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.
Allen TE, Bligh J.1. The temporal patterns of cutaneous water vapour loss from the skin of the sheep, goat, ox, horse, donkey and llama during exposure to 40°C Ta and during i.v. injections and infusions of adrenaline are examined.
2. It is concluded that there are marked species variations in the extent to which the discharge of sweat is affected by periodic contractions of the myoepithelium, or by simple displacement of fluid from the filled lumen as more fluid is secreted into it.
Srivastava SK, Beutler E.1. Erythrocytes from normal and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient humans were subjected to hydrogen peroxide diffusion to oxidize the GSH. Studies were carried out in the presence and absence of chromate to inhibit glutathione reductase and with or without the addition of glucose. 2. The GSH content of erythrocytes from other species was oxidized by subjecting them to hydrogen peroxide diffusion in the presence of chromate and glucose. 3. Chromate (1.3mm) inhibited glutathione reductase by about 80%, whereas glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, hexokin...
Slade LM, Hintz HF.A comparative digestion trial was conducted between horses, ponies, rabbits and guinea pigs. Alfalfa and alfalfa-grain diets were compared.
Although there was a trend for ponies to be more efficient than horses in digesting proximate principles of both diets, differences were not significant. Digestibility coefficients for crude fiber and energy were lowest in rabbits. The digestion of nitrogen-free extract (NFE) was greatest in guinea pigs, whereas digestion of crude protein was lowest.
Horses, ponies and rabbits digested organic matter, NFE and energy in the mixed ration more efficient...
Mori M, Sakiyama Y.The histochemical distribution of some hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes in developing odontoblasts and subodontoblasts in cattle, pigs and horses has been observed in cryostat sections of teeth that have been decalcified with neutral EDTA.
Undifferentiated dental epithelium and immature odontoblasts of the bell stage tooth germ showed lower levels of enzymatic activity as compared with the well-developed tooth germ.
When the dentine matrix began to form, the young odontoblasts appeared to have a significantly positive reaction for acid phosphatase, and gradually other enzymes developed a...
Oliver L, Hartree AS.The cystine-containing peptides of horse growth hormone were isolated and their amino acid sequences determined. Four unique half-cystine residues occur in two peptides, one containing 11 and the other, at the C-terminus of the protein, 15 amino acids. These sequences are compared with published data on growth hormones from other species.
Holmes RS, Masters CJ.Multiple forms of soluble esterase activity have been resolved in horse, sheep, ox and possum tissue extracts and sera. 2. By comparing esterase zymograms from different tissues and from different species, it is apparent that the distribution and multiplicity of esterase activity is tissue and species specific. 3. By means of substrate and inhibitor studies, the esterase multiple forms have been characterized into four main classes : carboxylesterases, arylesterases, acetylesterases, and cholinesterases. Each of these can be considered as an isoenzymic group. 4. Evidence is presented for furth...
Kretzschmar C, Krüger M.Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) activity in the circulation of several animal species was determined by a bioassay, using the murine cell line L929. In healthy adult cattle, horses, pigs and dogs, species specific differences of systemic TNF activity were visible. In cattle, TNF activity in the circulation increased during growing up from calf to adult animal. In cattle suffering from various diseases, unchanged, elevated, but also reduced systemic TNF activity have proved to possess clinical relevance. Low systemic TNF activity frequently occurs during lethal inflammatory diseases and may be an i...
Kalmykov NP.This report analyzes a find of fossils of Pliocene three-toed horse (Hipparion tchicoicum) in western Transbaikalia. The age of the mammalian fauna from red-brown clay in the Udunga locality indicates that Chikoi hipparion lived in the south of Eastern Siberia as early as the second half of the Early Pliocene; its remains in this area were known only from the red beds of the Upper Pliocene. This find made it possible to fill the existing hiatus (Early Pliocene) in its stratigraphic distribution: Late Miocene-Late Pliocene. The range of this three-toed horse species did not go beyond the border...
