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Topic:Neonatal
Trimethoprim-sulfonamide: a valid antimicrobial treatment in foals? Trimethoprim-sulfonamide (TMPS) combinations are widely used to treat a range of infectious diseases in horses, but some equine practitioners are reluctant to use them for treatment of both neonatal and older foals. Considering the emergence of increased antimicrobial resistance, the use of protected antimicrobials commonly prescribed to foals should be avoided and alternative first-line therapy considered, where appropriate. This review examines the characteristics and pharmacokinetics of TMPS and its suitability for treatment of foals. Data regarding dosage and route of administration are re...
Lidocaine constant rate infusion in isoflurane anesthetized neonatal foals. In horses, lidocaine infusion is administered intraoperatively for analgesia and for a reduction of inhalant anaesthetic requirement. The objective of the study was to describe the anaesthetic effects of lidocaine infusion in isoflurane anaesthetised foals. Unassigned: Twelve foals (<3 weeks old) undergoing surgery were included in the study (LIDO group). Foals were premedicated with midazolam and butorphanol IV, anaesthesia was induced with ketamine and propofol IV and maintained with isoflurane. Lidocaine was administered intraoperatively at 0.05 mg/kg/min. Also, the anaesthetic records o...
Comparison of differential protein expression of the marginal transitional zone in neonatal and weanling-aged foals. The marginal transitional zone (MTZ) is peripherally located within the diarthrodial joint, and represents the junction of synovium, fibrous joint capsule, articular cartilage, periosteum, and bone. The purpose of this study is to characterize age-related differences in protein expression of matrix and molecular regulators in the marginal transitional zone of neonatal and weanling foals. Several families of proteins with known roles in cartilage and bone development are investigated, including matrix molecules, members of the Wnt signaling family, apoptotic factors and paracrine cell signaling...
Comparative Assessment of Oxidative and Antioxidant Parameters in Mule and Horse Neonates during Their First Month of Extrauterine Adaptation. After parturition, a rapid transition occurs from the intrauterine to the extrauterine milieu, exposing neonates to physiological circumstances characterized by oxidative conditions that instigate the generation of reactive oxygen species. These free radicals play pivotal roles in physiological processes; however, an imbalance between their production and the removal of antioxidants can result in severe cellular damage. The main objective of this study was to compare the oxidative and antioxidant profiles in mule and horse neonates immediately post-parturition, as well as at subsequent time po...
Intramuscular but not nebulized administration of a mRNA vaccine against Rhodococcus equi stimulated humoral immune responses in neonatal foals. Design and evaluate immune responses of neonatal foals to a mRNA vaccine expressing the virulence-associated protein A (VapA) of Rhodococcus equi. Methods: Cultured primary equine respiratory tract cells; Serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 30 healthy Quarter Horse foals. Methods: VapA expression was evaluated by western immunoblot in cultured equine bronchial cells transfected with 4 mRNA constructs encoding VapA. The mRNA construct with greatest expression was used to immunize foals at ages 2 and 21 days in 5 groups: (1) 300 μg neb...
Viremia and nasal shedding for the diagnosis of equine herpesvirus-1 infection in domesticated horses. Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) infection is associated with upper respiratory disease, EHM, abortions, and neonatal death. Objective: Are nasal secretions a more sensitive biological sample compared to blood for the detection of EHV-1 infection? How long is EHV-1 detectable after primary infection by PCR? Methods: MedLine and Web of Science searches identified original peer-reviewed reports evaluating nasal shedding and viremia using virus isolation methods or PCR published in English before October 9, 2023. Results: Sixty experimental and 20 observational studies met inclusion criteria. EH...
Relationship between equine herpesvirus-1 viremia and abortion or equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy in domesticated horses: A systematic review. Equine herpes virus type 1 (EHV-1) infection in horses is associated with upper respiratory disease, neurological disease, abortions, and neonatal death. Objective: To determine if there is an association between the level and duration of EHV-1 viremia and either abortion or equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) in domesticated horses? Methods: A systematic review was performed searching numerous databases to identify peer reviewed reports that evaluated viremia and EHM, or viremia and abortion published before January 19, 2021. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies wer...
Chlamydia psittaci: an emerging cause of equine abortion and fatal neonatal illness in south-eastern Australia. 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.
