Veterinary medicine for horses encompasses the study and application of medical practices to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases in equine species. This field involves a comprehensive understanding of equine anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. Veterinary practitioners employ a range of diagnostic tools and therapeutic interventions to address health issues in horses, including lameness, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory conditions, and infectious diseases. Preventative care, such as vaccination and deworming programs, is also a significant aspect of equine veterinary medicine. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of veterinary medicine as it pertains to horses, including advancements in diagnostic techniques, treatment protocols, and preventive health strategies.
Barone A, Toti P, Menchini-Fabris GB, Felice P, Marchionni S, Covani U.The aim of this study was to evaluate volumetric and clinical outcomes of atrophic posterior mandibles treated with inlay or onlay bone grafting techniques. Methods: In posterior mandibles, alveolar ridges were treated either with interpositional equine cancellous bone block (inlay group) or with onlay autogenous bone block (onlay group). Bone volumes at baseline and at 4 months after surgery were measured by computed tomography. Results: A total of 20 subjects were enrolled in the present study: 10 in the inlay group and 10 in the onlay group. After surgery, atrophic posterior mandibles showe...
Ehrle A, Ressel L, Ricci E, Singer ER.Pain related to the osseous thoracolumbar spine is common in the equine athlete, with minimal information available regarding soft tissue pathology. The aims of this study were to describe the anatomy of the equine SSL and ISL (supraspinous and interspinous ligaments) in detail and to assess the innervation of the ligaments and their myofascial attachments including the thoracolumbar fascia. Ten equine thoracolumbar spines (T15-L1) were dissected to define structure and anatomy of the SSL, ISL and adjacent myofascial attachments. Morphological evaluation included histology, electron microscopy...
Diab SS, Poppenga R, Uzal FA.In racehorses, sudden death (SD) associated with exercise poses a serious risk to jockeys and adversely affects racehorse welfare and the public perception of horse racing. In a majority of cases of exercise-associated sudden death (EASD), there are no gross lesions to explain the cause of death, and an examination of the cardiovascular system and a toxicologic screen are warranted. Cases of EASD without gross lesions are often presumed to be sudden cardiac deaths (SCD). We describe an equine SD autopsy protocol, with emphasis on histologic examination of the heart ("cardiac histology protocol...
Bordbari MH, Penedo MCT, Aleman M, Valberg SJ, Mickelson J, Finno CJ.In the horse, the term occipitoatlantoaxial malformation (OAAM) is used to describe a developmental defect in which the first cervical vertebra (atlas) resembles the base of the skull (occiput) and the second cervical vertebra (axis) resembles the atlas. Affected individuals demonstrate an abnormal posture and varying degrees of ataxia. The homeobox (HOX) gene cluster is involved in the development of both the axial and appendicular skeleton. Hoxd3-null mice demonstrate a strikingly similar phenotype to Arabian foals with OAAM. Whole-genome sequencing was performed in an OAAM-affected horse (O...
Waddington B, Penitente-Filho JM, Neves J, Pinho RO, Chaya AY, Maitan PP, Silveira CO, Neves MG, Guimarães S, de Carvalho GR, Guimarães JD.This study was conducted to characterize the daily profile of testosterone secretion and its mean concentrations in the four seasons as well as to evaluate the semen characteristics and testicular biometry of Mangalarga Marchador stallions throughout the year in a tropical region. Three stallions were submitted to semen collections and evaluation of testicular biometry every 14 days along a year. Blood samples were collected once at the middle of each season, in a 20-min interval during 24 hr in order to evaluate the testosterone secretion profiles among seasons. Testosterone concentrations ...
Mitchell CF, Richbourg HA, Goupil BA, Gillett AN, McNulty MA.To describe a biopsy technique in standing horses with minimal morbidity that consistently provides a substantial bone biopsy with intact, undamaged architecture. Methods: Experimental, prospective study. Methods: Ten Thoroughbred horses. Methods: Biopsies were obtained from the tuber coxae of 10 sedated, standing horses using an oscillating saw. Bilateral biopsies, separated by 60 days, were evaluated with micro-computed tomography (microCT). The first biopsy was prepared for decalcified histology; the second for undecalcified histology. Both biopsies were evaluated qualitatively for histolog...
