Species comparison in horses involves examining the physiological, anatomical, and behavioral differences and similarities between horses and other animal species. This area of study can provide insights into the evolutionary adaptations and ecological roles of horses. Researchers often focus on aspects such as digestive systems, locomotion, sensory capabilities, and social structures to understand how horses have evolved to meet their environmental and survival needs. Comparative studies may also explore genetic differences and similarities, contributing to a broader understanding of species evolution and adaptation. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research and scholarly articles that analyze various aspects of species comparison involving horses, highlighting significant findings and methodologies used in the field.
Won SY, Kim YC, Kim SK, Jeong BH.Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases and are characterized by the accumulation of abnormal prion protein (PrP) in the brain. During the outbreak of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic in the United Kingdom, prion diseases in several species were reported; however, horse prion disease has not been reported thus far. In previous studies, the shadow of prion protein (Sho) has contributed to an acceleration of conversion from normal prion protein (PrP) to PrP, and the shadow of prion protein gene () polymorphisms have been significantly associated with the susceptibi...
Rolf J, Siedentop R, Lütz S, Rosenthal K.The cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) catalyzes the synthesis of the multifunctional second messenger, cGAMP, in metazoans. Although numerous cGAS homologues are predicted in protein databases, the catalytic activity towards cGAMP synthesis has been proven for only four of them. Therefore, we selected five novel and yet uncharacterized cGAS homologues, which cover a broad range in the field of vertebrates. Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) was used for a pre-screening to investigate if the cGAS genes originating from higher organisms can be efficiently expressed in a bacterial expression system....
Wu DD, Yang CP, Wang MS, Dong KZ, Yan DW, Hao ZQ, Fan SQ, Chu SZ, Shen QS, Jiang LP, Li Y, Zeng L, Liu HQ, Xie HB, Ma YF, Kong XY, Yang SL, Dong XX....Abundant and diverse domestic mammals living on the Tibetan Plateau provide useful materials for investigating adaptive evolution and genetic convergence. Here, we used 327 genomes from horses, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and dogs living at both high and low altitudes, including 73 genomes generated for this study, to disentangle the genetic mechanisms underlying local adaptation of domestic mammals. Although molecular convergence is comparatively rare at the DNA sequence level, we found convergent signature of positive selection at the gene level, particularly the gene in these Tibetan domest...
Bhoora RV, Collins NE, Schnittger L, Troskie C, Marumo R, Labuschagne K, Smith RM, Dalton DL, Mbizeni S.Recently reported substantial genetic diversity within Theileria equi 18S rRNA gene sequences has led to the identification of five genotypes A, B, C, D, and E, complicating molecular and serological diagnosis. In addition, T. haneyi has lately been reported as a species closely related to the T. equi 18S rRNA genotype C (Knowles et al., 2018). Theileria spp. of this group have a monophyletic origin and are therefore referred to as Equus group to distinguish them from the remaining Theileria lineages (Jalovecka et al., 2019). In this study, we report on the development of genotype-specific qua...
Farahi S, Shishehbor P, Nemati A, Witaliński W.A new mite species, Trachygamasus karuni sp. nov. is described from buffalo, sheep and horse manure at several locations north of Ahvaz city, Khuzestan, Iran. A key to 14 world species of Trachygamasus with described adults is also provided.
Ning T, Ling Y, Hu S, Ardalan A, Li J, Mitra B, Chaudhuri TK, Guan W, Zhao Q, Ma Y, Savolainen P, Zhang Y.Despite decades of research, the horse domestication scenario in East Asia remains poorly understood. The study identified 16 haplogroups with fine-scale phylogenetic resolution using mitochondrial genomes of 317 horse samples. The time to the most recent common ancestor of the 16 haplogroups ranges from [0.8-3.1] thousand years ago (KYA) to [7.9-27.1] KYA. With combined analyses of the mitochondrial control region for 35 extant Przewalski's horses, 3544 modern and 203 ancient horses across the world, researchers provide evidence for that East Asian prevalent haplogroups Q and R were indigenou...
