect of the individual mare on the outcome of OPU-ICSI, but little is known about the influence of the mare's health condition. This study aimed to investigate the potential associations between the concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6), reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs), and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) in serum of oocytes' donor mares and the subsequent embryonic development. Just before OPU, a blood sample was collected from 28...
Borowska A, Lewczuk D.The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of factors on the results of 100-point judging systems, linear scoring and basic measurements, as well as differences between systems for dressage and jumping warmblood mares. The research covered official data on 1547 warmblood mares. Analysis of variance and phenotypic correlations (Pearson and partial) were used. The analysis showed that sport type significantly influenced 1/3 of biometric measurements, 2/9 traits on the 100-point system and 7/37 of linear scored traits. The influence of horse type evaluation is more significant in linear s...
Starrett A, Smith R, Urso PM, Urschel KL, Anderson MJ, Suagee-Bedore JK.Irregular wear patterns are theorized to cause poor feed digestion and weight loss in the horse. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that dental correction would increase postprandial nutrient concentrations and reduce fecal particle size (FPS) in clinically healthy mares. The study was conducted in 16 mares of mature age (4-17) who had not received dental care in the previous year. A diet consisting of ad libitum Coastal Bermudagrass hay and 1.36 kg of a pelleted feed was fed daily prior to and during the study. Eight mares received dental work and eight served as untreat...
Christoffersen M, Baagoe CD, Jacobsen S, Bojesen AM, Petersen MR, Lehn-Jensen H.Infectious infertility in the mare is clinically well described, little is however known about the systemic acute phase reaction (APR) and local immunological responses accompanying equine endometritis. The aim of this study was to monitor selected markers of the APR in the systemic circulation and to correlate them to the local innate immune response in the uterus during infectious endometritis. Six adult standard bred mares received an intrauterine infusion of 10(9)CFU Escherichia coli. Blood samples were obtained before (0 h) and 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h post inoculation (pi),...
Carnevale EM, Ginther OJ.The uterine function and reproductive efficiency of 31 nonlactating pony mares were compared for two age groups: young (5 to 7 years, n=9) and old (>/=15 years, n=22). For pregnant mares, differences between age groups were not significant for the diameter of the largest follicle, cross-sectional area of the corpus luteum, growth profile of the embryonic vesicle or embryo mobility characteristics. Uterine contractility scores were lower (P<0.05), day of fixation of the embryonic vesicle was later (P<0.05), and uterine tone tended (P<0.10) to be lower in the old than the young mares...
LeBlanc MM, Magsig J, Stromberg AJ.Low-volume uterine flush (n=401) was performed in 308 infertile mares to diagnose endometritis. Mares evaluated were either barren after three or more breedings or had two or more unsuccessful embryo recovery attempts during consecutive cycles. Culture results were compared with cytological and histological findings, efflux clarity and pH to substantiate that the micro-organisms recovered were truly pathogens. Cytological specimens were evaluated for presence of epithelial and inflammatory cells, bacteria, yeast and debris. Endometrial biopsies (n=110) were examined for the presence of neutrop...
Wilsher S, Allen WR.The normality of equine placentation is essential for fetal health and development. Substantial information exists on the gross morphological status of the placenta but few studies have addressed the problem of degenerative lesions that interfere with placental morphology and placental efficiency. Objective: Degenerative changes in the endometrium with increasing age and parity are reflected in the morphology and density of the placental microcotyledons. Objective: To assess placental efficiency on the basis of foal birthweight as a function of total microscopic area of fetomaternal contact. M...
Troedsson MH.The objective of this article is to review the role of uterine defense mechanisms in natural resistance to chronic or persistent endometritis. A breakdown of uterine physical clearance mechanisms is currently believed to play a major role in susceptibility to persistent endometritis. Mares with increased susceptibility to persistent endometritis have impaired myometrial contractility in response to an acute inflammation, resulting in an accumulation of fluid and inflammatory products within the uterine lumen. The origin of this defect remains unknown. Recent studies have demonstrated that sper...
