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Topic:Respiratory Health
Respiratory health in horses encompasses the study of the equine respiratory system, its function, and the various conditions that can affect it. The respiratory system in horses includes the upper airways, lungs, and associated structures, which facilitate gas exchange and are vital for maintaining physiological homeostasis during rest and exercise. Common respiratory conditions in horses include equine asthma, infectious diseases like strangles, and exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH). These conditions can impact a horse's performance and overall health. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, and management of respiratory health in horses.
Hyperhydration prior to moderate-intensity exercise causes arterial hypoxaemia. The second day of a 3-day event is the most physically demanding of the 3 days. If this is performed under hot and humid environmental conditions, detrimental effects on cardiovascular and thermoregulatory function and, therefore, on exercise capacity, may occur due to exercise-induced dehydration. We hypothesised that the administration of fluid equivalent to 6% of the horse's bodyweight prior to a simulated second day of a 3-day event would increase plasma volume and limit increases in core temperature. Seven Standardbred geldings underwent a training protocol prior to the study. A standardi...
Gas exchange during intense exercise in Standardbreds with earlier Rhodococcus equi pneumonia. It is not known if pulmonary function and gas exchange during exercise are altered after pyogranulomatous pneumonia caused by Rhodococcus equi infection in the foal. The aim was to evaluate whether pulmonary gas exchange during high intensity exercise was altered in mature Standardbreds with a history of R. equi pneumonia as foals. In 7 foals, R. equi pneumonia was confirmed and treated. At age 3 years, when these horses were subjected to professional training, an inclined treadmill exercise test including 4 speeds was performed. Samples were collected when a steady state in VO2 was obtained. ...
Relationship between markers of blood oxidant status and physiological variables in healthy and heaves-affected horses after exercise. Exercise-induced oxidative stress is investigated as a potential performance-limiting factor in human sports medicine. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess whether physiological variables that change with exercise intensity were correlated with blood oxidant markers in healthy and heaves-affected horses. Seven healthy horses, 8 heaves-affected in remission and 7 heaves-affected in crisis performed a standardised exercise test (SET) of stepwise increasing intensity. Variables monitored during exercise were heart rate (HR), venous plasma lactate (LA), packed cell volume (PCV) and arteria...
Benefits of moderate training to the nonspecific immune response of colts. The aim of this work was to assess whether progressive training caused an improvement in the nonspecific immune response of colts because several unusual infections are due to defects inherent in the neutrophilic function among which respiratory diseases are a major defect in the performance of athletes taking part in professional sports activities. A group of 7 Anglo-Arabian colts belonging to the Army was selected. These animals carry out training programmes for their participation in National Jumping Competitions. During a submaximal exercise test (heart rate 150 beats/min and lactate level...
The effect of treadmill incline on maximal oxygen uptake, gas exchange and the metabolic response to exercise in the horse. In healthy man, conditions that change muscle O2 delivery affect the achievable maximum rate of O2 uptake as well as the metabolic (e.g. lactate threshold, LT) and gas exchange (e.g. gas exchange threshold, Tge) responses to incremental exercise. Inclined (I) compared to level (L) running increases locomotory muscle EMG at a given speed in the horse, indicative of elevated metabolic demand. To our knowledge, the effect of treadmill incline on VO2,max, LT and Tge has not been addressed in the exercising quadruped. We used blood sampling and breath-by-breath expired gas analysis to test the hypo...
Infusion of guaifenesin, ketamine, and medetomidine in combination with inhalation of sevoflurane versus inhalation of sevoflurane alone for anesthesia of horses. To evaluate effects of infusion of guaifenesin, ketamine, and medetomidine in combination with inhalation of sevoflurane versus inhalation of sevoflurane alone for anesthesia of horses. Methods: Randomized clinical trial. Methods: 40 horses. Methods: Horses were premedicated with xylazine and anesthetized with diazepam and ketamine. Anesthesia was maintained by infusion of guaifenesin, ketamine, and medetomidine and inhalation of sevoflurane (20 horses) or by inhalation of sevoflurane (20 horses). A surgical plane of anesthesia was maintained by controlling the inhaled concentration of sevoflu...
Clinical comparison of xylazine and medetomidine for premedication of horses. To compare the analgesic and cardiopulmonary effects of medetomidine and xylazine when used for premedication of horses undergoing general anesthesia. Methods: Randomized clinical trial. Methods: 40 horses. Methods: Twenty horses were premedicated with medetomidine (10 microg/kg [4.5 microg/lb], i.m.) and the other 20 were premedicated with xylazine (2 mg/kg [0.9 mg/kg], i.m.). Horses were then anesthetized with a combination of guaifenesin and ketamine; anesthesia was maintained with halothane. Additional doses of medetomidine or xylazine were given if horses were not sufficiently sedated at ...