Liu X, Mawolo JB, Du X, Zhou Y, Wang H, Liu F, He Z, Marela HA.The Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) is a critically endangered species, and there has been limited success in restoring the population by captive breeding. This study assessed the biochemical and physiological parameters of newborn Saiga antelope to provide reference information that can be used to evaluate their health. Comparisons have been made with parameters for horses and closely related members of the Bovidae family but there are no reference values for the newborn Saiga antelope. Biochemical and physiological parameters were measured in 61 animals. An automatic analyzer (Hitachi Ltd. 7...
Draper ACE, Wilson Z, Maile C, Faccenda D, Campanella M, Piercy RJ.A glutamic acid to lysine (E40K) residue substitution in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) is associated with canine degenerative myelopathy: the only naturally occurring large animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The E40 residue is highly conserved across mammals, except the horse, which naturally carries the (dog mutant) K40 residue. Here we hypothesized that in vitro expression of mutant dog SOD1 would recapitulate features of human ALS (ie, SOD1 protein aggregation, reduced cell viability, perturbations in mitochondrial morphology and membrane potential, reduced ATP production,...
Markell R, Saviola G, Barker EA, Conway JD, Dujardin C.There has recently been some controversy over the use of bisphosphonates in horses and some confusion regarding the different classes of bisphosphonates and the differences between the mechanism of actions and effects of each class. This review article explores the different bisphosphonate classes and their different effects and mechanisms of action based on research from both the human and equine veterinary fields. This collaborative review between veterinary surgeons and medical doctors describes the latest use of bisphosphonates in humans and horses, including safety aspects, and allows com...
Contentin R, Demoor M, Concari M, Desancé M, Audigié F, Branly T, Galéra P.Osteoarthritis (OA) remains incurable in humans or horses and mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) represent an attractive solution for producing a neocartilage substitute. However, the best MSC source still needs to be identified. This study compared the chondrogenic potential of equine MSCs derived from bone marrow (BM) and umbilical cord blood (UCB), at their undifferentiated status to check if one cell source is better proned, and after chondrogenic-induced differentiation. Chondrogenesis was induced by culture in collagen scaffold with BMP-2 + TGF-ß1 in hypoxia or normoxia. MSCs cho...
Siemsen DW, Kirpotina LN, Malachowa N, Schepetkin IA, Porter AR, Lei B, DeLeo FR, Quinn MT.The development of new advances in understanding the role of neutrophils in inflammation requires effective procedures for isolating and purifying neutrophils. Methods for isolating human neutrophils are fairly standard, and some are covered in other chapters of this volume and previous editions. However, procedures for isolating neutrophils from nonhuman species used to model human diseases vary from those used in isolating human neutrophils and are not as well developed. Since neutrophils are highly reactive and sensitive to small perturbations, the methods of isolation are important to avo...
May-Davis S, Vermeulen Z, Hunter R, Brown W.For over 200 years, equine anatomic literature has chiefly portrayed the attachment points of the nuchal ligament lamellae (NLL) from the second to the seventh cervical vertebrae (C2-C7). However, recent studies have shown that the modern domestic horse, Equus caballus, primarily exhibits the attachments points from C2-C5. Here we present the rare finding of a complete NLL attached from C2-C7 in one Australian Stock Horse (ASH) and discuss the potential implications of these findings. Previously, this trait has only been confirmed among close descendants of Equus ferus ferus; namely the primi...
Smith RM, Kotzé A, Grobler JP, Dalton DL.Toll-like receptors (TLR) are a family of proteins that signal activation of the innate immune response through the recognition of a variety of pathogen molecular compounds. Here, we characterized the complete TLR9 gene in Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) from three populations in South Africa and compared sequences to a variety of horse and donkey breeds. Overall, we identified six single nucleotide polymorpHisms (SNPs). A single SNP (G586S) was non-synonymous, whereas the remaining SNPs were synonymous. The G586S alteration was detected in Cape mountain zebra populations with varying ...