Millington WR, Dybdal NO, Mueller GP, Chronwall BM.beta-Endorphin is post-translationally processed to both N-acetylated and C-terminally shortened derivatives in the anterior lobe of the horse pituitary, a processing pattern qualitatively different from that of the rat and virtually every other mammalian species. Thus, separation of the molecular forms of beta-endorphin using gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography showed that the horse anterior lobe primarily contains beta-endorphin-1-31 and N-acetyl-beta-endorphin-1-27 along with smaller amounts of beta-lipotropin, beta-endorphin-1-27, and N-acetyl-beta-endorphin-1-31 and -1-26, in c...
Porter MB, Cleaver BD, Peltier M, Robinson G, Thatcher WW, Sharp DC.This study compared equine and ovine LH secretory responses to GnRH treatment. Dioestrous mares and ewes were challenged with continuous GnRH for 15 h. Mares that received constant GnRH (110 micrograms h-1) had sustained LH secretion (P < 0.01), whereas LH concentrations in ewes treated with continuous GnRH (25 micrograms h-1) initially increased, then declined and remained low, suggesting GnRH receptor desensitization or downregulation. In addition, progesterone-primed, ovariectomized mares and ewes were challenged with pulsatile or continuous GnRH for 5 days. Plasma LH concentrations were...
Dubrovskaia RM, Starodumov IM, Bannikova LV.The estimation of genetic differentiation between 27 horses breeds originated in USSR, based on serum proteins polymorphism (loci Tf, Al, Es) is shown. Genetical variability among aborigine breeds is higher then among cultural ones. The erosion of gene pool of Przewalski's Horse is explained by special history of this population and a few horses in analyzing group. Genetic distances reflect the directions and intensity of breeding. High genetical distances between Przewalski's Horse, Shetland Pony and other horses obtained could be explained by overcoming the "bottle neck" of selections in bre...
Klier J, Geis S, Steuer J, Reese S, Fuchs S, Mueller RS, Winter G, Gehlen H.New therapeutic strategies to modulate immune responses in human and equine allergic airway diseases are under extensive investigation. Stimulation of Treg cells with immune modulating agents is a novel therapeutic option. Objective: The aim of this field study was to compare the effects of a nebulised nanoparticulate CpG immunotherapy (CpG-GNP) with and without specific allergens. Methods: Longitudinal clinical study comparing 2 therapeutic options. Methods: Twenty RAO-affected horses were divided into 2 treatment groups (CpG alone and CpG with allergens). Two specific allergens were selected...
Landim-Alvarenga FC, Alvarenga MA, Seidel GE, Squires EL, Graham JK.Experiments evaluated the ability of follicular fluid (FF), dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (PC12) and the calcium ionophore A23187 (A23187) to induce capacitation in stallion and bull spermatozoa, determined by the ability of the spermatozoa to penetrate zona-free hamster, bovine and equine oocytes. Spermatozoa suspensions were incubated at 37 degrees C in one of the following treatments: 1) a modified Tyrode's medium (BGM3) alone; 2) BGM3 + FF; 3) BGM3 + PC12; 4) BGM3 + FF + PC12; 5) BGM3 + A23187; and 6) BGM3 + FF + A23187. Treated spermatozoa were incubated with zona-free hamster, bovine and ...
Fatemikia H, Kamyab M, Movahed A, Sadeghi M, Kim E, Behdani M, Mohammadpour Dounighi N, Shahrivar M, Seyedian R.In this study, the neutralizing abilities of the equine and the recently introduced camelid antivenoms on the hemodynamic parameters (inotropism, chronotropism, and arrhythmogenicity) were assessed following envenomation by venom in rats. Methods: At first, the electrophoretic profiles of both products were obtained by using the SDS-PAGE method (12.5%) and stained with Coomassie blue and silver nitrate. Secondly, different doses of the camelid antivenom (10, 50, and 100 µl) were given intravenously in 10 min before venom injection (400 µg/rat). The neutralizing potencies of camelid and equi...
Parés-Casanova PM.Morphological integration and modularity are concepts that refer to the covariation level between the components of a structure. Morphological modules are independent subsets of highly correlated traits. The horse skull has been studied as a whole functional structure for decades, but the integrative approach towards quantitative examination of modules is scarce. We report here the first evaluation of cranial modularity in the horse at basal level. For this, we studied the modularity hypothesis for splanchnocranium and basicranium modules in the horse, two phenotipic regions under local influe...
