The physiology of horses encompasses the study of the biological functions and processes that occur within the equine body. This includes the examination of various systems such as the cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal, digestive, and nervous systems. Understanding equine physiology is essential for comprehending how horses adapt to different environmental conditions, perform physical activities, and respond to health challenges. Research in this field often focuses on the mechanisms of energy metabolism, thermoregulation, and muscle function during exercise, as well as the physiological responses to stress and disease. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the diverse aspects of equine physiology, providing insights into the biological processes that support the health and performance of horses.
Dzongowska-Dzongu T, Kotoński B, Hutny J.Alpha-1,4 leads to 1,4-glucosyltransferase preparations from horse muscles and serum were studied. The enzyme proteins from both tissues are very similar. Both proteins have a molecular weight of 240 000 and consist of four subunits of 60 000 daltons each. pH 5,0 is optimal for the activity. Only substrates with alpha-1, 4-linkages can serve as glucosyl donors for transferase reactions. Km values for both enzymes differ very slightly. At low substrate concentrations the hydrolytic activity can be found in addition to transferase reactions. At the concentration of the substrate higher than 40 m...
Attenburrow DP.Techniques developed for the detection and simultaneous recording of certain events in the respiratory and limb cycles are presented. The respiratory cycle and limb cycle were found to be in-phase only at the canter and gallop. The significance of any time relationship between events in respiration and in locomotion is discussed.
Laegreid WW, Breeze RG, Counts DF.1. Equine alpha 1-antitrypsin was isolated from horse plasma by a combination of ammonium sulfate and acidification precipitation followed by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, molecular sieve chromatography on Sephadex G-200 and affinity chromatography on Cibacron Blue-agarose. 2. The purified protein showed a single precipitin arc on immunoelectrophoresis in agarose but gave two bands on discontinuous polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). 3. Both bands appeared to interact equally with trypsin and were thought to represent two isoinhibitors of equine alpha 1-AT.
Flood PF, Betteridge KJ, Diocee MS.The 23 embryos were obtained by flushing the reproductive tract. Though the general cytology was observed, most attention was given to the formation of the embryonic capsule. It first appeared as a thin uniform layer on the inner surface of the zona pellucida of embryos recovered from the uterus on Day 6. By Day 8 the capsule was about 1 micron thick and the zona pellucida had been shed. In fixed embryos of 11 days and over the capsule was 3 microns thick and had a finely stippled but otherwise homogeneous appearance.
Evans MJ, Loy RG, Taylor TB, Barrows SP.Cyclic mares were given daily i.m. injections of 150 mg progesterone (Group P, N = 4), 150 mg progesterone and 10 mg oestradiol-17 beta (Group PE, N = 3), 10 mg oestradiol-17 beta (Group E, N = 3) or cottonseed oil vehicle (Group C, N = 4), from the day after ovulation (Day 1) to Day 28. Blood samples were collected daily, and the ovaries were palpated every 1-2 days. Serum FSH and LH concentrations were measured in all samples, and means determined for 7 consecutive 4-day periods throughout treatment. Comparisons within each steroid treatment group between time periods and comparisons between...
Pattie WA, Dowsett KF.Fifteen seminal characteristics were measured in ejaculates from 4 laboratory stallions and from 164 commercial stud stallions. Complete field and laboratory data were available from 536 and 531 ejaculates, respectively. These were obtained over 4 breeding seasons (1974/75-1977/78) and 9 breeds were represented. Stallions at commercial studs produced 1-13 ejaculates at intervals of approximately 4 weeks and ranging from 1 h to 1 year apart. Intra-class correlations or 'repeatability' of each seminal characteristic were calculated. Significant between-stallion variation occurred in all characte...
Heyneman RA, Vercauteren RE.The subcellular components of purified neutrophil leukocytes from horse blood were fractionated by isopyknic equilibration in sucrose and metrizamide gradients. Five classes of particles have been identified: dense azurophil granules containing the bulk of the lysosomal acid hydrolase and peroxidase activity (A); less dense particles, containing all the lysozyme activity, but not resolved from a second population of azurophils B, and particles of low density, biochemically characterized as a plasma membrane fraction (C). Isopyknic equilibration in sucrose disclosed a minor membrane fraction (D...
Murayama JI, Tomita M, Hamada A.The complete amino acid sequence of the major sialoglycoproteins of horse erythrocyte membranes, glycophorin HA, was determined by manual sequencing methods, using tryptic, chymotryptic, and cyanogen bromide fragments. Glycophorin HA is a polypeptide chain of 120 amino acid residues and contains 10 oligosaccharide units attached to the amino-terminal side of the molecule. Its amino terminus is pyroglutamic acid. All of the oligosaccharides are linked O-glycosidically to threonine or serine residues. The amino acid sequence is consistent with the transmembrane orientation of glycophorins. There...
