Topic:Serum
Serum in horses refers to the component of blood that remains after the removal of cells and clotting factors. It contains a variety of proteins, electrolytes, hormones, and metabolic waste products. Serum analysis is a valuable tool in veterinary medicine for assessing the health status of horses. It provides insights into organ function, nutritional status, and the presence of disease. Common parameters measured in equine serum include enzymes, such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), as well as electrolytes like sodium and potassium. This page assembles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the composition, diagnostic applications, and implications of serum analysis in equine veterinary practice.
Serum thyroxine and triiodothyronine concentrations in neonatal foals and mature horses. Serum thyroxine (T-4) and triiodothyronine (T-3) concentrations were assayed in neonatal foals (1.5 to 4 months) and mature horses (2 to 25 years old) by a modified radioimmunoassay procedure. Blood was collected from 52 clinically healthy foals and horses of various breeds (Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, American Saddle Horses, and a single cross-bred horse). Neonatal foals had high serum concentrations of T-4 (mean, 4.02 microgram/dl) and T-3 (192.9 ng/dl) as compared with the values in mature horses (T-4, mean of 1.76 microgram/dl; T-3, mean of 98.69 ng/dl). Stallions had slightly higher T-...
Pharmacokinetics of a single, orally administered dose of digoxin in horses. Digoxin (elixir, 0.022 mg/kg) was administered via stomach tube to healthy horses of mixed breeding and sexes. Serum digoxin concentrations reached a peak (2.21 +/- 0.6 ng/ml) at approximately 1 hour after dosing and had a half-life of 28.8 +/- 10.7 hours. Digoxin kinetics followed a triexponential curve, indicating that at least a 2 compartmental model is required to characterize the serum concentration-time curve after this route of administration. It was calculated that to achieve average serum concentrations of 1.1 ng/ml, an oral dose of 17.4 microgram of digoxin elixir/kg/day and an IV do...
Reference values for equine peritoneal fluid. Twenty horses, aged one to 17 years (mean age 6 years), presented for elective destruction and subsequently found at autopsy to have no significant peritoneal alterations, were used to determine a variety of reference values for peritoneal fluid. Samples were collected ante mortem or within 1 h post mortem. Each cavity contained 100 to 300 ml of usually clear, pale yellow fluid which in a clinical refractometer showed a mean specific gravity 1.010 (range 1.0081-1.0116) and mean (+/- standard deviation) total protein 7.7 +/- 3.6 g/litre. The mean total nucleated cell count (+/- sd) was 4.33 +/-...
Aqueous procaine penicillin G in the horse: serum, synovial, peritoneal, and urine concentrations after single-dose intramuscular administration. Six adult mares were given a single dose of aqueous suspension procaine penicillin G (300,000 IU/ml) IM at a dosage of 22,000 IU/kg of body weight (15.4 mg of penicillin G/kg). Serum, synovial fluid, peritoneal fluid, and urine penicillin concentrations were measured serially over a 48-hour period. The mean peak serum penicillin concentration was 1.42 microgram/ml at 3 hours. Penicillin was detected in synovial fluid and peritoneal fluid, which obtained mean peak penicillin concentrations of 0.62 microgram/ml and 0.58 microgram/ml, at 4 hours and 3 hours, respectively. These concentrations ste...
Oxytetracycline hydrochloride in the horse: serum, synovial, peritoneal and urine concentrations after single dose intravenous administration. Six adult mares were given a single intravenous injection of oxytetracycline HCl (50 mg/ml) at a dosage of 5 mg/kg. Serum, synovial fluid, peritoneal fluid, and urine oxytetracycline concentrations were measured serially over a 48-h period. The highest measured serum oxytetracycline concentration was 8.01 mcg/ml at 1/2 h. Oxytetracycline was detected in synovial fluid and peritoneal fluid, which obtained mean peak oxytetracycline concentrations of 4.43 mcg/ml and 4.20 mcg/ml, at 1/2 h and 1 h, respectively. These concentrations steadily declined in parallel with serum concentrations and were n...
Complement requirement for virus neutralization by antibody and reduced serum complement levels associated with experimental equine herpesvirus 1 infection. Pony foals, negative for detectable serum-neutralizing antibody to equine herpesvirus 1 by the standard tube-culture virus neutralization test, were experimentally infected with equine herpesvirus 1. Complement-requiring (CR) and non-complement-requiring (NCR) serum-neutralizing antibodies were evaluated in preinfection and postinfection sera by means of a complement-enhanced plaque reduction assay. Low levels of CR antibodies were found in the preinfection sera of only group II ponies. Upon infection, CR antibodies were detected by day 2 postinfection and reached peak titers between 7 and 14 ...