Detection of inhaled clenbuterol in horse urine by GC/MS2. Clenbuterol, a beta-adrenergic agonist, is used in the treatment of recurrent airway obstruction in horses. It is prohibited by horse racing authorities, because of its stimulating and growth-promoting properties. However, information on detection times of clenbuterol after administration by nebulization is lacking. In this study, a fast, sensitive quantitative GC-MS(2) method for the detection of clenbuterol in urine was developed. Alkaline liquid-liquid extraction was followed by derivatization to a cyclic methyl boronate derivative and analysis on a Finnigan MAT GCQ instrument. Method valid...
Cutaneous analgesia, hemodynamic and respiratory effects, and beta-endorphin concentration in spinal fluid and plasma of horses after acupuncture and electroacupuncture. To determine cutaneous analgesia, hemodynamic and respiratory effects, and beta-endorphin concentration in spinal fluid and plasma of horses after acupuncture and electroacupuncture (EA). Methods: 8 healthy 10- to 20-year-old mares that weighed between 470 and 600 kg. Methods: Each horse received 2 hours of acupuncture and 2 hours of PAES at acupoints Bladder 18, 23, 25, and 28 on both sides of the vertebral column as well as sham needle placement (control treatment). Each treatment was administered in a random order. At least 7 days elapsed between treatments. Nociceptive cutaneous pain thres...
Distribution and numbers of mucous glands in the horse trachea. Horses commonly suffer from respiratory diseases associated with excess secretions in the airway lumen, some of which are presumably derived from airway mucous glands. However, these structures have been little investigated in the horse. Accordingly, we describe here the number, distribution and size of equine tracheal mucous glands, and compare the data with similar information for other mammalian species. Two types of gland acini were present. In the thick connective tissue, up to 400 microm beneath the epithelium, gland acini were grouped in thin sheets that, in cross-section, averaged 20 m...
Effect of chronic airway inflammation and exercise on pulmonary and systemic antioxidant status of healthy and heaves-affected horses. In heaves-affected horses the relation between oxidant status, airway inflammation (AI) and pulmonary function (PF) is unknown. The oxidant status of blood and pulmonary epithelial lining fluid (PELF) of healthy (H, n = 6) and heaves-affected horses in clinical remission (REM, n = 6) and in crisis (CR, n = 7) was assessed at rest, during and after standardised exercise test by measurement of reduced and oxidised glutathione, glutathione redox ratio [GRR%]; uric acid and 8-epi-PGF2alpha. Oxidant status was related to PF parameters (mechanics of breathing and arterial blood gas tension) and Al p...
Differences in pulmonary functional indices derived from the single-breath diagram for CO2 (SBD-CO2) in horses related to age, sex and usage. Although pulmonary function tests have been used to evaluate horses with clinically normal lungs and those with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), comprehensive studies of equine respiratory function, considering factors such as sex, age and usage are not available. Studies on the influence of these factors on pulmonary function in healthy horses are required for interpretation of measurements made in those with respiratory disease. The study was performed with 63 warmblood horses and the status of their pulmonary health was evaluated by clinical examination. The functional aspect of pulmonar...
Safety and efficacy of a technique for thoracoscopically guided pulmonary wedge resection in horses. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of thoracoscopically guided pulmonary wedge resection in horses. Methods: 10 horses (5 control horses and 5 horses affected with recurrent airway obstruction [ie, heaves]). Methods: Each horse underwent a thoracoscopically guided pulmonary wedge resection. Before, during, and after surgery, heart rate, respiratory rate, arterial blood gases, and systemic and pulmonary arterial pressures were measured. Physical examination, CBC, and thoracic radiography and ultrasonography were performed 24 hours before and 2 and 48 hours after surgery. Pulmonary specimens we...
Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the SzP gene of Streptococcus zooepidemicus isolated from the respiratory tract of horses. To develop polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis for molecular typing of strains of Streptococcus zooepidemicus and to use the new typing method to analyze a collection of isolates from the respiratory tract of Thoroughbreds. Methods: 10 strains of S zooepidemicus, 65 isolates from the respiratory tract of 9 yearlings following long distance transportation, and 89 isolates from tracheal aspirates of 20 foals with pneumonia. Methods: Phenotypic variations in the SzP protein were detected by western immunoblot analysis. Using PCR-RFLP analysis, ge...