Assessment of an Ultrasound-Guided Rectus Sheath Block in Foals: A Cadaveric Study. In neonatal equines, pathologies involving umbilical structures are an important cause of morbidity, and surgical removal of urachal remnants is a common procedure in clinical practice. Surgery involving the ventral abdominal wall can cause substantial pain, leading to complications and prolonged recovery. The objectives of this study were to describe a two-point bilateral ultrasound-guided rectus sheath block at the level of the umbilicus and to evaluate the extent of dye distribution in foal cadavers. Ten foal cadavers were included in the study, in which a bilateral two-point ultrasound-gui...
Vaccination for the prevention of equine herpesvirus-1 disease in domesticated horses: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Equine herpes virus type 1 (EHV-1) infection in horses is associated with respiratory and neurologic disease, abortion, and neonatal death. Objective: Vaccines decrease the occurrence of clinical disease in EHV-1-infected horses. Methods: A systematic review was performed searching multiple databases to identify relevant studies. Selection criteria were original peer-reviewed research reports that investigated the in vivo use of vaccines for the prevention of disease caused by EHV-1 in domesticated horses. Main outcomes of interest included pyrexia, abortion, neurologic disease, viremia, and n...
Evaluation of glutaraldehyde coagulation test and colostrum BRIX refractometer compared with SNAP foal IgG test in neonatal foals. Prompt diagnosis of passive transfer failure in the neonatal period is important for early treatment. Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of serum glutaraldehyde coagulation test (GCT) and colostrum BRIX% for failure to transfer passive immunity (FTPI) diagnosis with the results of SNAP foal test and to evaluate the results of serum GCT and colostrum BRIX% measurements in foals with diarrhoea in the 0-1 month period. Methods: In vitro experiments. Methods: Excess serum and colostrum (n: 298) from samples collected from newborn foals and their dams for clinical purposes were used...
Comparison of the broncoalveolar lavage fluid proteomics between foals and adult horses. Neonates have different cellular composition in their bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) when compared to foals and adult horses; however, little is known about the non-cellular components of BALF. The objective of this study was to determine the proteomic composition of BALF in neonatal horses and to compare it to that of foals and adult horses. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples of seven neonates (< 1 week age), four 5 to 7-week-old foals, and six adult horses were collected. Quantitative proteomics of the fluid was performed using tandem mass tag labeling followed by high resolution l...
Corneal Ulcers in Critically Ill Foals in Intensive Care: Case Series of Standard Treatment and Corneal Cross-Linking. Riboflavin/UV-A corneal cross-linking (CXL) has been applied to treat corneal ulcers in adult horses, but its use in critically ill neonatal foals has not been described. Five cases of hospitalized, critically ill neonatal foals that were in intensive care with corneal ulcers, the ophthalmic treatment, and their outcome up to 1 year are described. A single treatment of CXL phototherapy was performed in three of five foals (five eyes). The application of a riboflavin ophthalmic solution for 20 minutes was followed by the UV-A light irradiation at 30 mW/cm2 for 3 minutes. Topical antibiotic admi...
The effects of obesity and insulin dysregulation on mare reproduction, pregnancy, and foal health: a review. Obesity is a growing welfare concern in modern equine populations and predisposes horses to disturbances in energy metabolism such as insulin dysregulation. However, equine metabolic syndrome has only been recognized in recent decades. Functioning energy metabolism is pivotal to normal body homeostasis and affects essentially all organ systems, including reproduction. Previous literature suggests that obesity has an effect not only on the reproductive processes in mares but also on offspring health, predisposing the offspring to later-onset orthopedic and metabolic problems. This review focuse...
Plasma UCHL-1 as a Biomarker of Brain Injury in Hospitalized Foals With Neonatal Encephalopathy. A plasma biomarker such as ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL-1) to distinguish neonatal encephalopathy (NE) from other disorders and provide prognostic information would be useful for equine practitioners. In this prospective study, plasma UCHL-1 was measured in 331 hospitalized foals ≤4 days of age. Clinical diagnoses of neonatal encephalopathy only (NE group, n = 77), sepsis only (Sepsis group, n = 34), concurrent sepsis and NE (NE+Sepsis group, n = 85), or neither sepsis nor NE (Other group, n = 101) were made by the attending veterinarian. Plasma UCHL-1 concentration...