Schöniger S, Gräfe H, Schoon HA.Subfertility in mares is mainly caused by endometrial diseases. Alterations of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are associated with endometrial disorders in women. This study investigated TLRs 2, 4 and 6 in the equine endometrium. Endometria of 21 mares were examined by histology, PCR and immunohistochemistry. Tissues from 2 mares were considered normal. The remaining showed endometritis, endometrosis and/or angiosclerosis. TLRs 2, 4 and 6 were expressed as transcripts and proteins in all endometria. Immunohistochemistry detected TLRs 2, 4 and 6 in mast cells, luminal and glandular epithelial cells,...
Endo Y, Ishikawa Y, Arima D, Mae N, Iwamoto Y, Korosue K, Tsuzuki N, Hobo S.To evaluate the effects of single-dose enrofloxacin (ERFX) on fever and blood properties in 68 Thoroughbred racehorses after long-distance transportation, horses were assigned to receive ERFX (5 mg/kg, IV; ERFX group; n=52) or saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (50 ml, IV; control group; n=16) ≤1 hr before transportation. Horses were transported 1,122 km using commercial vans over the course of approximately 21 hr. Clinical examinations and hematologic analyses were performed before and after transportation. Rectal temperatures, white blood cell counts and serum amyloid A concentration of ERFX grou...
Azarvandi A, Khosravi AR, Shokri H, Talebkhan Garoussi M, Gharahgouzlou F, Vahedi G, Sharifzadeh A.Yeasts are commensal organisms found in the reproductive and gastrointestinal tracts, and on the skin and other mucosa in mammals. Objective: The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify yeast flora in the caudal reproductive tract in healthy female horses. Methods: Longitudinal study. Methods: A total of 453 samples were collected using double-guarded swabs from the vestibule, clitoral fossa and vagina in 151 horses. All samples were cultured on Sabouraud 4% dextrose agar and incubated at 35°C for 7-10 days. Isolates were identified according to their morphological characteristics a...
Mansour TA, Scott EY, Finno CJ, Bellone RR, Mienaltowski MJ, Penedo MC, Ross PJ, Valberg SJ, Murray JD, Brown CT.Transcriptome interpretation relies on a good-quality reference transcriptome for accurate quantification of gene expression as well as functional analysis of genetic variants. The current annotation of the horse genome lacks the specificity and sensitivity necessary to assess gene expression especially at the isoform level, and suffers from insufficient annotation of untranslated regions (UTR) usage. We built an annotation pipeline for horse and used it to integrate 1.9 billion reads from multiple RNA-seq data sets into a new refined transcriptome. This equine transcriptome integrates eight d...
Grimm AL, Schoon HA, Schöniger S.Equine endometritis eosinophilica (EE) is rarely described and its diagnostic criteria are not defined. The aim of this study was to characterize histological features of EE. A data base (1995-2013) was searched for biopsies with increased eosinophils. This study included all biopsies with this diagnosis and representative biopsies without this record. The definition of equine EE was based on criteria for EE in women and the results of the determination of physiological numbers of eosinophils within the equine endometrium. EE was diagnosed in 55 mares. Biopsies of 10 mares contained eosinophil...
Pasicka E, Tarnawski K, Chrószcz A, Geringer de Oedenberg H.The study was carried out on 126 mares of the Polish Konik horse breed. Mares were bred under a stable system housing and they came from five leading conservation breeding centres. The mares were divided into three age groups: 3-5 years old, 6-9 years old and over 10 years old. Each animal was characterized using 40 morphometric measurements. Discriminant analysis proved the exterior differences of mares in terms of the analysed metric values. It was concluded that the morphotype of modern Polish Konik mares is statistically significantly influenced by the following traits: neck ventral len...
Koop G, Vrieling M, Storisteanu DM, Lok LS, Monie T, van Wigcheren G, Raisen C, Ba X, Gleadall N, Hadjirin N, Timmerman AJ, Wagenaar JA, Klunder HM....Bicomponent pore-forming leukocidins are a family of potent toxins secreted by Staphylococcus aureus, which target white blood cells preferentially and consist of an S- and an F-component. The S-component recognizes a receptor on the host cell, enabling high-affinity binding to the cell surface, after which the toxins form a pore that penetrates the cell lipid bilayer. Until now, six different leukocidins have been described, some of which are host and cell specific. Here, we identify and characterise a novel S. aureus leukocidin; LukPQ. LukPQ is encoded on a 45 kb prophage (ΦSaeq1) found i...