Sweasey D, Patterson DS, Leadon DP.The lipid content of spinal cord, expressed as a percentage of adult values, was considerably higher for newborn foals than for several other species and traces of esterified cholesterol (type A) were only rarely present in horse fetal cord (from 270 days gestational age onwards). This suggested that, at birth, the spinal cord is neurochemically more 'mature' in the horse than in cattle, sheep and pigs. Data for premature foals revealed no lipid abnormality suggestive of myelin immaturity or degeneration.
Medeiros LF, Medeiros LO, Berciano Sanjurjo MA.1. The metabolism in the erythrocytes of thoroughbred horses in a sequential study from umbilical cord to the 1st month was investigated. 2. Emphasis was put on hemolytic period at which: (a). PFK, GSH-Px and GSH play a significant role. (b). There is a lower glucose consumption determined by a decreased activity in several enzymatic steps. (c). Singularly high concentrations of 2-3DPG and ATP were detected. 3. It has been suggested that the metabolic adjustments were achieved by an increased activity of the hexose monophosphate shunt, G-3PD and AK.
Cox JE.Testes were collected from normal and cryptorchid horses of a variety of breeds and ages and weighed after dissection from the epididymis. Scrotal testes grow little until the second winter of life and little thereafter, although a nearly mature body weight is reached by the end of the first winter. Scrotal testes in unilateral cryptorchids tend to be larger than those of normal stallions, sometimes exceedingly so, although occasional small scrotal testes are recorded. Inguinal testes show some tendency to grow during the second winter but the data are difficult to analyse beyond that age beca...
Naval J, Calvo M, Lampreave F, Piñeiro A.1. A high concentration Cibacron Blue-Sepharose derivative has been used to study the affinity chromatography of albumin from eight animal species. 2. The apparent affinity constants for albumin varies between 3.9 x 10(4) M-1 and 0.9 x 10(4) M-1, in the order: Human greater than rabbit greater than horse greater than pig = dog greater than bovine greater than rat greater than chicken. 3. Other serum proteins were also bound to the gel, particularly lipoproteins and alpha 2-macroglobulin.
Michell AR, Taylor EA.In the presence of vanadate, the optimum pH of renal (Na+, K+)-ATPase in rats is reduced and lies in the range of intracellular pH. This explains the difference in optimum pH observed with ATP extracted from equine muscle. Removal of vanadate from such ATP (with noradrenaline) raises the optimum to the accepted range obtained with synthetic ATP. Changes in the sensitivity of the enzyme to potassium concentration contribute to the alterations in optimum pH. The optimum pH of Mg-ATPase is unaffected by vanadate. Since vanadate may be an intracellular regulator of (Na+, K+)-ATPase changes of opti...
van Niekerk CH, Morgenthal JC.The depressing effect on plasma progestagen levels of pregnant mares subjected to specific stressful conditions such as severe pain, infectious diseases, emotional disturbances and exogenous corticosteroids are described. It is concluded that the detrimental effect of stress, evident from its negative influence on plasma progestagen concentrations, could play a major role in the occurrence of pregnancy failure in the Thoroughbred mare.
Tischner M.In the first experiment the response of 93 adult stallions to stimulated and natural sexual stimuli was observed just before and 2 weeks after the breeding season (December and July respectively). About 72% of the stallions reacted the same before and after the breeding season (P less than 0.01) while 9% behaved similarly and 19% differently. Also, 72% of the stallions reacted with sexual arousal (mounting) to one of 3 successive simulated sexual stimuli; 25% to a dummy, an additional 44% to a gentle stallion and another 3% to a dummy smeared with mucus and urine from a mare in oestrus. In ano...
Driancourt MA, Paris A, Roux C, Mariana JC, Palmer E.Five pony and 5 saddle-type mares were used to compare total ovarian follicular populations between breeds. The animals were hemi-ovariectomized at the preovulatory stage during the breeding season and the ovary bearing the large preovulatory follicle was studied using histological techniques. Pony and saddle-type mares did not differ as to mean number of primordial follicles, mean number of growing follicles, the variability of these numbers and follicular distribution into various size classes. No difference was detected either in the initiation processes of follicular growth, oocyte growth,...
Klimas NG, Caldwell KE, Whitney PL, Fletcher MA.Membrane glycoproteins from horse, sheep, goat and bovine erythrocytes were solubilized and purified. These glycoproteins could be placed in three groups based on their degrees of glycosylation: The major bovine erythrocyte glycoprotein (BGII) had 77% sugar, the minor bovine glycoprotein (BGI) had 27% sugar and the others had approximately 50% sugar. Four of the glycoproteins aggregated in a uniform way in aqueous solution--one, BGII, did not. Four had similar subunit sizes of 25-34,000 daltons, but BGII was larger--55,000 daltons. Receptor functions (for plant and invertebrate lectins, antibo...