Zerbe H, Schuberth HJ, Engelke F, Frank J, Klug E, Leibold W.In order to investigate pathogenic mechanisms of acute endometritis in cows and mares, we established an in vivo model in both species. Based on the results of an in vitro transmigration system, human recombinant interleukin-8 (rhIL-8; 1.25 microg per mare and 5 microg per cow in 50 ml phosphate-buffered saline) was used to attract polymorphonuclear neutrophil granulocytes (PMNs) into the uteri. Peak numbers of uterine neutrophils were attracted after 6h, in both cows and mares. On average, mares responded more sensitively than cows, with 15 times higher numbers of rhIL-8-attracted uterine neu...
Allen GP, Bolin DC, Bryant U, Carter CN, Giles RC, Harrison LR, Hong CB, Jackson CB, Poonacha K, Wharton R, Williams NM.An emerging problem of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection in horses in the USA is a high-mortality myeloencephalopathy that commonly occurs where large numbers of horses are stabled. EHV-1 isolates recovered from recent neurological outbreaks represent a mutant virus strain that possesses enhanced neuropathogenicity. A central question of EHV-1 myeloencephalopathy is the latency carriage rate for these mutants of EHV-1 in USA horse populations. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of neuropathogenic strains of EHV-1 as latent infections in the Thoroughbred broodmare population of central ...
Allen WR.The equine embryo takes 6 days to traverse the oviduct and, when it finally enters the uterus, it remains spherical in shape and moves continually throughout the uterine lumen until day 17 after ovulation to deliver its maternal recognition of pregnancy signal to the entire endometrium. Between day 25 and day 35 after ovulation, the trophoblast cells of a discrete annulate portion of the chorion multiply rapidly and acquire an invasive phenotype and, between day 36 and day 38, migrate deeply into the maternal endometrium to form the equine-unique endometrial protuberances known as endometrial ...
Albihn A, Båverud V, Magnusson U.Uterine microbiology and antimicrobial susceptibility was investigated in 239 mares with fertility problems in a prospective study in Sweden. Uterine swab samples were collected with double guarded swabs and transported overnight before being cultured. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) was determined for a panel of antimicrobials. From 152 of the 239 mares at least one bacterial species was isolated, most frequently E. coli (104 isolates), beta-haemolytic streptococci (31) and fungi (16). beta-haemolytic streptococci were more frequently (p < 0.01) associated with clinical endomet...
Conley AJ.Analytical advancements, especially methods using gas or liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, have allowed more specific and reliable measurement of multiple steroid hormones in the plasma of mares throughout gestation and the periparturient period. Data such as these will form the central focus of this review. The comprehensive analyses possible with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry illuminate the key physiological and developmental transitions that make equine gestation unique. Weeks 6 to 20 encompass endometrial cup formation and equine chorionic gonadotropic secret...
Gabryś J, Kij-Mitka B, Sawicki S, Kochan J, Nowak A, Łojko J, Karnas E, Bugno-Poniewierska M.The in vitro maturation (IVM) of equine oocytes is still not efficient and does not yield consistent results. The specific requirements of equine oocytes during this process are still largely unknown, which hinders the development of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) in this species. Because the ovarian follicle microenvironment supports oocytes in their acquisition of developmental competence, follicular fluid seems to be a substantial source of bioactive factors that could support the IVM process. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-secreted molecules in body fluids that are able to ...
Allen WR, Brown L, Wright M, Wilsher S.Previous surveys of reproductive efficiency in British Thoroughbreds included only mares and stallions standing on studfarms in and around Newmarket. The present study was widened to compare Flatrace (FR) (Group A) and National Hunt (NH) (Group B) mares and stallions on studfarms throughout England. Objective: To assess the influences of mare type, status and age, and veterinary manipulations on reproductive efficiency parameters. To compare the inherent fertility of stallions, based on singleton and twin pregnancy rates and pregnancy loss rates, in Groups A and B Thoroughbred breeding stock. ...
Edington N, Smyth B, Griffiths L.One of three mares in the last trimester of pregnancy became paraplegic 7 days after experimental infection with EHV-1 and was killed 10 days after infection (d.p.i.). The other two mares aborted foetuses at 12 and 14 d.p.i. In the first mare, virus was detected by immunofluorescence (IIF) and immunoperoxidase (IP) staining in endothelial cells of the endometrium, placenta and umbilical vein, but not in any other foetal tissues. In the experimentally aborted foetuses, and in two other independent field cases of abortions, endothelial cell infection was also detected in the foetuses, both in ma...