Pluháček J, Tučková V, Šárová R, King SRB.Overmarking remains an unstudied topic in juvenile mammals. We have previously documented a very high rate of overmarking by foals in four captive African equid species: mountain zebra (Equus zebra), plains zebra (Equus quagga), Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi), and African wild ass (Equus africanus). African equids vary interspecifically in their social organisation. Since differences in social organisation affect many mammalian behaviours, in this study we investigated interspecific differences in overmarking behaviour of foals, analysing only cases where elimination of any other individual was...
Lagos J, Tadich TA.Hematological and biochemical reference intervals are an important tool for health assessment and treatment decision-making in veterinary medicine. Lack of information about reference intervals (RI) in mules force professionals to apply reference intervals developed for horses or donkeys, with the risk of misinterpretation. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine hematological and biochemical RI for healthy mules and compare them with those proposed in literature for horses, donkeys and mules. A total of 142 healthy mules (mixed breed mares × Baudet du Poitou) of both sex, all between 7 ...
Mei M, Chen R, Gao X, Cao Y, Weng W, Duan Y, Tan X, Liu Z.Meat fraud and adulteration incidents occur frequently in almost all regions of the globe, especially with the increase in the world's population. To ensure the authenticity of meat products, we developed a 10-plex xMAP assay to simultaneously detect ten animal materials: bovine, caprine, poultry, swine, donkey, deer, horse, dog, fox and mink. Results: This method was investigated by analyzing DNA extracts from raw muscle, muscle mixtures, meat products and animal feeds. Our results indicated that the species of interest can be identified, differentiated and detected down to 1 g kg in bina...
McLean AK, Navas González FJ, Canisso IF.Donkeys and mules often are misunderstood because of their behavioral differences compared with horses. Working with these animals requires more patience and ability to notice the slightest changes in behavior to diagnose disease. Mules and donkeys form strong bonds and trust with familiar people and other equids. Training mules and hinnies from an early age is key to modifying behavior and acceptance of unfamiliar people. Reproductive behavior is different from that of horses and requires more patience when collecting jacks. Practitioners working with mules and donkeys should take a methodolo...
Brosnahan MM.The genus Equus is made up of donkeys, horses, and zebras. Despite significant variation in chromosome number across these species, interspecies breeding results in healthy, although infertile, hybrid offspring. Most notable among these are the horse-donkey hybrids, the mule and hinny. Donkeys presently are used for everything from companion animals to beasts of burden. Although closely related from an evolutionary standpoint, differences in anatomy and physiology preclude the assumption that they can be treated identically to the domestic horse. Veterinarians should be aware of these differen...
Barrio E, Rickards KJ, Thiemann AK.Clinical evaluation and preventative care in donkeys should follow similar guidelines as for horses. There are species-specific differences due to the desert-adapted physiology of the donkey. Donkeys are mainly used as pack animals, companions and for production of meat or milk - they may be kept well into old age. Diseases often present late or may go unrecognized leading to poor welfare and quality of life. Basic knowledge of nutrition, blood values, pharmacology and common disease recognition will help veterinarians improve the health and welfare of donkeys.
Camargo CE, Rechsteiner SF, Macan RC, Kozicki LE, Gastal MO, Gastal EL.The aim of this study was to compare the embryonic and early fetal development of horse embryos between recipient mules and mares from day 10-60 of pregnancy, in addition to hormonal (eCG and progesterone), ovarian, and uterine characteristics for approximately 4 months. Embryo donor mares (n = 5) and two groups of recipients (acyclic mules, n = 7; cyclic mares, n = 7) were used. Donor mares were monitored daily by transrectal ultrasonography and inseminated using fresh semen. Cyclic recipient mares were synchronized with the donor's ovulation using PGF2α and deslorelin acetate. M...
Fretheim-Kelly ZL, Halvorsen T, Clemm H, Roksund O, Heimdal JH, Vollsæter M, Fintl C, Strand E.Dynamic obstructions of the larynx are a set of disorders that occur during exercise in equines and humans. There are a number of similarities in presentation, diagnosis, pathophysiology and treatment. Both equines and humans present with exercise intolerance secondary to dyspnea. During laryngoscopy at rest, the larynx appears to function normally. Abnormalities are only revealed during laryngoscopy at exercise, seemingly triggered by increased ventilatory demands, and quickly resolve after cessation of exercise. Lower airway disease (asthma being the most prevalent condition), cardiac diseas...
