Oxytocin is a hormone and neuropeptide that is produced in the hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland in horses. It is involved in various physiological and behavioral processes, including social bonding, reproduction, and stress regulation. In equine studies, oxytocin is examined for its effects on mare-foal interactions, its role in parturition and lactation, and its influence on stress and anxiety responses in horses. Research into oxytocin also explores its potential therapeutic applications in managing behavioral issues and enhancing welfare in equine populations. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the production, function, and potential applications of oxytocin in horses.
The Journal of nutritionOctober 1, 1983
Volume 113, Issue 10 2096-2106 doi: 10.1093/jn/113.10.2096
Oftedal OT, Hintz HF, Schryver HF.Milk samples averaging 500 ml were collected weekly from 10 to 54 days postpartum from five lactating mares. Samples were obtained by hand milking after oxytocin administration and while the foal nursed. Dry matter, protein and gross energy were higher in samples obtained at 10 and 17 days postpartum than those obtained during the midlactation period of 24-54 days. Midlactation samples averaged 10.5% dry matter, 1.29% fat, 1.93% protein, 6.91% sugar and 50.6 kcal/100 g. Protein comprised 22% of milk energy. Milk intake was estimated in five foals from deuterium oxide (D2O) turnover to be 16, 1...
Terblanche HM.Parturition was induced in 6 mares between Day 327 and 346 of pregnancy using oxytocin (Group I) and in 6 mares between Day 315 and 330 of pregnancy with fluprostenol in combination with oxytocin (Group II). A third group of 4 mares which served as controls were allowed to go to full term (322-340 days) and foal down normally. Parturition occurred within 24-102 min (mean = 61,4; SD = 31,6) in 5 of the Group I mares and within 160-185 min (mean = 173; SD = 10,86) in the mares of Group II. Expulsion of the afterbirth took place between 7 and 206 min (mean = 79; SD = 76,38) and between 7 and 73 m...
Leadon DP, Rossdale PD, Jeffcott LB, Allen WR.Various regimens of prostaglandins, alone or followed by oxytocin, were given to induce parturition in mares during the pre-viable and premature periods of gestation and in near-term mares. The most successful method of induction was found to be 2 i.m. injections of 500 micrograms fluprostenol (Equimate: I.C.I.) at a 2-h interval followed (if necessary) by 10-20 i.u. oxytocin injected i.v. in 5 i.u. serial increments every 15-20 min. Peak concentrations of the prostaglandin metabolite (PGFM) in response to the inducing agents were shown to be associated with delivery at, but not before, 320 da...
Rose RJ, Rossdale PD, Leadon DP.Six spontaneously delivered foals, 8 Thoroughbred foals induced at term with fluprostenol and 17 Pony foals induced prematurely with fluprostenol and oxytocin at a gestational age of 270 to 330 days were studied to determine PO2, PCO2, pH, base excess and HCO3 values in arterial blood between birth and 7 days of age. The Pony foals were subdivided into those that survived greater than 24 h (N = 9) and less than 9 h (N = 8). Blood gas and acid base values in the term-induced foals were similar to those in spontaneously delivered foals. The induced premature foals surviving greater than 24 h had...
Stewart DR, Stabenfeldt GH, Hughes JP.Plasma relaxin concentrations were measured hourly by radio immunoassay in 4 pregnant mares from 11 days before until 4 days after natural foaling. Pre-partum levels ranged from 4 to 7 ng/ml without any surge until the second stage of labour when they increased rapidly to about 11 ng/ml. In 3 of these mares, relaxin activity declined immediately after the expulsion of the placenta and was below detectable levels within 36 h. In the other mare relaxin activity did not fall until after the mechanical removal of the placenta 7 h after foaling. Eight mares were induced to foal by the administratio...
Burns PJ, Kumaresan P, Douglas RH.An experiment was conducted to measure plasma oxytocin concentrations at 4 different stages of the estrous cycle in 11 pony mares. Plasma oxytocin concentrations (muU/ml +/- SE) were found to be higher (P<.01) on day 2 of estrous (39.8 +/- 12.5) and day 5 post-ovulation (33.1 +/- 12.0) than on day 10 (2.3 +/- 1.6) and day 15 post-ovulation (6.8 +/- 4.1). A second experiment was conducted to measure jugular plasma oxytocin concentrations before and after sexual arousal in six pony stallions. Oxytocin concentrations (muU/ml +/- SE) were higher (P<0.06) after sexual arousal (50.5 +/- 8.9) than be...