Nielsen JM.The objective of this study was to compare results from endometrial culture swabs with results from culturing of endometrial biopsies. The culture results were related to cytological findings (polymorphonuclear; PMN-cells) and histological observations (PMN-cells). Biopsy and swab samples were smeared on the surface of a blood agar petri dish, and examined for growth of bacteria. Cytology samples were obtained from endometrial biopsies, stained and examined under microscopy for the presence of PMN-cells. Endometrial biopsies were examined for the presence of PMN-infiltration of the endometrial...
Quercia S, Freccero F, Castagnetti C, Soverini M, Turroni S, Biagi E, Rampelli S, Lanci A, Mariella J, Chinellato E, Brigidi P, Candela M.Even if horses strictly depend on the gut microbiota for energy homeostasis, only a few molecular studies have focused on its characterisation and none on the perinatal gut microbial colonisation process. Objective: To explore the perinatal colonisation process of the foal gut microbial ecosystem and the temporal dynamics of the ecosystem assembly during the first days of life. Methods: Longitudinal study. Methods: Thirteen Standardbred mare-foal pairs were included in the study. For each pair, at delivery we collected the mare amniotic fluid, faeces and colostrum, and the foal meconium. Milk ...
Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Abortusequi is frequently reported as a cause of abortion in mares and neonatal septicemia and polyarthritis in Asian and African countries, but only sporadically in Europe and the United States. We report an outbreak of S. Abortusequi in foals in Italy, characterized by high mortality. In a herd of Murgese horses, 10 of 34 newborns died at birth and a further 7 died, after developing severe clinical signs, during the first 10 d of life. Tissue specimens from different organs of 2 dead foals, synovial fluids from 4 sick foals, and vaginal and rectal ...
Katila T.This review suggests a classification for uterine diseases of mares. Information is presented on the prevalence of endometritis in the past and at present. The review describes uterine sampling techniques for mares: swabbing, cytobrushing, low volume lavage and biopsy. The performance of culture, cytology and histology and threshold values is discussed. Correlations between different diagnostic methods and fertility are presented, as well as specificities, sensitivities and positive and negative predictive values of the diagnostic methods. The necessity for double-guarded techniques is emphasi...
Scoggin CF.Advancing age can adversely affect a thoroughbred brood-mare's reproductive efficiency and influence the commercial and athletic potential of her progeny. Causes for the decline in fertility include decreased oocyte and embryo quality, anatomical defects and endometrial degeneration. In addition, evidence exists that as the age of a dam increases, her foals will be at increased risk of morbidity and mortality during the neonatal period. Health issues can have lasting and deleterious effects on surviving foals, including decreased sale value and reduced athletic performance. The purpose of this...
Kydd JH, Wattrang E, Hannant D.In general, vaccines containing inactivated equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) fail to prevent abortion in pregnant mares following infection with a virulent strain of EHV-1. We have tested the hypothesis that resistance to EHV-1-induced abortion in pregnant mares is associated with high frequencies of EHV-1 specific, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in the circulation. To test this theory, three groups of pregnant mares were assembled with varying backgrounds of infection or vaccination in an attempt to mimic the immune status of the general p...
Ball BA, Conley AJ, MacLaughlin DT, Grundy SA, Sabeur K, Liu IK.Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), also known as Müllerian inhibiting substance (MIS), is expressed by granulosa cells in females of many mammalian species, and circulating AMH concentrations have been used to monitor granulosa-cell tumors (GCT) in women. The objective was to characterize expression of AMH in equine GCT, and in normal equine ovaries, based upon immunohistochemistry (IHC), using a polyclonal primary antibody directed against human AMH. Equine GCT (n=27) and normal equine ovaries (n=10) were examined by IHC. In addition, sera from four mares with GCT were characterized for AMH bioa...