Trösch M, Cuzol F, Parias C, Calandreau L, Nowak R, Lansade L.Over the last few years, an increasing number of studies have aimed to gain more insight into the field of animal emotions. In particular, it is of interest to determine whether animals can cross-modally categorize the emotions of others. For domestic animals that share a close relationship with humans, we might wonder whether this cross-modal recognition of emotions extends to humans, as well. In this study, we tested whether horses could recognize human emotions and attribute the emotional valence of visual (facial expression) and vocal (non-verbal vocalization) stimuli to the same perceptua...
Park J, Kim EB.The ecosystem of an animal farm is composed of various elements, such as animals, farmers, plants, feed, soil, and microorganisms. A domesticated animal's health is largely connected with the reservoir of bacteria and viruses in animal farms. Although a few studies have focused on exploring the gut microbiome of animals, communities of microbiota and viruses in feedlots have not been thoroughly investigated. Methods: Here, we collected feces and dust samples (4 groups: cattle feces, C_F; horse feces, H_F; cattle dust, C_D; and horse dust, H_D) from cattle and horse farms sharing the same housi...
Denham J.Telomeres are genetically conserved nucleoprotein complexes located at the ends of chromosomes that preserve genomic stability. In large mammals, somatic cell telomeres shorten with age, owing to the end replication problem and lack of telomere-lengthening events (e.g. telomerase and ALT activity). Therefore, telomere length reflects cellular replicative reserve and mitotic potential. Environmental insults can accelerate telomere attrition in response to cell division and DNA damage. As such, telomere shortening is considered one of the major hallmarks of ageing. Much effort has been dedicate...
Fernandez-Fuertes B, Sánchez JM, Bagés-Arnal S, McDonald M, Yeste M, Lonergan P.This study aimed to determine the effect of bull seminal plasma (SP) and sperm on endometrial function. Bovine endometrial explants were incubated with: ejaculated sperm with or without SP, epididymal sperm, or SP alone. Neither ejaculated nor epididymal sperm induced differential expression of IL1A, IL1B, IL6, IL8, PTGES2, TNFA, and LIF. Interestingly, SP had a detrimental effect on endometrial RNA integrity. Addition of an RNase inactivation reagent to SP blocked this effect, evidencing a role for a SP-RNase. Because bulls deposit the ejaculate in the vagina, we hypothesized that the bovine ...
The Journal of heredityOctober 20, 2019
Volume 110, Issue 7 769-781 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esz032
Han H, Bryan K, Shiraigol W, Bai D, Zhao Y, Bao W, Yang S, Zhang W, MacHugh DE, Dugarjaviin M, Hill EW.The Mongolian horse is one of the oldest extant horse populations and although domesticated, most animals are free-ranging and experience minimal human intervention. As an ancient population originating in one of the key domestication centers, the Mongolian horse may play a key role in understanding the origins and recent evolutionary history of horses. Here we describe an analysis of high-density genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data in 40 globally dispersed horse populations (n = 895). In particular, we have focused on new results from Chinese Mongolian horses (n = 100) that ...
Tanaka J, Leeb T, Rushton J, Famula TR, Mack M, Jagannathan V, Flury C, Bachmann I, Eberth J, McDonnell SM, Penedo MCT, Bellone RR.Mushroom is a unique coat color phenotype in Shetland Ponies characterized by the dilution of the chestnut coat color to a sepia tone and is hypothesized to be a recessive trait. A genome wide association study (GWAS), utilizing the Affymetrix 670K array (MNEc670k) and a single locus mixed linear model analysis (EMMAX), identified a locus on ECA7 for further investigation ( = 2.08 × 10). This locus contained a 3 Mb run of homozygosity in the 12 mushroom ponies tested. Analysis of high throughput Illumina sequencing data from one mushroom Shetland pony compared to 87 genomes from horses of var...
Burden FA, Bell N.The domestic donkey is a unique equid species with specific nutritional requirements. This article examines the importance of feeding strategies that mimic the donkey's natural environment using poor nutritional quality fibers and access to browsing materials. The relationship between nutrition and health is examined and practical approaches to the healthy and sick donkey are discussed.
