Veterinary research in horses encompasses the study of diseases, health management, and medical treatments specific to equine species. This field investigates various aspects of horse health, including infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and musculoskeletal conditions. Researchers focus on understanding the pathophysiology of equine ailments, developing diagnostic tools, and evaluating therapeutic interventions. The study of horse health also involves examining preventive measures such as vaccination protocols and nutritional management to promote overall well-being. This page collects peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the diverse areas of veterinary science related to horses, providing insights into disease mechanisms, treatment strategies, and advancements in equine healthcare.
Science (New York, N.Y.)September 21, 1962
Volume 137, Issue 3534 979-980 doi: 10.1126/science.137.3534.979
STEINBERG S, BOTELHO S.Congenital myotonia, similar to that which has been reported in humans and in goats, is here reported for the first time in another species. Evidence is given to show (i) that the myotonic phenomenon is present despite complete block of neuromuscular transmission; (ii) prior to injection of curare, synchronous activity of muscle fibers may result not only from ephaptic stimulation of neighboring fibers but also from reflex firing; and (iii) water deprivation does not relieve the myotonia.
TURK RD, UECKERT BW, BELL RR.No signs of intoxication were seen in horses dosed with thiabendazole at either 200 mg. or 400 mg. per kg. body-weight. 17 horses were dosed with the drug at a level of 100 mg. per kg. These horses had a mean egg count of 1, 296 e.p.g. before treatment; all were negative for strongyle eggs by the 7th day after treatment. 3 of these horses were killed and few or no strongyles were found; an untreated control animal killed at the same time had many thousands of strongyle worms. Thiabendazole was effective when given either by stomach tube or when mixed in the feed.
RANDALL CC, LAWSON LA.The research article discusses the successful adaptation of the Equine Abortion Virus (EAV) to L-M 929 cells, the impact on infected cultures, and possible reasons for earlier unsuccessful attempts. It […]
Ribeiro RM, Oliveira TO, Ribeiro DSF.The use of thermal cameras in horses has proven effective for monitoring surface body temperature non-invasively, enabling the early identification of disease and inflammation. This study evaluated the agreement between a thermal camera compared to an infrared thermometer in the measurement of surface temperatures of 60 healthy horses (27 mares, 33 stallions; 7.88 ± 4.01 years; 466 ± 50.1 kg). Measurements were taken at the neck, thorax, and coronary band between 8:00-9:00 a.m., under controlled environmental conditions. Analysis revealed strong correlations between the two methods at the co...
Kadic LIM, Liu CC, Leise BS, McCauley CT, Riggs LM.The aim of the study was to determine if a novel arthrodesis technique for the equine metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint using a human non-contact bridging (NCB), polyaxial locking compression plate system has biomechanical and potential clinical advantages versus a traditional 5.5 mm stainless steel locking compression plate (LCP) under biomechanical testing. Methods: An ex vivo biomechanical equine cadaver study. Methods: A total of 11 MCP joints collected from adult Thoroughbred horses euthanized unrelated to musculoskeletal disease. Methods: Each pair of MCP joints were randomly implanted w...
Donovan K, Torres J, Zhu D, Herrington WG, Staplin N.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of disease progression are vulnerable to collider bias caused by selection of participants with disease at study entry. This bias introduces spurious associations between disease progression and genetic variants that are truly only associated with disease incidence. Methods of statistical adjustment to reduce this bias have been published, but rely on assumptions regarding the genetic correlation of disease incidence and disease progression which are likely to be violated in many human diseases. MR-Horse is a recently published Bayesian method to estimate...
Leus EK, Collins N, Gruyaert M, Kennedy RN, McConnell E, McGorum BC, Luethy D, Sanz M, Versporten A, Viljoen A, Lyle CH.Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasingly recognised in equine medicine. Antimicrobial use (AMU) is a key driver of AMR. Objective: To pilot a point prevalence survey (PPS), based on the Global-PPS used in human hospitals, to obtain data on antibiotic prescribing and AMR in equine hospitals and to identify targets for improvement in AMU. Methods: Point prevalence survey. Methods: Eight equine hospitals located in Australia, Belgium, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States were recruited. Data on AMU were collected from all in-patients on antibiotic treatment at 08h00 on fou...