Hong CB, Donahue JM, Giles RC, Petrites-Murphy MB, Poonacha KB, Roberts AW, Smith BJ, Tramontin RR, Tuttle PA, Swerczek TW.Pathologic and microbiologic examinations were performed on 1,211 aborted equine fetuses, stillborn foals, and placentas from premature foals in central Kentucky during the 1988 and 1989 foaling seasons to determine the causes of reproductive loss in the mare. Placentitis (19.4%) and dystocia-perinatal asphyxia (19.5%) were the 2 most important causes of equine reproductive loss. The other causes (in decreasing order) were contracted foal syndrome and other congenital anomalies (8.5%), twinning (6.1%), improper separation of placenta (4.7%), torsion of umbilical cord (4.5%), placental edema (4...
Battsetseg B, Lucero S, Xuan X, Claveria FG, Inoue N, Alhassan A, Kanno T, Igarashi I, Nagasawa H, Mikami T, Fujisaki K.The potential role of Boophilus microplus as a natural tick vector of Babesia equi and Babesia caballi in Brazilian horses was assessed using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based marker assay. B. equi merozoite-specific 218bp gene fragment was detected in almost 96% of horse blood samples, and 45.3-62.5% of females, eggs, larvae, and nymphs of B. microplus collected from 47 horses at Campo Grande in the State of Matto Grosso, Brazil. Except for the partially-fed female ticks, the B. caballi-specific 430bp gene fragment was amplified from horse blood samples, and all developmental stage...
Ferris RA, McCue PM, Borlee GI, Loncar KD, Hennet ML, Borlee BR.In this study, we evaluated the ability of the equine clinical treatments N-acetylcysteine, EDTA, and hydrogen peroxide to disrupt in vitro biofilms and kill equine reproductive pathogens (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, or Klebsiella pneumoniae) isolated from clinical cases. N-acetylcysteine (3.3%) decreased biofilm biomass and killed bacteria within the biofilms of E. coli isolates. The CFU of recoverable P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae isolates were decreased, but the biofilm biomass was unchanged. Exposure to hydrogen peroxide (1%) decreased the biofilm biomass and reduced the CF...
Klein C, Troedsson MH.Establishment and maintenance of pregnancy are critically dependent on embryo-maternal communication during the preimplantation period. The horse is one of the few domestic species in which the conceptus-derived pregnancy recognition signal has not been identified. To gain new insights into the factors released by the equine conceptus, transcriptional profiling analyses of conceptuses retrieved 8, 10, 12, and 14 days after ovulation were performed using a whole-genome microarray. Selected array data were confirmed using quantitative PCR, and the expression of proteins of interest was confirmed...
Rebordão MR, Amaral A, Lukasik K, Szóstek-Mioduchowska A, Pinto-Bravo P, Galvão A, Skarzynski DJ, Ferreira-Dias G.Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are DNA complexes carrying nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins, such as elastase (ELA), cathepsin-G (CAT) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). Mare endometrosis is a chronic degenerative process characterized by excessive collagen in endometrium. While NETs fight bacteria that cause endometritis, they may trigger endometrial fibrogenesis. The aim was to evaluate the in vitro effect of some NETs components on mare endometrial fibrogenesis and determine its relationship with histopathology or estrous cycle. Endometrial explants were incubated with NETs components (ELA, ...
Gilkerson JR, Whalley JM, Drummer HE, Studdert MJ, Love DN.The prevalence of EHV-1 and EHV-4 antibody-positive horses was determined using a type specific ELISA on serum samples collected from 229 mares and their foals resident on a large Thoroughbred stud farm in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales in February 1995. More than 99% of all mares and foals tested were EHV-4 antibody positive, while the prevalence of EHV-1 antibody positive mares and foals were 26.2 and 11.4%, respectively. Examination of the ELISA absorbance data for the individual mares and foals suggested that the EHV-1 antibody positive foals had been infected recently with EHV-1 and...
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 ...
Bucca S, Fogarty U, Collins A, Small V.Ultrasound assessment of feto-placental well-being has found its application in the equine field, as a valid diagnostic tool. Most reports on equine fetal parameters focus on advanced to late gestation. The aim of the present study was to further validate the technique of ultrasound evaluation of the equine fetal environment, by extending its application to earlier stages of pregnancy. Fetal parameters were collected (on 150 pregnancies) over a 3-year period. Data included in the study were selected according to the clinical behaviour of the mare, the neonate/fetus and fetal membranes at the t...