Matthews N, van Loon JPAM.The number of donkeys in the world may not be increasing but awareness of their use and concern for welfare and pain recognition and treatment are receiving increasing veterinary interest. Therefore, accurate information about anesthesia and analgesia in donkeys and mules is important to more equine practitioners. This review highlights the current knowledge on various anesthetic and analgesic approaches in donkey and mules. The authors emphasize that there is still much information that is not available about donkeys and mules; in many circumstances, the clinician must use available equine in...
Mendoza FJ, Toribio RE, Perez-Ecija A.The donkey evolved under harsh and arid environmental conditions, developing unique energy-efficiency traits, with an efficiency to rapidly mobilize fat in situations of increased energy demands or when food is scarce. This evolution has led to an inherent predisposition of donkeys to obesity, dyslipidemias, insulin dysregulation/metabolic syndrome, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, and endocrinopathic laminitis. Marked differences have been described in hormone dynamics and testing protocols for the diagnosis of these endocrine and metabolic diseases in donkeys compared with horses, unde...
Naundrup PJ, Svenning JC.Megafaunas worldwide have been decimated during the late Quaternary. Many extirpated species were keystone species, and their loss likely has had large effects on ecosystems. Therefore, it is increasingly considered how megafaunas can be restored. The horse (Equus ferus) is highly relevant in this context as it was once extremely widespread and, despite severe range contraction, survives in the form of domestic, feral, and originally wild horses. Further, it is a functionally important species, notably due to its ability to graze coarse, abrasive grasses. Here, we used species distribution mod...
Lanata A, Nardelli M, Valenza G, Baragli P, DrAniello B, Alterisio A, Scandurra A, Semin GR, Scilingo EP.We examined the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) activity of horses in response to human body odors (BOs) produced under happy and fear states. The ANS response of horses was analyzed in terms of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) features extracted in the frequency domain. Our results revealed that human BOs induce sympathetic and parasympathetic changes and stimulate horses emotionally, suggesting interspecies transfer of emotions via BOs. These preliminary findings open the way to measure changes in horse's ANS dynamics in response to human internal states via human BOs, and allow us to better unde...
Rapacz-Leonard A, Dąbrowska M, Janowski T.During pregnancy in larger mammals, the maternal immune system must tolerate the fetus for months while resisting external infection. This tolerance is facilitated by immunological communication between the fetus and the mother, which is mediated by Major Histocompatibility Complex I (MHC I) proteins, by leukocytes, and by the cytokines secreted by the leukocytes. Fetal-maternal immunological communication also supports pregnancy by inducing physiological changes in the mother. If the mother "misunderstands" the signal sent by the fetus during pregnancy, the fetus will be miscarried or deliver...
van Herwerden L, Gasser RB, Blair D.This study investigated sequence heterogeneity in the first internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1) of ribosomal DNA within and among species and strains of Echinococcus. Different ITS-1 sequence variants exist in Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis, which represent at least four evolutionary lineages: (1) a sheep strain-lineage of E. granulosus, (2) a sister lineage of a cervid and camel E. granulosus ITS-1 variants, (3) a lineage including the ITS-1 variants representing horse, bovine and camel strains of E. granulosus, as well as variants from E. multilocularis, Echinococcus...
Rosenberg HF, Druey KM.Asthma is a chronic, heterogeneous, and recurring inflammatory disease of the lower airways, with exacerbations that feature airway inflammation and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Asthma has been modeled extensively via disease induction in both wild-type and genetically manipulated laboratory mice (Mus musculus). Antigen sensitization and challenge strategies have reproduced numerous important features of airway inflammation characteristic of human asthma, notably the critical roles of type 2 T helper cell cytokines. Recent models of disease induction have advanced to include physiologic aero...