Lyophilized hyperimmune equine serum as a source of antibodies for neonatal foals. In a study with 15 neonatal foals (5 per treatment group), foals were fed within 4 hours of birth as follows: 250 ml of colostrum, 250 ml of lyophilized serum reconstituted at 5 times the original concentration, or 250 ml of a mixture (1:1) of colostrum and lyophilized serum. Foal serum samples were tested for immunoglobulin (Ig)G concentration and titrated for anti-equine rhinovirus 1 and anti-equine influenza A1 and A2 antibodies at 0 and 24 hours after foals were born. Except in a foal which had suckled the dam before treatment, there was no evidence of IgG or specific viral antibodies in t...
Concentration of serum transferrin in sick horses and its relationship to serum albumin content. Studies of transferrin (Tf) concentration in sera of sick horses were carried out using Mancini’s immunodiffusion technique. Relative values against a chosen reference serum were determined for a total of 112 horses. Horses with acute infections had Tf values significantly below the normal. The lowest individual Tf value in this group (46%) was found in a six-months-old foal with temperature 41°C and watery diarrhoea. Horses suffering from acute laminitis also had decreased Tf values. The lowest value in the whole material (45%) was found in a horse belonging to this group. There was a posi...
Antigen-antibody crossed electrophoretic studies and quantitative comparisons of serum transferrin types in horses. Selected transferrin phenotypes from 14 horses were investigated by antigen-antibody crossed electrophoresis. Horse sera were subjected to starch gel electrophoresis followed by right angle electrophoresis in agarose gels containing rabbit produced anti-horse transferrin. This technique gave an additional zone in the front as compared with 2 transferrin zones seen after ordinary starch gel electrophoresis. Comparisons of transferrin concentrations in horse sera were performed by an immunodiffusion technique. Values were related to a chosen reference serum. A total of 372 horses (210 Norwegian ...
The serological response of foals to vaccination against strangles. A group of 100 foals was given either a commercial bacterin or an autogenous vaccine consisting of whole cells and an acid extract of Streptococcus equi. During the study, some of the foals developed clinical strangles. Various sets of sera were collected from these foals prevaccination, during vaccination, postvaccination and postinfection. The serological response of these foals was measured by passive haemagglutination and long chain tests. In foals which remained healthy, the highest titres were reached within one to two months postvaccination with a passive haemagglutination 10 x log2 mea...
Serum levels of amoxycillin following its oral administration to thoroughbred foals. Amoxycillin trihydrate was administered orally to 6 foals at dose rates of 13 mg/kg (low), 20 mg/kg (medium) and 30 mg/kg (high) and serum concentrations determined at intervals up to 8 h. Therapeutic serum levels of 1 microgram/ml persisted for 268 mins at a dose rate of 13 mg/kg, for 339 mins at 20 mg/kg and for 381 mins at 30 mg/kg. A 2 micrograms/ml serum level persisted for 198 mins at a dose rate of 13 mg/kg, for 268 mins at 20 mg/kg and for 311 mins at 30 mg/kg. To determine the spectra of its antibacterial activity, the minimum inhibitory concentrations of amoxycillin against 8 genera ...
Characterization of the binding of Triton X-100 to equine and rabbit serum albumin. The binding isotherms for Triton X-100 binding to equine and rabbit serum albumin were determined by equilibrium dialysis at 16 degrees C in pH 7.0, I = 0.05 phosphate buffer. Presented in a Scatchard plot, the binding isotherms are a straight line, indicating thermodynamically independent and identical binding sites. In this model equine serum albumin is characterized as having 11 such sites with an equilibrium constant of 6.0 x 10(3) M-1. Similarly, rabbit serum albumin is characterized as having 9 such sites with an equilibrium constant of 8.0 x 10(3) M-1.
Contagious equine metritis: effect of vaccination on control of the disease. Pony mares were vaccinated with killed contagious equine metritis (CEM) bacteria by IV, subcutaneous, and intrauterine (IU) routes (or a combination of these routes). The serum agglutinating antibody titer varied from 1:64 to 1:1,024 after vaccination. In pony mares challenge exposed with 96-hour-old culture of CEM bacteria given by IU route, there were clinical signs of CEM, but these signs were less severe in vaccinated mares than in nonvaccinated mares. The bacterium was isolated for the exudate and from uterine samples collected from the mares after challenge exposure. A low titer of IU an...