Pellegrini A, Zweifel HR, von Fellenberg R.Several publications have described in the past properties of partly purified horse alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M) which are strikingly different from the human alpha 2M. Horse alpha 2M was therefore isolated to purity by classical procedures, i.e. affinity chromatography, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration, and its properties are compared with those of its human counterpart. The molecular weight of the native protein and its subunits, the isoelectrofocusing pattern and the change in electrophoretic mobility caused by interaction with protease were similar to those of human alpha...
Weiser MG.Erythrocyte volume distribution curves (erythrograms) were determined on a total of 300 blood samples from healthy dogs, cats, horses, and cattle (dairy cows). An index of anisocytosis was determined for these animals. Erythrograms were highly reproducible, and the mean corpuscular volumes determined from erythrograms compared well with those determined from hemograms. Bovine and equine erythrocyte volumes were found to be stable after the blood was stored at 4 C for 24 hours. Under the same conditions, canine and feline erythrocytes increased slightly in volume. After incubation of blood dilu...
Geisert RD.Establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in a number of mammalian species depends upon a tightly regulated interaction between the semiallogeneic conceptus and the maternal uterine endometrium.The term "Maternal Recognition of Pregnancy" is attributed to Roger V. Short's paper titled "Implantation and the Maternal Recognition of Pregnancy" which was published in proceedings from the 1969 Symposium on Foetal Autonomy.Professor Short's landmark paper stimulated increased interest in elucidating how the conceptus signals its presence to assure maintenance of the corpus luteum beyond the normal ...
Holland RA.Using a double beam stopped-flow apparatus, measurements were made of the velocity constant of the reaction CO + Hb --> COHb in solution and in the red cells of human beings, rabbits, horses, and goats. The solution constant (l') at 37 degrees C for human beings was 362 mM(-1) sec.(-1); in other species l' was somewhat lower. Two rabbits, despite having apparently identical hemoglobins had significantly different values for l'. The energy of activation (E) of l' was between 8 and 11 kcal/mole in all cases. The cell reaction constant (l'(c)) at 37 degrees was between 61 and 73 mM(-1) sec.(-1...
Webb AI, Weaver BM.The solubilities of halothane at a concentration of 0.77% v/v in 5% carbon dioxide in air at 37 degrees C were determined for a variety of equine tissues. The mean values for the tissue/gas partition coefficients for visceral tissue taken from 36 horses were 5.42 for whole brain, 4.82 for grey matter, 7.41 for white matter, 4.18 for myocardium, 2.76 for lung, 8.51 for liver, 3.21 for kidneys, 2.66 for gastrointestinal tract, 1.77 for blood and 2.45 for spleen. The mean coefficients for eight different muscles taken from 23 horses ranged from 2.43 for extensor carpi radialis to 4.91 for psoas m...
Ma L, Sang M, Zhang J, Zhang S.Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a member of the TNF superfamily and plays multifunctional roles in the immune system. In the present study, a homolog of TRAIL from the Mongolian horse (named ecTRAIL) was identified and characterized. The 870-bp open reading frame encodes a polypeptide of 289 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular weight of 33.47 kDa and pI of 8.47. The genomic structure of ecTRAIL shares a five-exon/six-intron arrangement similar to its orthologs. Multiple alignments show that ecTRAIL is a type II transmembrane protein with a t...
Palmieri G, Panu R, Asole A, Farina V, Sanna L.The various types of sensory nerve endings found in the peroneus tertius muscle in the ass and in the horse have been studied with Ruffini's gold chloride method. Free nerve endings have been described as well as encapsulated receptors. These corpuscles are classified as Pacini-like, Ruffini's terminations and also Golgi's tendon-organs. The authors have pointed out the morphology, topography and structural characteristics of the above named nervous terminations and have hypothesized that a probable functional relation existed between these nervous corpuscles and the considered tendinous struc...