Guruge KS, Manage PM, Yamanaka N, Miyazaki S, Taniyasu S, Yamashita N.The persistent metabolites of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) which have been detected in the tissues of both humans and wildlife, and human contamination by PFCs suggest differences in the exposure patterns to these compounds. However, studies focused on identifying human exposure pathways to PFCs are scarce. To provide a preliminary assessment of PFCs in farm animals such as chicken, cattle, pigs, goats and horses, blood and liver samples were collected from various regions in Japan. Additionally, dog sera samples representing pet animals were also employed for analysis. Perfluorooctane sulf...
Washizu T, Tomoda I, Kaneko JJ.The fractionation of serum bile acids was performed in the dog, cow, horse, and human by high performance liquid chromatography equipped with an immobilized 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 alpha-HSD) column. There were significant differences in the bile acid compositions, conjugation patterns and quantities of each bile acid among these animals. Cholic acid was the major primary bile acid in the dog and cow, which constituted 62.9% and 83.5%, respectively, whereas chenodeoxycholic acid was the major acid in the horse and human, which constituted 68.4% and 46.3%, respectively. Taurine ...
Bigler NA, Bruckmaier RM, Gross JJ.Maternal care is essential to optimally support survival of the offspring. During evolution of mammalian species, different phenotypes have evolved in relation to gestation length, number, size, and maturation stage of the offspring at parturition, as well as colostrum and milk composition. The aim of the present review is to describe relationships between placental function and colostrum and milk composition in different mammalian species. Species covered in this article include humans, rabbits, rodents (rat and mouse), carnivores (cats and dogs), and a variety of ungulate species (cattle, sh...
Kuzmina TA, Lyons ET, Tolliver SC, Dzeverin II, Kharchenko VA.The aims of the study were to determine fecundity of several strongylid species parasitizing domestic horses and analyze possible relations between numbers of eggs in female uteri and size of both the eggs and the nematodes as well as the influence of fecundity on proportion of species in the strongylid community. Twenty-five specimens from each of 15 strongylid species (Strongylus vulgaris, Strongylus edentatus, Triodontophorus serratus, Triodontophorus brevicauda, Triodontophorus tenuicollis, Cyathostomum catinatum, Coronocyclus coronatus, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cylicocyclus insigne, Cylicoc...
Shave R, Howatson G, Dickson D, Young L.Physical activity is dependent upon the cardiovascular system adequately delivering blood to meet the metabolic and thermoregulatory demands of exercise. Animals who regularly exercise therefore require a well-adapted heart to support this delivery. The purpose of this review is to examine cardiac structure, and the potential for exercise-induced cardiac remodeling, in animals that regularly engage in strenuous activity. Specifically, we draw upon the literature that has studied the "athlete's heart" in humans, horses, and dogs, to enable the reader to compare and contrast cardiac remodeling i...
Fujii T, Yamada S, Yamaguchi N, Fujimoto K, Suzuki T, Kawashima K.Various concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh) were detected in samples of bovine, goat, horse, porcine, rat and sheep blood and plasma using a specific, sensitive radioimmunoassay. The ACh levels in whole blood in bovine and horse samples were about 40- and ten-fold higher, respectively, than in humans, but levels comparable to those in humans were measured in porcine samples. Goat, rat and sheep samples had lower whole blood ACh concentrations than those of humans. When plasma samples were assayed, the ACh contents of bovine and porcine plasma were found to be about two- to five-fold those of...
Samir H, ElSayed MI, Radwan F, Hedia M, Hendawy H, Hendawy AO, Elbadawy M, Watanabe G.In all organs, control of blood flow is important but might be particularly critical for testicular functions. This is because of the very low oxygen concentration and high metabolic rate of the seminiferous tubules, the physiological temperature of the testis, and its location outside the abdominal cavity. Many factors affect the characteristics of TBF in farm and companion animals, such as environment (thermal and seasonal effects) and physiological (species, breeds, age, body weight, and sexual maturity). Thermal environment stress has detrimental effects on spermatogenesis and consequently...