Lee YS, Jung HJ, Yoon MJ.Putative markers for each specific germ cell stage can be a useful tool to study the fate and functions of these cells. Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) is a putative marker for undifferentiated spermatogonia in humans, rats and horses. The deleted in azoospermia-like (DAZL) protein is also expressed by differentiated spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes in several species. However, whether the expression patterns of these molecular markers are identical and applicable to donkeys remains to be elucidated. The objective of this study was to investigate the expres...
Buntenkötter K, Osmers M, Schenk I, Schänzer W, Machnik M, Düe M, Kietzmann M.Although acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is not frequently used as a therapeutic agent in horses, its metabolite SA is of special interest in equestrianism since it is a natural component of many plants used as horse feed. This led to the establishment of thresholds by horse sport organizations for SA in urine and plasma. The aim of this study was to investigate plasma and urine concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) after oral administration of three different single dosages (12.5 mg/kg, 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg) of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to eight horses in a cross-over designed study. Results:...
Negussie H, Gizaw D, Tesfaw L, Li Y, Oguma K, Sentsui H, Tessema TS, Nauwynck HJ.Infections with equine herpesviruses (EHVs) are widespread in equine populations worldwide. Whereas both EHV-1 and EHV-4 produce well-documented respiratory syndromes in equids, the contribution of EHV-2 and EHV-5 to disease of the respiratory tract is still enigmatic. This study describes the detection and genetic characterization of EHVs from equids with and without clinical respiratory disease. Virus-specific PCRs were used to detect EHV-1, -2, -4 and -5. From the total of 160 equids with respiratory disease, EHV-5 was detected at the highest prevalence (23.1%), followed by EHV-2 (20.0%), E...
Rasekh M, Sarani A, Hashemi SH.Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is a newly emerging virus in Simbu group that 1 time is reported in 2011 in Germany and now spread to Europe. The clinical signs of infection to this virus are fever, loss of appetite, reduced milk yield and in some cases, diarrhea and in pregnant animals congenital malformations in calves, lambs, and kid goats. Methods: In this study for a serologic survey of SBV, blood samples from 200 horse in different rural areas of the northern and northeast of Iran with the high equine population collected and were analyzed using an indirect ELISA test. Results: Based on our re...
Goehring LS, Brandes K, Ashton LV, Wittenburg LA, Olea-Popelka FJ, Lunn DP, Soboll Hussey G.Equine herpesvirus-associated myeloencephalopathy is the result of endothelial cell infection of the spinal cord vasculature with equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) during cell-associated viraemia. Endothelial cell infection requires contact between infected peripheral blood mononuclear and endothelial cells. Inflammation generated during viraemia likely upregulates adhesion molecule expression on both cell types increasing contact and facilitating endothelial cell infection. Objective: Evaluating the role of anti-inflammatory drugs in decreasing endothelial cell infection with EHV-1. Methods: In vi...
Knych HK, Stanley SD, McKemie DS, Steinmetz SJ.Romifidine is an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist used for sedation and analgesia in horses. As it is a prohibited substance, its purported use at low doses in performance horses necessitates further study. The primary goal of the study reported here was to describe the serum concentrations and pharmacokinetics of romifidine following low-dose administration immediately prior to exercise, utilizing a highly sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay that is currently employed in many drug testing laboratories. An additional objective was to describe changes in heart rate and rhyt...
Bian J, Khaychuk V, Angers RC, Fernández-Borges N, Vidal E, Meyerett-Reid C, Kim S, Calvi CL, Bartz JC, Hoover EA, Agrimi U, Richt JA, Castilla J....Adaptation of prions to new species is thought to reflect the capacity of the host-encoded cellular form of the prion protein (PrP) to selectively propagate optimized prion conformations from larger ensembles generated in the species of origin. Here we describe an alternate replicative process, termed nonadaptive prion amplification (NAPA), in which dominant conformers bypass this requirement during particular interspecies transmissions. To model susceptibility of horses to prions, we produced transgenic (Tg) mice expressing cognate PrP Although disease transmission to only a subset of infecte...