Pashen RL.Levels of the major circulating metabolite of prostaglandin F-2 alpha, 13, 14 dihydro-15-oxo-prostaglandin F-2 alpha (PGFM) were measured during the induction of foaling using small (2.5-10 iu) intravenous doses of oxytocin. PGFM levels rose rapidly in all animals within 15 min of injection and were associated with typical signs of second stage labour. Because these small doses of oxytocin are effective in successfully triggering parturition it is suggested that higher doses (40-120 iu) used to induce birth in other studies are unnecessary and could be potentially dangerous to the foetal foal....
Neely DP, Stabenfeldt GH, Sauter CL.Daily injections of 150 units oxytocin administered to 6 mares on Days 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 after ovulation (Day 0 = ovulation) failed to induced luteolysis as indicated by the maintenance of normal plasma progestagen concentrations and the occurrence of normal ovulatory intervals. Three additional mares were given oestrogen injections 24 h before an injection of oxytocin on Day 7 after ovulation, but this treatment also failed to induce luteolysis since plasma progestagen concentrations were maintained in all three mares. Two mares exhibited normal ovulatory intervals, while the third developed a...
Barnes RJ, Comline RS, Jeffcott LB, Mitchell MD, Rossdale PD, Silver M.The concentrations of 13, 14-dihydro-15-oxo-prostaglandin F(PGFM), the stable metabolite of prostaglandin F, were measured in the plasma of catheterized mares and foetuses and non-catheterized thoroughbred mares and ponies during the last months of gestation. The plasma concentration of PGFM increased gradually towards term in all groups of animals. During the operation for insertion of catheters, maternal and foetal concentrations of PGFM were high, but the values fell to basal levels 24--48 h after the operation. It was found the preoperative starvation (24 h) led to a rise in the concentrat...
Jeffcott LB, Rossdale PD.The efficacy and safety of oxytocin, dexamethasone and prostaglandin, used alone or in combination as inducing agents, are discussed. It is contended that insufficient evidence exists to support the routine application of any of these methods in practice. Oxytocin has been the most widely used and it is claimed by some to be free from side effects. However, the synthetic prostaglandin analogue, fluprostenol, seems to pose the least risk to the foetus and dexamethasone appears to be either ineffective, or too dangerous to use at all. The main indications for induced foaling are managerial conve...
Hillman RB.Thirty-seven induced parturitions involving thirty-one mares were studied over a 2-year period using various doses of oestrogen and oxytocin. The time of appearance and degree of expression of the major clinical signs of parturition, and the time for completion of delivery and the passage of the placenta were significantly influenced by increasing doses of oxytocin. Oestrogen was useful in softening and relaxing the cervix when it was tight, but was not essential to induction when the cervix was already soft and dilating. Fertility was not adversely affected by induced parturition.
Arthur GH.The effect of intrauterine saline on reproductive function was studied by infusion of mares in anoestrus, dioestrus, oestrus and prolonged dioestrus. Anoestrous mares were unaffected except near the beginning and end of the breeding season when anovulatory heats were induced. Dioestrous mares infused between Days 5 and 9 returned to heat an average of 3-8 days earlier than expected, and infusions during dioestrus were followed by ovulatory heats of normal fertility. Three mares in prolonged dioestrus showed ovulatory heats within 3 to 9 days of infusion. Infusions during oestrus had no appreci...
The Journal of physiologySeptember 1, 1975
Volume 250, Issue 3 633-649 doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1975.sp011074
Johnson KG.1. A technique for perfusion of skin has been used to investigate a possible neurochemical basis for the different patterns of sweating in domestic animals. Evaporative water loss was measured from excised trunk skin, ears or tails perfused with a nutrient Krebs solution, to which drugs were added as required. Perfused skin was observed to sweat in response to administration of sudorific drugs, and some features of the patterns of sweating were similar to those which could be induced by heating or by drugs in conscious animals. 2. In sheep and goat skin, injections of adrenaline, and to a less...
Klein C, Troedsson MH.Maternal recognition of pregnancy in the horse is the sum of events leading to maintenance of pregnancy; in a narrow sense, maternal recognition of pregnancy refers to the physiological process by which the lifespan of the corpus luteum is prolonged. The horse is one of the few domestic species in which the conceptus-derived pregnancy recognition signal has not been identified. The presence of the conceptus reduces pulsatile prostaglandin F(2α) secretion by the endometrium during early gestation in the mare, partly attributed to the reduced expression of cyclooxygenase-2. Cyclooxygenase-2 has...
Madill S, Troedsson MH, Alexander SL, Shand N, Santschi EM, Irvine CH.The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different breeding stimuli on uterine contractility and pituitary oxytocin release in five oestrous mares, in order to design better treatments for mares with defective physical uterine clearance mechanisms. Electrodes and strain gauges were implanted surgically on the uterine myometrium and myometrial activity was monitored with a Grass polygraph. A catheter was placed non-surgically in the intercavernous sinus of each oestrous mare to sample pituitary venous blood and a second catheter was placed in the jugular vein. Continuous sampling ...