Monet-Kuntz C, Guillou F, Fontaine I, Combarnous Y.Using a suspension of seminiferous tubule cells, we had previously shown that equine FSH is superactive in the male rat, i.e. that it exhibits a higher biological potency than expected from its binding activity. In this work we investigated equine FSH superactivity in rat, pig and sheep, by comparing in each species the equine FSH with the homologous FSH, both for their binding activities (in a radioreceptor assay using a testicular membrane fraction) and for their in vitro biological potencies (in a plasminogen activator assay using a Sertoli cell-enriched population cultured on plastic). In ...
Rodrigues LT, Segabinazzi LG, Oliveira SN, Frasson M, Papa FO.Pregnancy rates after embryo transfer (ET) are disappointing in donkey species. This study aims to report two successful ET of mini-donkey embryos using Brazilian Northeastern jennies as recipients. Eighteen embryo flushes were performed 9 days post-ovulation in two non-pregnant mini-donkeys jennies (11 and 7 cycles per jenny). Eleven embryos (61%, 11/18) were collected and transferred to Brazilian Northeastern jennies 4-6 days post-ovulation by conventional (n = 6) or an alternative (n = 5) technique. The alternative method consisted of inserting a Polansky equine vaginal speculum smear...
Galeano R, Germanà A, Abbate F, Calvo D, Naves FJ, Hidaka H, Germanà G, Vega JA.Neurocalcin (NC) is a recently characterized EF-hand calcium-binding protein present in a discrete population of sensory neurons and their peripheral mechanoreceptors, but its presence in peripheral nervous system neurons other than in the rat is still unknown. The present study was designed to investigate the occurrence of NC in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of several mammalian species (horse, buffalo, cow, sheep, pig, dog, and rat), including humans. DRG were fixed, embedded in paraffin, and processed for immunohistochemistry using a polyclonal antibody against NC. The size of the immunorea...
Frape DL, Tuck MG, Sutcliffe NH, Jones DB.1. The rate of passage of chromic oxide (Cr) was similar in the pony and rhinoceros. 2. Higher apparent amounts digested were found using 4N-HCl-insoluble ash (AIA) than those determined by Cr, but overall digestibilities were similar for the two species. 3. An abrupt increase in the starch content of the horse diets increased the number of faecal ciliate protozoa. Only when the overall feed intake was increased in horses receiving a high dietary proportion of starch were the numbers depressed. 4. When the rhinoceros received 109 kJ apparent DE per kg bodyweight daily (716 kJ/W0.75 daily) it m...
Caporali EH, Kuykendall T, Stewart MC.To fully sequence and characterize equine aggrecan and confirm conservation of major aggrecanase, calpain and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) cleavage sites. Methods: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and rapid amplification of cDNA ends were used to generate clones that encompassed the complete equine aggrecan sequence. Clones were sequenced and compared with the equine genome database to determine intron-exon boundaries. Results: The aggrecan gene spans over 61 kb on chromosome 1 and is encoded by 17 exons. Two major variants of aggrecan were cloned; one containing 8187 bp (2728...
Martin-Pelaez S, Rabow Z, de la Fuente A, Draheim P, Loynachan A, Fiehn O, Meyers S, Lyman C, Dini P.Postmortem and pre-euthanasia oocyte retrieval provides the last opportunity to preserve the genetic material in mares. Pentobarbital (PB) is the most common euthanasia agent; however, its effect on the developmental competence of oocytes has not been determined. Here, we evaluated the concentration of PB in equine follicular fluid (FF) and investigated its effect on the developmental competence of oocytes using a bovine IVF model to overcome the low availability of equine oocytes. The concentration of PB was measured by gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry in FF collected from mare ovaries im...
Karsai F, Szaniszló F, Pethes G.The levels of the two primary bile acids, cholic acid (CA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), were determined by radioimmunoassay in cattle, horse, pig and dog serum. The mean serum cholic acid (SCA) and deoxycholic acid (SCDCA) levels of cows varied with their reproductive status, being 7.8 (+/- 3.3) and 1.5 (+/- 1.0) mumol/l in dry cows, 17.8 (+/- 6.9) and 2.3 (+/- 1.0) mumol/l in freshly calved dams, and 15.8 (+/- 5.7) and 2.3 (+/- 0.8) mumol/l, respectively, in lactating cows. The SCA level found in the immediate prepartal period and also on the day of calving corresponded to those found du...