Mancini F, Nannarone S, Buratta S, Ferrara G, Stabile AM, Vuerich M, Santinelli I, Pistilli A, Chiaradia E.To assess the effects of xylazine and dexmedetomidine on equine chondrocytes, in vitro. Methods: Prospective, experimental study. Methods: Equine articular chondrocytes from five male horses. Methods: Chondrocytes were isolated from healthy equine articular cartilage of the metacarpo/metatarsophalangeal joints. Cell viability was assessed using the WST-8 assay by exposing chondrocytes to xylazine (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16.6, 25, 50 mg mL) or dexmedetomidine (0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.175, 0.25 mg mL) for 15, 30 and 60 minutes. Based on the results of these tests, cells were treated with xyla...
Qin H, Xiao J, Gao X, Wang H.In contrast to the rapid development of the horse husbandry in China, the ability of horse veterinarians to diagnose diseases has not been improved and only a few domain experts have considerable expertise. At present, many expert systems have been developed for diseases diagnosis, but few for horse diseases diagnosis have been studied in depth. This paper presents the design and development of a computer-aided expert system for diagnosing horse diseases. We suggest an approach for diagnosis of horse diseases based on the analysis of diagnostic characteristics and the experiential knowledge of...
Frei S, Geyer H, Hoey S, Fuerst AE, Bischofberger AS.To determine scapular cortex thickness, distal scapular bone density and describe the exact suprascapular nerve course to evaluate the best plate position for the fixation of supraglenoid tubercle fractures in horses. Methods: Twelve equine cadaveric shoulders were examined with computed tomography. Computed tomography morphometry and density measurements (Hounsfield units [HU]) of the scapula were recorded. Statistical comparisons were made between the cranial and caudal aspects of the scapula. Dissection of each shoulder was performed and the suprascapular nerve course was described morphome...
Niedźwiedź A, Borowicz H, Kubiak K, Nicpoń J, Skrzypczak P, Jaworski Z, Cegielski M, Nicpoń J.Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) represents a serious health problem and is traditionally classified as an allergic disease, where contact with an antigen can induce clinical airway inflammation, bronchial hyper-responsiveness and reversible airway obstruction. Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of the Th2 response in the lungs of human patients with asthma and horses with heaves. These cells are involved in the production of cytokines which regulate the synthesis of immunoglobulins. 40 horses were evaluated: 30 horses with RAO and 10 healthy animals. The expression levels of in...
Purefoy Johnson J, Stack JD, Rowan C, Handel I, O'Leary JM.To compare accuracy of the ultrasound-guided craniodorsal (CrD) approach with the dorsal (D) approach to the cervical articular process joints, and to evaluate the effect of the transducer, needle gauge, and operator experience. Methods: Cervical articular process joints from 14 cadaveric neck specimens were injected using either a D or CrD approach, a linear (13 MHx) or microconvex transducer (10 MHz), and an 18 or 20 gauge needle, by an experienced or inexperienced operator. Injectate consisted of an iodinated contrast material solution. Time taken for injection, number of redirects, and ret...
da Costa CF, Samesima N, Pastore CA.Different methodologies for electrocardiographic acquisition in horses have been used since the first ECG recordings in equines were reported early in the last century. This study aimed to determine the best ECG electrodes positioning method and the most reliable calculation of mean cardiac axis (MEA) in equines. Methods: We evaluated the electrocardiographic profile of 53 clinically healthy Thoroughbreds, 38 males and 15 females, with ages ranging 2-7 years old, all reared at the São Paulo Jockey Club, in Brazil. Two ECG tracings were recorded from each animal, one using the Dubois lead posi...
Fenwick SJ, Hincks PR, Scarth JP, Wieder ME, Hillyer LL, Paine SW.Salmeterol is a man-made beta-2-adrenergic receptor agonist used to relieve bronchospasm associated with inflammatory airway disease in horses. Whilst judicious use is appropriate in horses in training, they cannot race with clinically effective concentrations of medications under the British Horseracing Authority's Rules of Racing. Salmeterol must therefore be withdrawn prior to race day and pharmacokinetic (PK) studies used to establish formal detection time advice. Salmeterol xinafoate (Serevent Evohaler ) was administered (0.1 mg twice daily for 4.5 days) via inhalation to six horses. Ur...