DIA mass spectrometry characterizes urinary proteomics in neonatal and adult donkeys. Health monitoring is critical for newborn animals due to their vulnerability to diseases. Urine can be not only a useful and non-invasive tool (free-catch samples) to reflect the physiological status of animals but also to help monitor the progression of diseases. Proteomics involves the study of the whole complement of proteins and peptides, including structure, quantities, functions, variations and interactions. In this study, urinary proteomics of neonatal donkeys were characterized and compared to the profiles of adult donkeys to provide a reference database for healthy neonatal donkeys. T...
High-Risk Pregnancy Is Associated With Increased Alpha-Fetoprotein Concentrations in the Amniotic Fluid and Foal Plasma. This study aimed to determine alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentrations in amniotic fluid, plasma of mares and respective foals: carrying normal pregnancies and delivering healthy foals (n = 20; Group 1); carrying apparently normal pregnancies and delivering sick foals (n = 15; Group 2); carrying high-risk pregnancies and delivering sick foals (n = 14; Group 3). High-risk pregnancy was defined by a history of premature udder development/lactation or increased of the combined thickness of the uterus and placenta, or vulvar discharge and/or mares' systemic illness. Sick foals were affected by...
Evaluation of refractometry methods for estimating passive immunity status in neonatal foals. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the accuracy of the digital Brix and serum total protein (TP) refractometers for estimating different passive immunity status in neonatal foals. In total, 18- to 40-h old purebred Arabian foals (n = 185) were used. Serum TP concentrations, total solid percentages and IgG concentrations were measured with a digital serum TP refractometer, digital Brix refractometer and the gold standard radial immunodiffusion (RID) assay, respectively. Correlation coefficients were calculated between the refractometer and RID assay results. A receiv...
Study on NGF and VEGF during the Equine Perinatal Period-Part 2: Foals Affected by Neonatal Encephalopathy. Neonatal Encephalopathy (NE) may be caused by hypoxic ischemic insults or inflammatory insults and modified by innate protective or excitatory mechanisms. Understanding the underlying pathophysiology is important in formulating a rational approach to diagnosis. The preliminary aim was to clinically characterize a population of foals spontaneously affected by NE. The study aimed to: (i) evaluate nerve growth factor (NGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in plasma samples obtained in the affected population at parturition from the mare’s jugular vein, umbilical cord vein an...
Neurologic Disorders of the Foal. Neurologic disease of foals is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for veterinarians. Disease conditions such as neonatal encephalopathy are seen as well as developmental and congenital defects, bacterial infections, and trauma. Neonatal encephalopathy can be considered a "syndrome" with a variety of causes resulting in a similar clinical presentation. These causes can be categorized as maladaptation, hypoxic/ischemic encephalopathy, and metabolic abnormalities, all leading to signs of cerebral and brainstem disease. Spinal cord signs may occasionally be seen, but these signs are usually ov...
Dystocia in the Standardbred Mare: A Retrospective Study from 2004 to 2020. Dystocia as a prolonged stage II parturition (>30 min) was associated with a higher risk of complications. The hypothesis of the study was that any type of dystocia could affect the foal’s health, even when the stage II was <30 min. Clinical reports on 222 Standardbred mares and their foals hospitalized at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University of Bologna from 2004 to 2020 were reviewed. Mares were divided into the Eutocia Group (165, eutocic delivery) and the Dystocia Group (57, dystocic delivery). The incidence of dystocia was 4.9%. Stage II was longer in the Dystocia Gro...
Comparison of insulin sensitivity between healthy neonatal foals and horses using minimal model analysis. The equine neonate is considered to have impaired glucose tolerance due to delayed maturation of the pancreatic endocrine system. Few studies have investigated insulin sensitivity in newborn foals using dynamic testing methods. The objective of this study was to assess insulin sensitivity by comparing the insulin-modified frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (I-FSIGTT) between neonatal foals and adult horses. This study was performed on healthy neonatal foals (n = 12), 24 to 60 hours of age, and horses (n = 8), 3 to 14 years of age using dextrose (300 mg/kg IV) and insulin (0....