Sensitization to horse hair, symptoms and lung function in grooms. This study aimed to investigate the rate of occupational sensitization to horse hair in grooms and whether occupational exposure to horse hair increases respiratory and allergic symptoms and affects lung function in grooms or not. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Two hundred grooms were randomly selected among 1000 grooms working in Veliefendi Hippodrome of Istanbul. One hundred and twenty-five subjects agreed to enter the study. Ninety-two workers who worked in the different parts of this hippodrome enrolled as the control group. A detailed questionnaire including respiratory and all...
Effect of commercially available nasal strips on airway resistance in exercising horses. To determine the effect of a commercially available nasal strip on airway mechanics in exercising horses. Methods: 6 horses (5 Standardbreds and 1 Thoroughbred). Methods: Horses exercised on a treadmill at speeds corresponding to 100 and 120% of maximal heart rate with and without application of a commercially available nasal strip. Concurrently, tracheal pressures, airflow, and heart rate were measured. Peak inspiratory and expiratory tracheal pressures, airflow, respiratory frequency, and tidal volume were recorded. Inspiratory and expiratory airway resistances were calculated by dividing pe...
Severe diaphragmatic necrosis in 4 horses with degenerative myopathy. Severe diaphragmatic necrosis occurred in horses with degenerative myopathy due to polysaccharide storage myopathy (n = 2), nutritional myopathy (n = 1), and vasculitis (n = 1). Blood gas analysis performed in 1 horse indicated development of respiratory acidosis. Respiratory muscle necrosis can be severe in horses with degenerative myopathy and can lead to respiratory failure.
Cardiopulmonary effects and induction and recovery characteristics of isoflurane and sevoflurane in foals. To compare induction and recovery characteristics and cardiopulmonary effects of isoflurane and sevoflurane in foals. Methods: Prospective crossover study. Methods: 6 healthy foals. Methods: Foals were anesthetized twice (once at 1 month of age and again at 3 months of age). Anesthesia was induced by administration of the agent in oxygen through a nasotracheal tube. During maintenance of anesthesia, foals were positioned in dorsal recumbency; intermittent positive-pressure ventilation was performed. Characteristics of induction and recovery were recorded. Cardiopulmonary variables were recorde...
Xylazine-induced attenuation of dorsal displacement of the soft palate associated with epiglottic dysfunction in a horse. An 18-month-old Quarter Horse filly was evaluated because of dorsal displacement of the soft palate associated with epiglottic dysfunction that caused exercise intolerance and an abnormal respiratory noise. The abnormality of the epiglottis was corrected by use of a sedative dose of xylazine hydrochloride. There was no familial predisposition to hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, which may cause similar laryngopharyngeal signs, and the horse did not respond to administration of acetazolamide. There was no known history of trauma that could have caused neuritis, which has also been suggested as a...
Nitric oxide synthase inhibition speeds oxygen uptake kinetics in horses during moderate domain running. Within the moderate exercise intensity domain, the speed of oxygen uptake (V(O(2))) kinetics at the transition to a higher metabolic rate is thought to be limited by an inertia of the oxidative machinery. Nitric oxide (NO)-induced inhibition of O(2) consumption within the electron transport chain may contribute to this inertia. This investigation tested the hypothesis that a reduction or removal of any such NO effect via infusion of N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; a NOS inhibitor) would speed V(O(2)) kinetics at the onset of moderate exercise. Five Thoroughbred geldings underwe...
Cytological analysis of equine bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Part 3: The effect of time, temperature and fixatives. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples are often subject to time delays, possibly with temperature fluctuations, between collection and processing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of time, temperature and 2 different fixatives on equine BALF cytology, in order to develop guidelines for optimal equine BALF storage conditions. Total nucleated cell count (TCC), differential cell counts (DCC), absolute cell counts (ACC), cell viability, cell morphology and bacterial growth of BALF samples stored at 4, 18 (+/- addition of formalin- or alcohol-based fixatives) and 38 degrees C...
Transendoscopic electrosurgery of an equine pulmonary granular cell tumor. Description of transendoscopic electrosurgical treatment of a pulmonary granular cell tumor in a horse. Methods: Case report. Methods: A 12-year-old Standardbred mare. Methods: After endoscopic examination and transendoscopic biopsy, a granular cell tumor nodule was removed transendoscopically from the right principal bronchus of the sedated horse (0.02 mg/kg detomide intravenous) with a monopolar electrosurgical wire snare. Two days later, the surgical area was irradiated transendoscopically using a Nd-YAG laser. Results: After surgery, the horse had no further signs of respiratory disease. C...