Al-Wabel NA.Semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) activity was measured spectrophotometrically using benzylamine as a substrate, in the serum of healthy males and females of horses, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. The animals were born and raised in the same area, and the blood collection was made on the same day to avoid variations. Also the concentrations of protein and copper were measured in the same samples. There were no significant gender-related differences in SSAO activity between the tested animals regardless of species. Activities of SSAO in either male or female of horse were significa...
Xie FY, Feng YL, Wang HH, Ma YF, Yang Y, Wang YC, Shen W, Pan QJ, Yin S, Sun YJ, Ma JY.Prior to the mechanization of agriculture and labor-intensive tasks, humans used donkeys (Equus africanus asinus) for farm work and packing. However, as mechanization increased, donkeys have been increasingly raised for meat, milk, and fur in China. To maintain the development of the donkey industry, breeding programs should focus on traits related to these new uses. Compared to conventional marker-assisted breeding plans, genome- and transcriptome-based selection methods are more efficient and effective. To analyze the coding genes of the donkey genome, we assembled the transcriptome of donke...
Gürelli G, Lyons ET, Kesbiç FI.Species composition and distribution of hindgut ciliates were investigated in the feces of 20 thoroughbred mares in Kentucky, USA. Thirty-three species and six morphotypes belonging to 21 genera were identified. The average density of hindgut ciliates in mares was 13.5 ± 13.7 × 104 cells ml-1, whereas mean number of ciliate species per host was 14.4 ± 5.3. Bundleia nana, B. elongata, B. piriformis, Blepharoconus hemiciliatus, Holophryoides ovalis, H. macrotricha, Blepharoprosthium polytrichum, Prorodonopsis coli, Paraisotrichopsis composita, Blepharocorys microcorys, and Ochoterenaia append...
Mia AS, Koger HD.Serum concentrations of arginase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) in dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep and pigs were determined before and after oral administration of CCl(4) at doses known to cause hepatic necrosis. Following CCl(4) administration, serum concentration of arginase and SGOT increased to a level of diagnostic significance in all animals. SGPT increased markedly in dogs and cats and marginally in 1 of 3 cattle and 2 of 3 pigs. In the surviving animals, the serum concentration of arginase returned to normal range much earlier than ...
Colton SW, Downing DT.The relative efficiency of acetate and glucose as substrates for the biosynthesis of lipids in the skin of the rat and horse was examined using in vivo pulse labelling of skin with [1-14C]acetate and [U-14C]glucose by intradermal injections. The resulting radiolabelled lipids were recovered in the rat by punch biopsy as well as by daily, long-term skin surface lipid collections and in the horse by punch biopsy of the injection sites. The lipids were examined by liquid scintillation and by a combination of thin-layer chromatography and autoradiography. In both species the recovery of radiolabel...
Heap RB, Hamon MH, Allen WR.Aromatase distribution in membranes of preimplantation horse and donkey conceptuses was compared by measuring the incorporation of [3H]androstenedione into oestrone and oestradiol-17 beta. In the donkey conceptus, aromatase activity was similar in all the tissues examined (yolk sac, chorionic girdle and allantochorion), whereas in the horse it was generally lower and showed the relationship chorionic girdle greater than yolk sac greater than allantochorion. A higher proportion of labelled precursor was incorporated into oestradiol-17 beta by extra-embryonic tissues of the donkey compared with ...
Condò SG, Coletta M, Cicchetti R, Argentin G, Guerrieri P, Marini S, el-Sherbini S, Giardina B.The equilibrium O2-binding properties of the hybrid haemoglobin (Hb) present in vivo in erythrocytes from mule and of its parent Hbs from horse and donkey were compared with special reference to the effect of heterotropic ligands such as Cl-, D-glycerate 2,3-bisphosphate (DPG) and inositol hexakisphosphate. All these Hbs display a decreased effect by polyphosphates, confirming that what has been observed for horse Hb [Giardina, Brix, Clementi, Scatena, Nicoletti, Cicchetti, Argentin & Condò (1990) Biochem. J. 266, 897-900] is common to other equine species, at least from a qualitative sta...