Calle-González N, Rivero JL, Olivares J, Miró F, Argüelles D, Requena F, Munoz A.Capacitive-resistive electrical transfer (CRET) is an endogenous non-invasive technique, used as deep diathermy. We pursue to analyze the temperature changes by applying different CRET protocols in the thoracolumbar spine of horses, between thoracic vertebrae 15 and lumbar 2. Unassigned: Ten clinically sound horses without thoracolumbar pain underwent various CRET protocols applied to a standardized thoracolumbar region (T15-L2). The protocols included sham (device off), low intensity (LIP, 5%), medium intensity (MIP, 30%), and high intensity (HIP, 40%). The HIP protocol was further divided in...
Marine L, Wilfried P, Joëlle P, Justine J, Axel D, Vinciane T, Benoît V, Laurent G, Luc G, Jean-François K, Nadine A.In situ injection of mesenchymal stem cells appears as a promising treatment of tendinopathies. Tendon-derived mesenchymal stem cells (TDSCs) are widely studied and show a lot of interesting characteristics for clinical use. The aim of this study is to confirm the tenogenic potential of cryopreserved TDSCs and to confirm their ability to produce type I and/or type III collagens fibers in culture. Tendon-derived mesenchymal stem cells are harvested from the tendon no later than 72 h post-mortem. Their tenogenic potential has been assessed by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain ...
Avison A, Physick-Sheard PW, Pyle WG.This paper reviews the myocardial substrate of horses relative to that of humans and discusses the utility of performance horses as a model of exercise-associated cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in athletes. The coronary circulation is similar between the species while coronary artery anomalies and myocardial bridging appear to only be associated with athletic mortality in human athletes and not in performance horses. There are subtle differences in the histology of the sinus and atrioventricular nodes, of unknown clinical significance, while the His bundle is more highly innervat...
Lee S, Kyaw MT, Harada K, Kusakabe KT, Igase M, Sasaki N.Generally, most mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have lower pluripotency and limited differentiation potential than embryonic stem cells (ESCs). However, a small subpopulation of MSCs, called multilineage differentiating stress-enduring (MUSE) cells, exhibit pluripotency. MUSE cells express stage-specific embryonic antigen 3 (SSEA-3), a sphingoglycolipid. Here, we isolated and investigated the pluripotency of SSEA-3-positive MSCs (MUSE cells). Six thoroughbred horses were used as test subjects. MSCs were harvested from the bone marrow of the thoracic vertebrae under ultrasound guidance. Harvested...
Harte T, Smith D, Moore J, Wells B.An article published in 1992 by Marion M. Pollin and I.R. Griffiths reviewed the topic of primary dysautonomias of the autonomic nervous system of unidentified origin in multiple domestic species, specifically cats, dogs and horses. Thirty-one years later, we appear no closer to identifying the causal agents of these strikingly similar diseases. This article reviews the similarities and differences in clinical presentation and pathology of dysautonomia in canids, felids, equids, leporids and other less frequently reported species.
Suvanto MT, Truong Nguyen PT, Vauhkonen H, Olander V, Joensuu R, Culverwell CL, Kaansalo K, Hepojoki J, Vapalahti O, Korhonen EM, Smura T, Huhtamo E.The genus (, ) comprises several globally important vector-borne animal viruses, such as borne bluetongue virus, African horse sickness virus and epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV). Orbiviruses that are associated with mosquitoes are a diverse group including established mosquito-borne animal pathogens such as the Peruvian horse sickness virus and phylogenetically related less well-characterized viruses isolated mostly from mammals. Although reported from various geographic regions, these viruses have not previously been detected in northern Europe. Using next-generation sequencing a...
Liu J, Baumwart R, Kwon S.Ventriculophasic response (VR) in atrioventricular nodal (AVN) block is characterized by a shortening of the sinoatrial cycle length when a QRS complex is interposed between two P waves. This has been well documented in humans and dogs with AVN blocks but not in horses. Herein, we describe a horse with second-degree AVN blocks and constant PR intervals that exhibited 5:3 conduction and suspected VR at rest but less consistently after submaximal exercise. Proposed VR mechanisms include (1) inhibition of the Bezold-Jarisch reflex from reduced end-systolic volume during ventricular contraction; (...