The use of cardboard bedding material as part of an environmental control regime for heaves-affected horses: in vitro assessment of airborne dust and aeroallergen concentration and in vivo effects on lung function. This study aimed to test whether shredded cardboard is an appropriate minimum-dust bedding material for heaves-affected horses. Results of standardized in vitro measurement of airborne dust and aeroallergen concentrations of cardboard bedding were significantly lower than those of common bedding materials. Six heaves-affected horses in clinical remission after pasturing were stabled for two months on cardboard bedding and fed grass silage. Pulmonary function tests (PFT: ventilatory mechanics, arterial blood gases, airway inflammation scoring, bronchoalveolar cytology) were performed before, du...
The effects of cAMP modulation upon the adhesion and respiratory burst activity of immune complex-stimulated equine neutrophils. Toxic products such as reactive oxygen intermediates released by activated polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) have an important role in the pathophysiology of diseases associated with the deposition of immune complexes (IC) in tissues. IC-induced activation of PMN requires adhesion mediated by integrin adhesion receptors. Of the integrins expressed on PMN, the beta(2) family has been found to be of particular importance for activation of PMN by IC. beta(2) Integrin ligand binding must be activated to enable adhesion to IC. Both activating and inhibitory signals regulate beta(2) integrin ligand...
Does haemorheology explain the paradox of hypoxemia during exercise in elite athletes or thoroughbred horses? Exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia (EIAH), i.e., a significant drop of O2 arterial partial pressure during sea level exercise, has been shown in both aerobically trained athletes and athletic animal species. The mechanisms potentially involved include ventilation/perfusion inequality and/or pulmonary diffusing capacity limitation. In thoroughbred horses, EIAH is going with pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH). Stress failure of pulmonary capillaries leading to diffusion limitation has been proposed. Indeed, during intense exercise, the increased cardiac output and blood viscosity combine to rise capi...
Anti-inflammatory agent, dexamethasone, does not affect exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia in Thoroughbreds. In view of the suggestion that pulmonary injury-induced release of histamine and/or other chemical mediators from airway inflammatory and mast cells contribute to the exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia (EIAH) in human athletes, we examined the effects of pretreatment with a potent anti-inflammatory agent, dexamethasone, on EIAH and desaturation of hemoglobin in horses. Seven healthy, sound, exercise-trained Thoroughbreds were studied in the control (no medications) experiments, followed in 7 days by intravenous dexamethasone (0.11 mg.kg(-1).day(-1) for 3 consecutive days) studies. Blood-gas m...
Recent advances in inhalation anesthesia. Both desflurane and sevoflurane offer theoretical and practical advantages over other inhalation anesthetics for horses. The lower solubility of both agents provides improved control of delivery and helps to counteract the confounding influence of the voluminous patient breathing circuit commonly used for anesthetizing horses. The lower solubility should account for faster rates of recovery compared with the older agents; whether or not the quality of recovery differs remains to be objectively evaluated in a broad range of circumstances. The pharmacodynamic effects are, in large part, similar ...
Use of opioids for pain and anesthetic management in horses. REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION: There is limited, but convincing, evidence that epidural administration of morphine and some other mu-agonist opioids consistently relieves regional pain in horses. In addition, this effect is not accompanied by notable undesirable effects. On the other hand, a clinically important analgesic action has not been demonstrated for similarly administered kappa-agonist opioids. There has been little objective data presented to support the analgesic effectiveness of intra-articularly administered opioids in horses. However, the evidence of local opioid receptors legitimately...
Alveolar macrophage graded hemosiderin score from bronchoalveolar lavage in horses with exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage and controls. The objective of this study was to determine if a quantitative scoring system for evaluation of hemosiderin content of alveolar macrophages obtained by bronchoalevolar lavage provides a more sensitive test for the detection of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) in horses than does endoscopy of the lower airways. A sample population composed of 74 Standardbred racehorses aged 2-5 years was used. Horses were grouped as either control (EIPH-negative) or EIPH-positive based on history and repeated postexertional endoscopic evaluation of the bronchial airways. Bronchoalveolar lavage was p...
Validity of pulmonary function indices derived from the volumetric capnogram in horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO). The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy with which pulmonary function indices derived from the volumetric capnogram can diagnose different degrees of recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) in 63 warmblood horses. The sensitivity, specificity, the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC), optimal cut-off values and predictive values of the indices were calculated. The results obtained have shown that there is no single index characterised by specificity and sensitivity to differentiate with an accuracy of >90 per cent between the different degrees of RAO compared to the cl...