Little PB.A review of 6 cases of equine cerebrospinal nematodiasis diagnosed between 1958 and 1971 indicated that 2 major clinical syndromes occur—chronic incoordination and an acute progressive fatal encephalitic disease. The gross lesions of acute cases occur most commonly in the centrum ovale and the cerebellar roof nuclear region and appear as hemorrhagic serpentine tracks. The invariable existence of endocardial or proximal aortic verminous lesions caused by Strongylus vulgaris in horses with verminous encephalitis circumstantially incriminates S. vulgaris parasitic emboli as the most common caus...
Sugiura T, Matsumura T, Fukunaga Y, Hirasawa K.A sero-epizootiological study was conducted on horses which showed clinical pyrexia at two training centers, each of which maintained 1, 200 to 2, 100 racehorses for training, of the Japan Racing Association. It continued from 1980 to 1985 to clarify the cause of pyrexia, so that measures might be considered for the prevention of infectious disease. A total of 3, 849 horses were found to be affected with pyrexia for the 6 years. Of them, 2, 852 horses were tested to equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1), equine rhinovirus type 1 (ERhV-1), rotavirus and equine adenovirus (EAdV) by collecting paired...
Rogers CW, Back W.To quantify the effect of plain, wedged and eggbar shoes on the distribution of pressure under the hoof of horses at the walk, at selected areas of interest (AOI), to find scientific evidence for the perceived efficacy of these shoes in the treatment of palmar heel pain. Methods: Six clinically sound adult Warmblood mares weighing 551 (SD 25) kg were shod (forelegs) with either plain, eggbar or 6 degrees-wedge shoes using a latin-square experimental design. All horses were shod by the same farrier, and each balanced and aligned for its individual conformation. Data were collected on three walk...
Hoffmann WE, Baker G, Rieser S, Dorner JL.Effects of induced cholestasis and hepatocellular necrosis and of fasting on serum biochemical constituents including bile acids, IgA, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), arginase, and the clearance of sodium sulfobromophthalein were studied in 4 groups of equids. The reference value for serum bile acids, as determined by an enzymatic colorimetric procedure for horses and ponies was 5.94 +/- 2.72 mumol/L, there being no statistical difference for horses and ponies. Sample collection at time of feeding had no effect on serum bile acid concentration. Seemingly, seru...
Ley CJ, Ekman S, Hansson K, Björnsdóttir S, Boyde A.Osteochondral lesions in the joints of the distal tarsal region of young Icelandic horses provide a natural model for the early stages of osteoarthritis (OA) in low-motion joints. We describe and characterise mineralised and non-mineralised osteochondral lesions in left distal tarsal region joint specimens from twenty-two 30 ±1 month-old Icelandic horses. Combinations of confocal scanning light microscopy, backscattered electron scanning electron microscopy (including, importantly, iodine staining) and three-dimensional microcomputed tomography were used on specimens obtained with guidance f...
Leme DP, Papa FO.Fifteen stallions of different breeds, age 3-11 years, had their right testicles evaluated by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Cytological analysis showed the following spermatogenic cell types: spermatogonia (1.6% +/- 1.1); spermatocyte I (3.4% +/- 2.2); spermatocyte II (0.8% +/- 0.7); early spermatids (25.5% +/- 9.5); late spermatids (37.0% +/- 9.3). Spermatozoal numbers were expressed as the spermatic index (SI = 31.5% +/- 8.5) and Sertoli cells were expressed as the Sertoli cell index (SEI = 20.9% +/- 17.0) (means +/- s.d). Identification of cell types was relatively easy and no imm...