Characterization of equine alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes based on their electrophoretic mobility by polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis. Alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes of equine tissues, peritoneal fluid, and serum were characterized by their electrophoretic mobilities, using polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis. The alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes in liver, kidney, spleen, small intestine, placenta, bone, small colon, and large colon tissue samples were extracted and separated by electrophoresis. The resulting isoenzyme mobilities and spectrophotometric scans were evaluated for their tissue specificity and for their possible use in determining the tissue contribution of alkaline phosphatase to serum and peritoneal fluid. T...
Experimental poisoning of horses and cattle with Swainsona canescens var horniana. Horses and cattle fed swainsona (Swainsona canescens var horniana) over a period of 8 to 10 weeks lost condition and became incoordinated and hypersensitive. Histological examination of tissues from affected animals revealed the characteristic changes of widespread cellular vacuolation and axonal spheroids in the CNS. Cattle withdrawn from the toxic plant after being fed for varying periods up to 8 weeks returned to normal. Serum alpha-mannosidase activity declined significantly in cattle during the test period, whereas in horses that activity rose. Serum alkaline phosphatase levels increased ...
Vaccination of pregnant ponies against equine rhinopneumonitis. Bovine herpesvirus 1247 (one dose) was given subcutaneously to five pregnant pony mares between 227 and 319 days of their gestations. There were no adverse clinical reactions, and the virus was not recovered from nasal swabs collected during a 2-week period after vaccination. Four ponies foaled full-term, live, healthy foals. The foal of the fifth mare (No. 1) was found dead, but on the basis of the pathologic and virologic examinations, the virus was not considered to be the cause of the death. At 3 weeks after vaccination, the pregnant pony mares had a 13- to 250-fold increase in serum antib...
A freeze-thaw method for concentrating plasma and serum for treatment of hypogammaglobulinaemia. Components of plasma or serum, including immunoglobulins, were concentrated two-fold by freezing then collecting 40-50% of the initial volume during thawing. This concentrated plasma (or serum) was administered intravenously to treat hypogammaglobulinaemic foals and calves. An adaptation of this method suitable for field use is described.
The immunological approach to pregnancy diagnosis: a review. The developing embryo/fetus bears antigens which are foreign to the mother and it could be expected that immune rejection of the conceptus would occur. One of the reasons why the fetus is not rejected is because a depression of the maternal immune response takes place during pregnancy. Serum from pregnant animals of several species has been shown to contain a factor, early pregnancy factor (EPF), which is immunosuppressive. EPF has been detected as early as six hours after mating and its detection could aid diagnosis of early pregnancy in all species.
Pharmacokinetics of gentamicin in the horse. The pharmacokinetics of gentamicin were studied in six healthy mature horses of mixed breeding and of both sexes. A parenteral preparation of gentamicin sulfate (5% aqueous solution) was administered rapidly (IV) at the dosage level of 5 mg/kg of body weight. Venous blood samples were taken at 0 (base line), 0.083, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours after gentamicin administration. Serum gentamicin was measured by a radioimmunoassay technique. The gentamicin concentration data was fitted to a one- and two-compartment open model with first-order elimination from ...
Variation of acidic prealbumins in the donkey (Equus asinus). Starch gel electrophoresis of 55 donkey serum samples revealed three prealbumin (Pr) phenotypes temporarily designated Pr M, Pr MT and Pr T. The distribution was in agreement with a genetic theory of two codominant alleles of frequencies, PrM = 0.87 and PrT - 0.13. Variation was also observed for proteins migrating with the same rate as the Xh zones in the horse.
Serum quality: an analysis of its components. Foetal and new born bovine sera, horse serum, human serum and human plasma, and protein solutions prepared from the by-products of human plasma fractionation have been analysed. Foetal bovine sera were found to have lower total protein (g/l) and % of gamma-globulin than the other sera studied while the potassium (mmol/1) was higher. Protease inhibitors could be detected in all specimens tested.
Serum alkaline phosphatase in pregnant mares. Serum alkaline phosphatase was measured in ten mares during various stages of gestation. No significant change in serum alkaline phosphatase activity was detected during pregnancy. These data suggest that interpretation of serum alkaline phosphatase in horses can be made independently of their pregnancy status.