Lai CS, Wong ASY, Wong KS, Wan TSM, Ho ENM.In the screening of prohibited substances (PS) in horse biological samples with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) for doping control, an enormous number of chromatograms are generated. Reviewing these chromatograms to identify suspicious findings requires an extensive manual effort. Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) enable its use to classify images into different categories. This can potentially be utilized to perform first-line analysis of chromatograms, which are usually displayed as images, by classifying them...
Roth SP, Liso G, Brehm W, Wagner B, Schnabel CL, Troillet A.The anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects of autologous conditioned serum (ACS) in joint-associated disorders are presumably mediated by the biomolecules it contains, such as cytokines and chemokines. ACS is commonly used in equine practice after storage. Data regarding the influence of storage conditions of ACS on cytokine and chemokine concentrations are not available. Unassigned: To evaluate the effect of commonly used storage conditions on selected cytokine and chemokine concentrations in equine ACS. Unassigned: From 10 horse patients with clinically indicated ACS preparation six ACS ...
Clarke EJ, Jensen A, Gillen AM, Bardell D, Senior M, Anderson JR, Peffers MJ.To determine the protein composition of equine platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and PRP-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) and evaluate their effects on tendon inflammation in vitro. As tendon injuries are common in horses and treatment with PRP derived from the horse's own blood shows promise, but outcomes vary due to inconsistent composition. PRP contains EVs that facilitate cell communication. Unassigned: From December 2022 through May 2023, equine plasma (n = 3, adult) was isolated via double centrifugation and PRP produced using a commercial kit. Extracellular vesicles were isolated using dif...
Sales NAA, Carvalho JRG, Littiere TO, Costa GB, Silva ACY, Rodriguez IDM, Castro CM, Anjos LS, Ottati ACM, Alcaide JA, Ramos GV, Ferraudo AS....Whole-body vibration (WBV) has the potential to enhance post-exercise recovery in humans. Heart rate variability (HRV), a well-established biomarker of cardiac autonomic regulation (CAR), provides insight into autonomic reactivity during recovery from exercise. Objective: To investigate CAR in healthy horses during post-exercise recovery following an acute intensive exercise bout (AIEB) with WBV intervention. Methods: A single AIEB was prescribed at velocities corresponding to lactate threshold (VLT), and the eight horses performed on treadmill with 5 % slope, 2 min at 110 % VLT followed by 3 ...
Beaumont A, Emond AL, Pourcelot P, Fayaubot L, Ravary-Plumioen B, Dupays AG, Desquilbet L, Denoix JM, Crevier-Denoix N.To quantify changes in the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the midmetacarpal superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) in young Trotters during training. Unassigned: In this experimental study, 12 healthy 3-year-old French Trotters, assigned to either a soft-track or a hard-track group, were trained for 4 months (June through September of 2012 and 2013). Both groups followed the same exercise program of increasing intensity. Ultrasonographic examinations of both forelimb SDFTs of each horse were performed before the beginning of training (D0), after 2 months of training (M2), and after 4 months o...
Osorio-Cardona JJ, Usuga-Moreno VM, MartÃnez-Aranzales JR.The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) has been used in humans for the diagnosis of psychiatric problems such as depression, anxiety and Cushing's syndrome, and in horses for the ante mortem diagnosis of dysfunction of the intermediate part of the pituitary. Objective: This study aimed to examine the functionality of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis through the DST and the cortisol index (CI), to evaluate the rhythmicity of the circadian cycle of cortisol in healthy horses with crib-biting or windsucking. Methods: A total of 20 Colombian Creole horses of both sexes, under similar mana...
Peeters MWJ, Ott S, van Veggel E, Berner D, Perrier M.Limited reports in the literature are available regarding desmitis of the palmar/plantar ligaments of the proximal interphalangeal joint (PL-PIPJ); the clinical significance of such injuries is unknown. Objective: To describe the ability to differentiate the PL-PIPJ on low-field magnetic resonance (MR) examination. To describe the injury characteristics of the PL-PIPJ on MR examination and the correlation with clinical features and lameness. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Data and MR images of 29 horses were collected from the databases of three institutions. Horses were included...