Vekens EV, Bergman EH, Vanderperren K, Raes EV, Puchalski SM, Bree HJ, Saunders JH.To provide a detailed computed tomography (CT) reference of the anatomically normal equine stifle joint. Sample-16 hind limbs from 8 equine cadavers; no horses had evidence of orthopedic disease of the stifle joints. Methods: CT of the stifle joint was performed on 8 hind limbs. In all limbs, CT was also performed after intra-articular injection of 60 mL of contrast material (150 mg of iodine/mL) in the lateral and medial compartments of the femorotibial joint and 80 mL of contrast material in the femoropatellar joint (CT arthrography). Reformatted CT images in the transverse, parasagittal, an...
Cianci JM, Wulster KB, Richardson DW, Stefanovski D, Ortved KF.To investigate the effects of fracture characteristics and concurrent subchondral bone pathology identified with computed tomography (CT) on the racing performance of Thoroughbred racehorses with fractures of the MC3/MT3 lateral condyle. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Thoroughbred racehorses (n = 50) with a fracture of the MC3/MT3 lateral condyle, which had preoperative CT and internal fixation performed. Methods: Medical records were reviewed for age, sex, limb, and surgical treatment. Computed tomography scans were evaluated to determine fracture characteristics including le...
McGurrin MKJ.Atrial fibrillation is the most common performance-limiting arrhythmia in the horse. Detailed cardiovascular evaluation will help guide prognosis and treatment. Many affected horses have lone atrial fibrillation (no predisposing cardiac abnormalities). These horses have a good prognosis for return to performance if sinus rhythm can be restored. The main therapeutic option continues to be quinidine, which has been used for over 60 years. Transvenous electrical cardioversion has proven to be a successful alternative. Other therapeutic options are being explored, but are currently limited.
Sengupta ME, Thapa S, Thamsborg SM, Mejer H.Strongyle eggs of helminths of livestock usually hatch within a few hours or days after deposition with faeces. This poses a problem when faecal sampling is performed in the field. As oxygen is needed for embryonic development, it is recommended to reduce air supply during transport and refrigerate. The present study therefore investigated the combined effect of vacuum packing and temperature on survival of strongyle eggs and their subsequent ability to hatch and develop into L3. Fresh faecal samples were collected from calves infected with Cooperia oncophora, pigs infected with Oesophagostomu...
McCrae P, Spong H, Golestani N, Mahnam A, Bashura Y, Pearson W.Electrocardiograms (ECGs), and associated heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements, are essential in assessing equine cardiovascular health and fitness. Smart textiles have gained popularity, but limited validation work has been conducted. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare HR and HRV data obtained using a smart textile system (Myant) to the gold-standard telemetric device (Televet). Simultaneous ECGs were obtained using both systems in seven horses at rest and during a submaximal exercise test. Bland-Altman tests were used to assess agreement between th...
Erol E, Sells SF, Williams NM, Kennedy L, Locke SJ, Labeda DP, Donahue JM, Carter CN.Nocardioform placentitis associated with gram positive branching actinomycetes caused a record number of abortions in mares diagnosed by the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) affecting the 2011 foal crop (2011 foal crop: the cohort of foals conceived during the 2010 breeding season). The goal of the present study is to make a comprehensive analysis of this outbreak in terms of frequencies of the bacteria causing nocardioform placentitis mediated abortions and to investigate the ages of fetuses, abortion months and breeding times. In the present study, characterist...
Kusano K, Ishikawa Y, Seki K, Kusunose R.Inflammatory airway disease (IAD) is a common cause of poor performance, interruption of training and premature retirement in racehorses. It is also reported that up to 80% of horses are affected at some point in the first years of training in UK and Australia. However, no studies with regard to the information on occurrence of IAD in Japanese Thoroughbred racehorses have been reported. To investigate the occurrence and the characteristics of IAD, epidemic research including endoscopic examination of the airway tract and trachea wash was conducted for Thoroughbred racehorses presenting coughs ...
Hampil B, Melnick JL.This paper summarizes the results of the second part of co-operative studies undertaken by the WHO International Reference Centre for Enteroviruses and a number of WHO Regional Virus Reference Centres, WHO Virus Collaborating Laboratories and other laboratories in a comprehensive testing programme of enterovirus equine antisera. The studies were designed to appraise the specificity of immune serum prepared in horses against 16 representative prototype enteroviruses (polioviruses 2 and 3, coxsackieviruses A7, B1, B2, B4, B5 and B6 and echoviruses 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12 and 17). Tests for neutrali...