Peters GJ, Oosterhof A, Veerkamp JH.1. Adenosine inhibits thymidine and uridine incorporation of PHA-stimulated lymphocytes of man and horse at concentrations higher than 50 and 10 microM, respectively. Deoxyadenosine is inhibitory at concentrations higher than 100 microM. Thymidine and uridine incorporation of porcine lymphocytes are elevated 5-7-fold by 25-100 microM adenosine, deoxyadenosine, inosine and hypoxanthine. Leucine incorporation of PHA-stimulated lymphocytes was affected by adenosine and deoxyadenosine in the same way, but to a lower extent. 2. Effects of adenosine and deoxyadenosine were more pronounced at shorter...
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...
Kydd J, Miller J, Antczak DF, Allen WR.The maternal immunological response to the developing equine fetus was investigated in 69 pregnancies of various genotypes. In normal intraspecies horse pregnancy (N = 16), 94% of mares produced strong cytotoxic antibody responses to paternal histocompatibility antigens which were first detectable between 44 and 70 days after ovulation. In all other types of pregnancy examined (intraspecies donkey, N = 19; interspecies mule, N = 6; interspecies hinny, N = 2; extraspecies horse-in-donkey, N = 3; and extraspecies donkey-in-horse, N = 21), antibody production was observed less frequently, and som...
Zavy MT, Sharp DC, Bazer FW, Fazleabas A, Sessions F, Roberts RM.Uterine secretions were obtained on Days 4, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 of the oestrous cycle and early pregnancy. Acid phosphatase activity was significantly affected by day of the cycle, reaching a maximum at days 12-14 during the luteal phase and then declining to almost undetectable levels, by Day 20. In pregnant animals, activity continued to increase beyond Day 14. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that albumin was a major component. However, a number of unique proteins of non-serum origin appeared in mid-cycle but had disappeared by Day 20. One of these was a basic ...
Kim SW, Jo A, Im J, Lee HE, Kim HS.A microRNA (miRNA) is a small non-coding RNA (ncRNA) approximately 20 nucleotides long and it affects gene expression through mRNA cleavage or translational repression. Horses (Equus caballus) have been domesticated and bred to enhance their speed for racing. It has been studied extensively with genetic diversity, origins and evolution. We examined expression patterns of miR-221-3p and its target gene CDKN1C in various horse tissues. We used bioinformatic tools to examine target gene, seed region and evolutionary conservation of miR-221-3p. The expression patterns of miR-221-3p and its target ...
Kozawa Y, Mishima H, Sakae T.During the evolution of the Equoidea, the histological structures of the teeth have become more complex as the molars have become hypsodont in form. The straight Hunter-Schreger bands of Hiracotherium have evolved into a more complex pattern in Equus. The enamel prisms changed from an arched form (about 5μm in diameter) with an alternating pattern in Hiracotherium to an oval form (about 2 μm width) arranged in straight rows in Equus. In Equus the rows of prisms are separated by interprismatic sheets. This pattern may have increased the architectural strength of the enamel, and is related to ...
Takafuji VA, Howard RD, Ward DL, Sharova LV, Crisman MV.The effect of recombinant equine IL-1beta (EqIL-1beta) on steady-state mRNA levels of equine articular chondrocytes in high-density monolayer culture was investigated using a customized cDNA array analysis. Total RNA samples isolated from chondrocytes cultured in media alone or with the addition of 1 ng/ml EqIL-1beta for 1-, 3-, and 6-h durations of exposure were reverse transcribed, radiolabeled, and hybridized to a customized 380-target cDNA array. Means of duplicate log base 2 transformed hybridization signals were normalized to equine glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mean s...
Koblik PD, Hornof WJ.Survey thoracic radiography, although limited by physical considerations in the adult horse, can supply clinically useful information about changes in cardiac size and function. The radiographic features of cardiomegaly, altered pulmonary circulation, pulmonary edema, and pleural effusion as manifested in the horse are discussed. Nuclear cardiology can be performed in the standing horse. The initial transit of a radioactive tracer through the central circulation provides information about cardiac chamber size, efficiency of ventricular contraction, valvular competence, and presence of intracar...
Morris DD, Ward MV, Whitlock RH.Plasma concentrations of plasminogen were determined in 28 clinically normal horses, including 13 adult geldings, five non-pregnant mares, five pregnant mares and five yearlings (two fillies, three geldings). Plasminogen was quantitated by a chromogenic assay based on activation of plasmin by excess urokinase. The overall mean plasma plasminogen for these horses was 2.94 +/- 0.54 CTA units (casein units, as defined by the Committee on Thrombolytic Agents) per ml. There were no significant differences in mean plasma plasminogen values among adult geldings, non-pregnant mares, pregnant mares or ...