The Journal of heredityDecember 28, 2018
Volume 110, Issue 2 173-182 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esy061
Sadeghi R, Moradi-Shahrbabak M, Miraei Ashtiani SR, Schlamp F, Cosgrove EJ, Antczak DF.The principal aims of this study were to explore genetic diversity and genome-wide selection signatures in Persian Arabian horses and to determine genetic relationship of Persian Arabians with other Iranian horse breeds. We evaluated 71 horses from 8 matrilineal strains tracing to 47 mares from the mid to late 19th century, using the equine 670k single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) BeadChip. Mean observed and expected heterozygosity were (0.43) and (0.45), respectively, average inbreeding measures (inbreeding estimates based on runs of homozygosity and pedigree information) were low, indicatin...
Weinert-Nelson JR, Biddle AS, Williams CA.Diet is a key driver of equine hindgut microbial community structure and composition. The aim of this study was to characterize shifts in the fecal microbiota of grazing horses during transitions between forage types within integrated warm- (WSG) and cool-season grass (CSG) rotational grazing systems (IRS). Eight mares were randomly assigned to two IRS containing mixed cool-season grass and one of two warm-season grasses: bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] or crabgrass [Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.]. Fecal samples were collected during transitions from CSG to WSG pasture sections (...
Ertelt A, Barton AK, Schmitz RR, Gehlen H.This review summarizes similarities and differences between the metabolic syndromes in humans and equines, concerning the anatomy, symptoms, and pathophysiological mechanisms. In particular, it discusses the structure and distribution of adipose tissue and its specific metabolic pathways. Furthermore, this article provides insights and focuses on issues concerning laminitis in horses and cardiovascular diseases in humans, as well as their overlap.
Shilton CA, Kahler A, Davis BW, Crabtree JR, Crowhurst J, McGladdery AJ, Wathes DC, Raudsepp T, de Mestre AM.The first 8 weeks of pregnancy is a critical time, with the majority of pregnancy losses occurring during this period. Abnormal chromosome number (aneuploidy) is a common finding in human miscarriage, yet is rarely reported in domestic animals. Equine early pregnancy loss (EPL) has no diagnosis in over 80% of cases. The aim of this study was to characterise aneuploidies associated with equine EPL. Genomic DNA from clinical cases of spontaneous miscarriage (EPLs; 14-65 days of gestation) and healthy control placentae (various gestational ages) were assessed using a high density genotyping arr...
Piccione G, Caola G, Refinetti R.Daily or circadian oscillation has been documented in a variety of physiological and behavioral processes. Although individual variables have been studied in great detail, very few studies have been conducted on the temporal relationships between the rhythms of different variables. It is not known whether the circadian pacemaker generates each and every rhythm individually or whether most rhythms are simply derived from a few clock-controlled rhythms. As a first step in elucidating this issue, 21 physiological variables were recorded simultaneously in horse and sheep. The results indicated tha...
McLean AK, Navas González FJ, Canisso IF.Donkeys and mules often are misunderstood because of their behavioral differences compared with horses. Working with these animals requires more patience and ability to notice the slightest changes in behavior to diagnose disease. Mules and donkeys form strong bonds and trust with familiar people and other equids. Training mules and hinnies from an early age is key to modifying behavior and acceptance of unfamiliar people. Reproductive behavior is different from that of horses and requires more patience when collecting jacks. Practitioners working with mules and donkeys should take a methodolo...
Tirosh-Levy S, Gottlieb Y, Apanaskevich DA, Mumcuoglu KY, Steinman A.Ticks are important ectoparasites of horses that can affect animal welfare and vector several infectious, including zoonotic, diseases. In order to investigate the species distribution, epidemiology and seasonal dynamics of ticks infesting horses in Israel, 3267 ticks were collected from 396 horses in 24 farms across the country from July 2014 to June 2015. Results: Ticks were found on 50% of the farms and on 25% of the horses, with Hyalomma being the most prevalent genus (70% of ticks). Pasture was the most prominent risk factor for tick infestation (99% of ticks, P < 0.001), and is repres...
Birks EK, Mathieu-Costello O, Fu Z, Tyler WS, West JB.In previous studies of rabbit and dog lung, we demonstrated stress failure of pulmonary capillaries at high transmural pressures (Ptm). The Ptm necessary to elicit stress failure was 40 cmH2O higher in dog than rabbit, and the total blood-gas barrier (BGB) thickness was greater in dog than rabbit. This suggests that stress failure may be related to BGB thickness, and is consistent with the Laplace relationship which states that wall stress is proportional to capillary radius but inversely proportional to wall thickness. In the present studies, we compared BGB thickness and an index of capillar...