Bliss SB, Voge JL, Hayden SS, Teague SR, Brinsko SP, Love CC, Blanchard TL, Varner DD.The objective was to determine if decreased cushion-fluid volume and increased sperm number during centrifugation, or if sperm concentration of extended semen following centrifugation, affected stallion sperm quality. Three ejaculates from each of three stallions were subjected to cushioned centrifugation (1,000g for 20 min). Cushion-fluid volume was set at 1 or 3.5 ml, and sperm number per centrifuge tube was set 1 billion or 3 billion. Following centrifugation, sperm pellets were resuspended in semen extender containing 20% seminal plasma (v/v) with sperm concentrations of 25 or 250 million/...
Alpoim-Moreira J, Fernandes C, Rebordão MR, Costa AL, Bliebernicht M, Nunes T, Szóstek-Mioduchowska A, Skarzynski DJ, Ferreira-Dias G.Collagen pathological deposition in equine endometrium (endometrosis) is responsible for infertility. Kenney and Doig's endometrial biopsy histopathological classification is the gold standard method for endometrosis evaluation, whereby blood biomarkers identification would be less invasive and could provide additional information regarding endometrosis diagnosis and fertility prognosis. This study aimed to identify blood biomarkers for endometrosis diagnosis (42 mares were used in experiment 1), and fertility assessment (50 mares were used in experiment 2). Reproductive examination, endometri...
Ducharme NG, Fubini SL.Atropine sulfate was given at 2 dosages (0.044 mg/kg, 0.176 mg/kg) to clinically normal ponies in order to evaluate the drug's effect on the gastrointestinal tract. Intestinal motility, as assessed by ausculation of borborygmus, was stopped 30 minutes after injection, but it gradually returned to normal within 12 hours. Signs of abdominal pain developed in 3 of 10 ponies. In 3 clinical cases of gastrointestinal disorder, prior atropine treatment was confusing to the diagnostician and resulted in delayed surgical treatment in 1 case. It was concluded that atropine should not be used for allevia...
Soboll G, Whalley JM, Koen MT, Allen GP, Fraser DG, Macklin MD, Swain WF, Lunn DP.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) causes serious disease in horses throughout the world, despite the frequent use of vaccines. CTLs are thought to be critical for protection from primary and reactivating latent EHV-1 infections. However, the antigen-specificity of EHV-1-specific CTLs is unknown. The aim of this study was to identify EHV-1 genes that encode proteins containing CTL epitopes and to determine their MHC I (or ELA-A in the horse) restriction. Equine dendritic cells, transfected with a series of EHV-1 genes, were used to stimulate autologous CTL precursor populations derived from previous...
Denys M, Léon A, Robert C, Saulnier N, Josson-Schramme A, Legrand L, Wimel L, Maddens S, Pronost S. The growing interest in mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in equine medicine, together with the development of MSC biobanking for allogeneic use, raises concerns about biosafety of such products. MSCs derived from umbilical cord (UC) carry an inherent risk of contamination by environmental conditions and vertical transmission of pathogens from broodmares. There is yet no report in the scientific literature about horses being contaminated by infected MSC products, and no consensus about systematic infectious screening of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (UC-MSCs) to ensure micro...
Oreff GL, Tatz AJ, Dahan R, Segev G, Berlin D, Kelmer G.To report the short- and long-term outcomes of surgical management of umbilical infection in foals. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Foals (n = 65). Methods: Medical records (2010-2015) of foals up to 1 month of age, surgically treated for an umbilical infection were reviewed. Short-term (at the time of discharge from hospital) and long-term (1 year after surgery) survival rates were obtained. Clinical variables influencing survival were assessed. Chi-square or Fisher's exact test were used to evaluate the relationship between the data retrieved and outcome. P ≤ .05 was c...
Park JW, Choi JY, Hong SA, Kim NY, Do KT, Song KD, Cho BW.This study was performed to reveal the molecular structure and expression patterns of horse glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit () and glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit () genes whose products form glutamate cysteine ligase, which were identified as differentially expressed genes in the previous study. Methods: We performed bioinformatics analyses, and gene expression assay with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for horse and genes in muscle and blood leukocytes of Thoroughbred horses. Results: Expression of showed the same pattern in both blood and muscle tissu...