Busse NI, Uberti B.A 12-year-old, multiparous, parturient show jumper embryo-recipient mare presented at a veterinary hospital, seven days past her due date and with a dilated cervix, for evaluation of mild colic. Gastrointestinal or metabolic abnormalities and fetal maldispositions were excluded as causes of dystocia, and a diagnosis of uterine inertia was made. There was no uterine response to oxytocin treatment. A live filly was delivered via C-section, and severe selenium deficiency was eventually confirmed in the mare, her offspring, and in the herd of origin. The filly was born with severe white muscle dis...
Rasch K, Schoon HA, Sieme H, Klug E.The aim of this field study was to examine the influence of the uterotonic substance oxytocin in 2 different therapeutic dosages of 15 and 25 i.u., respectively on the uterine drainage of oestrous mares and on their fertility. In addition endometrial biopsies of mares with and without intrauterine fluid accumulations around the time of ovulation were evaluated histomorphologically regarding the aetiology of susceptibility to uterine infection. A population of 59 Hanoverian Warmblood mares was used in this study. The mares were divided into Group A (mares with intrauterine fluid accumulations [...
Nagel C, Aurich C.Based on the marked variability in physiological equine gestation length, induction of foaling in mares often results in the birth of dysmature foals. Precise prediction of preparedness of the mare for foaling is thus essential. Treatment with glucocorticoids mimics the fetal signal that initiates birth. Repeated daily dexamethasone treatment in late gestation results in birth of mature foals but the time from initiation of treatment to foaling is highly variable and complications such as dystocia have been reported. Contrary to most expectations, treatment of prepartum mares with progestogens...
Waelchli RO, Ehrensperger F.Hydrops allantois was diagnosed in two Haflinger mares with severe abdominal distension. Both mares were seven months pregnant. Abortion was induced with two injections of prostaglandin six hours apart followed by further manual dilation of the cervix and administration of oxytocin the next day. There were 90 and 95 litres of fluid, respectively, in the allantoic cavities which resembled extracellular fluid with regard to concentrations of urea, creatinine, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate and chloride, but not total protein. Both fetuses had severe brain abnormalities which we...
Gee EK, Gillespie L, Bolwell CF.To compare the efficacy of oxytocin given once daily, either I/V or I/M, on Days 7-14 post-ovulation, on the expression of oestrus in mares through to 65 days post-ovulation. Methods: Eighteen mares of various breeds that were displaying normal oestrous cycles were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups on the day of ovulation (Day 0), detected using transrectal ultrasonography. Mares in the control group (n = 6) were given 1 mL saline I/V; mares in the I/V and I/M groups (n = 6 per group) were injected with 10 IU oxytocin I/V and I/M, respectively. All treatments were given once d...
Rigby S, Love C, Carpenter K, Varner D, Blanchard T.Eleven light-breed pregnant mares (335 to 347 d gestaton) were used to evaluate the use of prostaglandin E2 as a cervical ripening agent prior to induction of parturition during the months of April and May. Six hours prior to induction, each mare's cervix was examined per vagina for softness and dilation. Each mare was then assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups: Group PGE mares (n = 7) received 2.0 to 2.5 mg prostaglandin E2 deposited intracervically; Group SAL mares (n = 4) received 0.5 mL of sterile NaCl deposited intracervically. Six hours later, the mares were readied for parturition by wrap...
Shand N, Irvine CH, Turner JE, Alexander SL.Jugular blood samples were collected at 4 h intervals from six mares during an oestrous cycle to study the hormonal events that occur around the time of luteolysis. Blood samples from day 10 (day 0 = ovulation) until day 3 of oestrus were assayed for prostaglandin metabolite 13,14-dihydro-15-keto PGF2alpha (PGFM), oxytocin, prolactin, progesterone and oestrogen conjugates. PGF2alpha (0.5 or 1.5 mg) was administered to six mid-dioestrous mares and the oxytocin and prolactin responses were measured. One to five large (peak > or =2 x nadir) pulses of PGFM, oxytocin and prolactin were detected ...
Nagel C, Aurich C, Aurich J.This review summarizes current knowledge on stress-like responses in parturient animals and their role for the onset and fine-tuning of parturition. The antepartum maternal cortisol increase is part of the endocrine changes that initiate parturition but a further increase in cortisol release during labor indicates a stress response. During the last minutes of delivery, sinus arrhythmias occur in 80% of foaling mares and 60% of calving cows. Expulsion of the neonate is thus characterized by parasympathetic dominance. In late-pregnant cows transported by road, cortisol concentrations increased b...