Ellis K, Van Zeeland EM, Ashton L, Wist S, Broeckling C, Harris M, Frisbie DD, Sikes KJ.To (1) identify tissue-specific metabolic profiles of the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT), deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT), and suspensory ligament (SL) and (2) evaluate metabolic profile differences in the SDFT, DDFT, and SL between the equine forelimb and hindlimb. Unassigned: 2 SDFT, DDFT, and SL specimens were collected from the forelimbs and hindlimbs of 10 horses of mixed breed, age, and sex that were euthanized for other reasons. One specimen was processed for histology to confirm that there were no underlying soft-tissue pathologies. One specimen was processed for 2 forms of...
Ablondi M, Eriksson S, Mikko S.Fragile foal syndrome (FFS) is a disease caused by a recessive lethal missense mutation in the PLOD1 gene located on ECA2. Despite its harmful effect, a relatively high frequency of FFS carriers was observed in Warmblood breeds spanning from 7.4% in a random sample of Swedish Warmblood breed to 17% in the Hanoverian and Danish Warmblood, indicating potential heterozygous advantage. Balancing selection can be further studied based on haplotype blocks and via detection of heterozygosity-rich region (ROHet) around the target of selection. In this study we evaluated the presence of haplotype block...
Baldwin CM, Gillen A.To evaluate three different jejunal transection angles for end-to-end jejunojejunostomies, comparing construction time, lumen size, and suture number. Methods: Ex vivo cadaver study. Methods: Eight euthanized horses each had three mid-jejunal specimens harvested. Methods: Jejunal segments were assigned to one of three groups (A30, A45, and A60) and transected at 30, 45, or 60°, respectively. Following transection, a standardized handsewn single-layer interrupted modified Lembert anastomosis was performed, and construction time and number of sutures placed were recorded. Anastomotic index (AI)...
Whitlock F, McGlennon A, Newton R, Riley K.As part of her undergraduate research project, Cambridge vet student Katie Riley surveyed the attitudes of UK veterinarians with regard to preventing and controlling strangles, including the use of vaccination. Here, she and Fleur Whitlock, Abigail McGlennon and Richard Newton of Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance discuss her findings.
Hellige M, Schröder C, Seehusen F, Cavalleri JM, Rohn K, Stadler P, Geburek F.Computed tomographic myelography (CTM) and radiographic myelography (RxM) are diagnostic for extradural spinal cord compression, but knowledge about the contrast distribution in flexion and normal position of nonaffected horses is lacking. Objective: (1) To determine the inter- and intravertebral ratios at C3-C4 of CTM in neutral and flexed positions in Warmbloods. (2) To compare the diameters of the spinal cord and the contrast columns at C3-C4 between neutral and flexed positions in CTM and RxM. (3) To evaluate the variability of measurements. Methods: Terminal in vivo method-comparison stud...
Baptiste KE, Kyvsgaard NC, Ahmed MO, Damborg P, Dowling PM.Rifampin is an enigma among antimicrobials. Blood and tissue compartment concentrations are a "moving target" along the treatment course due to the complex pharmacodynamic interactions within the body. Rifampin concomitant therapies are for the prevention and treatment of Rhodococcus equi infection in foals, for nearly 40 years. The necessity of rifampin concomitant therapies is based on beliefs that both antimicrobials (e.g., rifampin plus macrolide) penetrate into pulmonary abscesses and intracellular compartments above R. equi minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), as well as better ef...
Li J, Matsumoto T, Liu H, Li C, Murase H, Yamamoto Y, Nagaoka K.Accurate prediction of the timing of parturition is crucial to ensure the health and well-being of both mares and foals. However, equine pregnancies are characterised by significant variability in gestation length, unique endocrine mechanisms, and subtle physiological changes before parturition. Objective: To investigate the characteristic changes in the peripheral metabolites of mares before and after parturition using metabolomic approaches. Methods: Longitudinal in vivo metabolic study. Methods: Plasma samples (n = 95) were collected from successfully foaling Thoroughbred mares (n =â€...