Energy and mineral metabolism of peripartum mares and foals of the Quarter Horse breed. Several studies have demonstrated variations in peripartum blood biochemical analytes used to monitor the health status of mares and their foals of different breeds. Objective: We aimed to characterize the physiologic changes of peripartum energy and mineral metabolism in healthy Quarter Horse mares and their neonatal foals. Methods: Blood samples were initially collected from 17 mares on days 60 and 30 prepartum, and from mares and their foals on the day of parturition (after colostrum ingestion), and on days 15, 30, and 60 postpartum. The serum concentrations of calcium, phosphorus, magnesiu...
Prevalence and performance effects of neonatal disease in Thoroughbred and Standardbred foals in South-Eastern Australia. There is little information on foal mortality and the epidemiology of diseases in the neonatal period in Australian equine breeding enterprises. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 1219 foals on 15 breeding farms in south-eastern Australia to identify the proportion of foals recognised on farm as abnormal at birth or within the first 48 h postpartum, determine the prevalence and risk factors for neonatal disease and assess the subsequent performance of foals in the study population. Results: Overall, 27 foals died within 6 weeks of birth in the study population (2.2%), 142 foal...
Plasma disposition of ceftazidime in healthy neonatal foals following intravenous and intramuscular administration. Cephalosporin antimicrobials can be utilized for the treatment of sepsis in neonatal foals, particularly when an aminoglycoside is contraindicated. Some cephalosporins, however, are not utilized because of cost, sporadic availability, or uncertainty about efficacy. The plasma disposition of ceftazidime, a third-generation cephalosporin with a broad spectrum of activity against a wide variety of gram-negative bacteria and minimal renal side effects has not been reported in neonatal foals. In this study, the plasma disposition of single intravenous (IV) and intramuscular (IM) doses of ceftazidim...
Oxidative state in equine neonates: Anti- and pro-oxidants. In newborns, exposure to the extrauterine environment with high oxygen tension and sudden pulmonary adaptation leads to an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS have several physiological roles, which are essential for neonatal development, however, when unbalanced, these highly unstable molecules can cause cellular destabilisation, compromising vital processes. Objective: To characterise the oxidative status in healthy equine neonates, evaluating an indicator of lipid peroxidation and both enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant systems, during the first week of life. Methods: Experim...
A Field Study of Serum, Colostrum, Milk Iodine, and Thyroid Hormone Concentrations in Postpartum Draft Mares and Foals. Iodine, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) are required for normal fetal growth, maturation, and neonatal survival. There is a lack of robust information on iodine levels found in colostrum, milk, and serum of mares and foals after a healthy pregnancy. Our objective was to characterize colostrum, milk, and serum iodine levels in healthy postpartum mares and foals (n = 10) and explore relationships with thyroid hormone concentrations. Colostrum, milk, and jugular blood samples from draft breed mares and foals with an estimated average iodine daily intake of 39 mg per mare during pregnan...
Clinical Pathology in the Foal. The dynamic physiologic changes and unique diet during the neonatal period contribute to key differences in clinicopathologic test results of healthy foals relative to healthy adult horses. When reporting results, most diagnostic laboratories only provide reference intervals for mature horses. Thus, failure to recognize the unique differences that occur in foals relative to adult horses can lead to erroneous interpretation of neonatal clinical pathologic values. Thus, the main objective of this article was to review distinct features of common clinicopathologic tests in foals, relative to matu...
Biomarkers for placental disease in mares. Placentitis is an important cause of abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal death in horses. The diagnosis of placentitis is based on occurrence of clinical signs (premature mammary gland development and vulvar discharge) and ultrasonography of the caudal placental pole. However, early and subtle cases can be missed. In the last few years, several studies have provided objective means of diagnosing placentitis in mares with single or serial measurements of blood markers. Among the markers evaluated the steroids produced by the fetoplacental unit have been shown to change in association with placen...
Plasma concentrations of steroid precursors, steroids, neuroactive steroids, and neurosteroids in healthy neonatal foals from birth to 7 days of age. Transient hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction occurs in critically ill foals with sepsis and neonatal maladjustment syndrome (NMS). Cortisol is the most commonly measured steroid. However, a complex interaction of various steroid compounds might play a role in pathophysiology of this disorder. Objective: To identify steroid compounds present at high concentrations at birth that rapidly and steadily decrease within the first 7 days of life in healthy foals and that might be supportive diagnosis of NMS and other neonatal disorders. Methods: Ten healthy neonatal Quarter Horse foals ...