Alamaary M, Ali A.This report presents a case of uterine prolapse in a Thoroughbred mare. The uterine prolapse occurred after abortion of twins in the eighth month of gestation. The prolapsed uterus was bleeding and congested but not damaged. The placenta was still attached to the endometrium. Blood samples were collected for hematology and for estimation of calcium, progesterone and estrogen. The cervix and clitoris were swabbed for bacteriology. The mare showed a decrease in the number of lymphocytes. The concentrations of estrogen and progesterone seemed normal compared with mares that foaled. Pseudomonas ae...
Rigby BR.Repeated stresses applied to the rider may contribute to the documented physical and psychosocial outcomes from equine-assisted services. In this brief review, a summary of neuroendocrine markers of stress, including immunoglobulin A, serotonin, cortisol, progesterone, and oxytocin, is presented within the context of the physiology of stress modulation. Results are mixed with regard to the effects of these hormones on rider physiology before, during, and after equine-assisted services. However, some results from existing studies are promising with regard to the attenuation of stress. Future re...
Vincent A, Morrissey M, Acri M, Guo F, Hoagwood K.This study examines the effect of volunteering within a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl) premiere accredited center by exploring the experiences of volunteers leading horses in adaptive riding lessons. Adaptive Riding lessons are horseback riding lessons for individuals ages four through the lifespan, with special needs, varying from cognitive, physical, social-emotional, or other challenges. Volunteers directly impact the rider-horse bond by increasing accessibility to horseback riding for individuals with disabilities, fostering a meaningful bond...
Moscovice LR, Sobczak B, Niittynen T, Koski SE, Gimsa U.Although best known for its established role in mediating parturition and lactation, the highly-conserved neuropeptide hormone oxytocin also mediates a range of social and stress-buffering processes across mammalian species. Measurements of peripheral oxytocin in plasma have long been considered the gold standard, but there is increasing interest in developing methods to detect oxytocin non-invasively in saliva. Here we present an analytical and biological validation of a novel method to measure salivary oxytocin (sOXT) in an under-studied research group: farm animals. Given their similarities...
Sala-Ayala L, Martínez-Boví R, Querol-Paajanen A, Cuervo-Arango J.The aims of this study were to determine the effect of the embryo flushing technique and the number of flushing attempts performed by operators of different experience on embryo recovery (ER). Ten non-lactating mares were inseminated with the same stallion in six cycles each (n = 60). Embryo flushing (EF) was performed 7-9 days after ovulation by three operators (OP; 20 EF cycles each): OP1 had performed >500 EF before the study, while OP2 and 3 had performed 0 EF. Each EF was performed with 2 flushing attempts (FA) using 1L of ringer's lactate "in-and-out" using two EF techniques: 1) ...
Khan Y, El-Shalofy A, Kaps M, Gautier C, Aurich C.We aimed to determine associations between experimentally impaired uterine clearance or treatment with ecbolic drugs on luteal development in estrous mares after insemination. In a crossover design, eight mares were treated with saline (CON), clenbuterol (CLEN), oxytocin (OXY) and carbetocin (CARB) from the day of first insemination until 2 days after ovulation. Between treatments, the mares rested for one cycle. Estrous mares were examined for the presence of free intrauterine fluid by transrectal ultrasound. Endometrial swabs for cytology and bacteriology were collected on days 1 and 14. Blo...
Botía M, Muñoz-Prieto A, Martínez-Subiela S, Martín-Cuervo M, Hansen S, Manteca X, Cerón JJ, López-Arjona M.Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is a frequent disease in horses that comprises two different entities: equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) and equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD). This disease considerably reduces the quality of life of affected horses and can negatively affect performance. Saliva contains biomarkers, such as oxytocin, that have been used as a welfare indicator and can develop a function as a protective factor against stress-induced changes in gastric function due to its gastric antisecretory and antiulcer effects. The objective of this work was to evaluate changes...
Jung Y, Yoon M.Therapeutic programs involving human-horse interactions are gaining popularity as a means of enhancing human well-being. Understanding the physiological responses of both humans and horses during these interactions is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of such programs. This study examined the effects of specific interactive activities on both humans and horses by monitoring changes in oxytocin and cortisol levels. Six participants and six horses took part in the study. The participants engaged in three distinct activities, each lasting 15 min: (1) resting alone without the horse (rest...
Choi Y, Jung Y, Wickens CL, Yoon M.Horses are social animals, with early life experiences playing a crucial role in their physiological and behavioral development. This study explored the influence of herd dynamics and foundational training on behavioral and hormonal changes in weaned foals. We examined 13 six-month-old Quarter Horse foals over a three-month training period, performing behavioral observations, temperament assessments, and hormone analyses at the start, midpoint, and end of the training. The results indicated that affiliative behaviors decreased significantly, while agonistic behaviors first increased and then d...