Pusterla N, Gebhart CJ.Equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) is a disease of foals caused by the obligate intracellular organism Lawsonia intracellularis. This emerging disease affects mainly weanling foals and causes fever, lethargy, peripheral oedema, diarrhoea, colic and weight loss. The diagnosis of EPE may be challenging and relies on the presence of hypoproteinaemia, thickening of segments of the small intestinal wall observed upon abdominal ultrasonography, positive serology and molecular detection of L. intracellularis in faeces. Although the clinical entity, diagnostic approach and treatment of EPE are w...
Moore RM, Hardy J, Muir WW.Six horses were subjected to 3 hours of low-flow ischemia and 3 hours of reperfusion of the large colon. After induction of anesthesia, the large colon was exteriorized through a ventral midline celiotomy. Colonic blood flow was measured continuously, using Doppler ultrasonic flow probes placed on the colonic arteries supplying the dorsal and ventral colons and was allowed to stabilize for 15 to 30 minutes after instrumentation. Low-flow ischemia was induced by reducing colonic arterial blood flow to 20% of baseline (BL) flow. Colonic mucosal, seromuscular, and full-thickness blood flow were d...
Xu Z, Hao X, Li M, Luo H.Rhodococcus equi (R. equi) is a Gram-positive coccobacillus that causes pneumonia in foals of less than 3 months, which have the ability of replication in macrophages. The ability of R. equi persist in macrophages is dependent on the virulence plasmid pVAPA. Gram-positive extracellular vesicles (EVs) carry a variety of virulence factors and play an important role in pathogenic infection. There are few studies on R. equi-derived EVs (R. equi-EVs), and little knowledge regarding the mechanisms of how R. equi-EVs communicate with the host cell. In this study, we examine the properties of EVs prod...
Ratzlaff MH, Wilson PD, Hutton DV, Slinker BK.To define relationships between hoof-acceleration patterns of galloping horses and dynamic properties of the track. Methods: 8 Thoroughbred horses without lameness. Methods: Acceleration-time curves were recorded by use of accelerometers attached to each hoof as each horse galloped over the track straightaway. Four sessions were conducted for each horse, with the track surface modified by sequentially adding water before each session. These acceleration-time curves were analyzed to determine peak accelerations during the support phase of the stride. Track dynamic properties (hardness, rebound,...
Proudman CJ, Edwards GB, Barnes J, French NP.Large intestinal diseases are an important cause of equine colic that require surgical management, but there is little published information about long-term survival of such cases. Objective: To identify variables associated with post operative mortality and to develop a model for post operative survival following surgery for large intestinal disease. Methods: Clinical data and long-term follow-up information from 275 horses undergoing surgery for large intestinal disease were used. A multivariable, Cox proportional hazards model for post operative death was developed and the fit of the model ...
McGuigan MP, Wilson AM.Horses with navicular disease have an increased load on the navicular bone in early stance. This has been suggested to be a response to pain in the heel region. Seven horses with clinical, radiographic and scintigraphic signs of navicular disease underwent forceplate and kinematic analysis before and after desensitisation of the heel region with a bilateral palmar digital nerve block. The compressive force exerted on the navicular bone during stance, and stride kinematics, were determined in each state. After regional analgesia of the palmar digital nerves (PDNB) the compressive force on the n...
Frisbie DD, McIlwraith CW.The field of equine veterinary practice is in an ever-evolving state, requiring current technologies to be constantly evaluated for new applications. The specific use of gene therapy in the horse is a novel application. The authors want to help familiarize the equine practitioner with the concept of gene therapy, and introduce its use and potential future benefits for the equine industry in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
Pearson RA, Krecek RC.Problems have been identified in the delivery of extension messages about the maintenance of healthy and well-fed working animals. The different factors that need to be considered in developing effective disease control and prevention programmes for working oxen and equids including vector-borne diseases, helminth disease, and vaccination programmes have been reported and discussed and experiences in improving husbandry including footcare, harness, and worm management reported. Most draught animals are owned by people who lack the financial means to pay for or to access the information needed ...