Karagianni AE, Lisowski ZM, Hume DA, Scott Pirie R.The mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) is a family of cells of related function that includes bone marrow progenitors, blood monocytes and resident tissue macrophages. Macrophages are effector cells in both innate and acquired immunity. They are a major resident cell population in every organ and their numbers increase in response to proinflammatory stimuli. Their function is highly regulated by a wide range of agonists, including lymphokines, cytokines and products of microorganisms. Macrophage biology has been studied most extensively in mice, yet direct comparisons of rodent and human macro...
Schwarz ER, Long MT.West Nile virus (WNV) neuroinvasive disease threatens the health and well-being of horses and humans worldwide. Disease in horses and humans is remarkably similar. The occurrence of WNV disease in these mammalian hosts has geographic overlap with shared macroscale and microscale drivers of risk. Importantly, intrahost virus dynamics, the evolution of the antibody response, and clinicopathology are similar. The goal of this review is to provide a comparison of WNV infection in humans and horses and to identify similarities that can be exploited to enhance surveillance methods for the early dete...
Astakhova NM, Perelygin AA, Zharkikh AA, Lear TL, Coleman SJ, MacLeod JN, Brinton MA.Toll-like receptors 3, 7, and 8 (TLR3, TLR7, and TLR8) were studied in the genomes of the domestic horse and several other mammals. The messenger RNA sequences and exon/intron structures of these TLR genes were determined. An equine bacterial artificial chromosome clone containing the TLR3 gene was assigned by fluorescent in situ hybridization to the horse chromosomal location ECA27q16-q17 and this map location was confirmed using an equine radiation hybrid panel. Direct sequencing revealed 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the coding regions of the equine TLR 3, 7, and 8 genes. Of these p...
Pereyra-Bonnet F, Fernández-Martín R, Olivera R, Jarazo J, Vichera G, Gibbons A, Salamone D.Transgenesis is an essential tool in many biotechnological applications. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-mediated gene transfer is a powerful technique to obtain transgenic pups; however, most domestic animal embryos do not develop properly after ICSI. An additional step in the protocol, namely assistance by haploid chemical activation, permits the use of ICSI-mediated gene transfer to generate transgenic preimplantation embryos in a wide range of domestic species, including ovine, porcine, feline, equine and bovine. In the present study, spermatozoa from five species were coincubated ...
Gusson F, Carletti M, Albo AG, Dacasto M, Nebbia C.To complete a studyaimed at investigating the pattern of the basal activities of liver xenobioticmetabolizing enzymes in major and minor species intended for meat production, microsomal carboxylesterases and some conjugating enzyme activities were determined and compared in liver preparations from horses, cattle, pigs, rabbits and broiler chicks, using the rat as a reference species. Horses and broiler chicks exhibited a lower microsomal carboxylesterase activity towards indophenyl or p-nitrophenyl acetate than that measured in cattle or pig subfractions. Among food-producing species, the rate...
Smith RKW, McIlwraith CW.Tendinopathy remains one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders affecting both human and equine athletes and presents a considerable therapeutic challenge. The following workshop report comes from the third Dorothy Havemeyer Symposium of Tendinopathy which provided a unique overview of our current understanding of both the basic science and the clinical challenges for diagnosing and treating tendinopathy in both species. Pathologically, tendon demonstrates alterations in both cellular, molecular, structural, and biomechanical features, leading to a spectrum of pathological endotypes. To ...
Librado P, Orlando L.The equid family contains only one single extant genus, , including seven living species grouped into horses on the one hand and zebras and asses on the other. In contrast, the equine fossil record shows that an extraordinarily richer diversity existed in the past and provides multiple examples of a highly dynamic evolution punctuated by several waves of explosive radiations and extinctions, cross-continental migrations, and local adaptations. In recent years, genomic technologies have provided new analytical solutions that have enhanced our understanding of equine evolution, including the spe...
