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.
Logan AA, Nielsen BD, Robison CI, Hallock DB, Manfredi JM, Hiney KM, Buskirk DD, Popovich JM.Circular exercise can be used at varying gaits and diameters to exercise horses, with repeated use anecdotally relating to increased lameness. This work sought to characterize mean area, mean vertical force, and mean pressure of the front hooves while exercising in a straight line at the walk and trot, and small (10-m diameter) and large circles (15-m diameter) at the walk, trot, and canter. Nine mature horses wore TekscanTM Hoof Sensors on their forelimbs adhered with a glue-on shoe. Statistical analysis was performed in SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of leg, gait, and exercise type (PROC GLIMMIX...
Williams MR, Holbrook TC, Maxwell L, Croft CH, Ientile MM, Cliburn K.Cannabidiol (CBD) products have gained popularity among horse owners despite limited evidence regarding pharmacokinetics. The purpose of this study was to describe the pharmacokinetic profile of multiple doses of an orally administered cannabidiol product formulated specifically for horses. A randomized 2-way crossover design was used. Seven horses received 0.35 or 2.0 mg/kg CBD per os every 24 hours for 7 total doses, separated by a 2-week washout. Plasma CBD and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) daily through da...
Amat JAR, Patton V, Chauché C, Goldfarb D, Crispell J, Gu Q, Coburn AM, Gonzalez G, Mair D, Tong L, Martinez-Sobrido L, Marshall JF, Marchesi F....The mechanisms and consequences of genome evolution on viral fitness following host shifts are poorly understood. In addition, viral fitness -the ability of an organism to reproduce and survive- is multifactorial and thus difficult to quantify. Influenza A viruses (IAVs) circulate broadly among wild birds and have jumped into and become endemic in multiple mammalian hosts, including humans, pigs, dogs, seals, and horses. H3N8 equine influenza virus (EIV) is an endemic virus of horses that originated in birds and has been circulating uninterruptedly in equine populations since the early 1960s. ...
Larison B, Pinho GM, Haghani A, Zoller JA, Li CZ, Finno CJ, Farrell C, Kaelin CB, Barsh GS, Wooding B, Robeck TR, Maddox D, Pellegrini M, Horvath S.Effective conservation and management of threatened wildlife populations require an accurate assessment of age structure to estimate demographic trends and population viability. Epigenetic aging models are promising developments because they estimate individual age with high accuracy, accurately predict age in related species, and do not require invasive sampling or intensive long-term studies. Using blood and biopsy samples from known age plains zebras (Equus quagga), we model epigenetic aging using two approaches: the epigenetic clock (EC) and the epigenetic pacemaker (EPM). The plains zebra...
Macêdo IN, Arruda LCP, de Santana BB, de Moura TCM, Guerra MMP, Bezerra DG, Carneiro GF, Silva SV.The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the addition of different concentrations of ozone to quarter horse semen submitted to cryopreservation. Six ejaculates from four stallions were collected and were divided in four experimental groups: a control group (BotuCRIO® extender) and three other groups with BotuCRIO® ozonized at concentrations of 6, 8 and 12 μg of O/mL. The semen samples were diluted (200 x 10 spermatozoa/mL), filled in straws and frozen. After thawing (37 ºC, 30s), the samples were evaluated at 0, 30 and 60 minutes of incubation regarding sperm kinetics by ...
Emmert BJ, Robison CI, Pritchard A, Nielsen BD.Digital radiographs are common for estimating bone mineral content (BMC) in horses with radiographic bone aluminum equivalents (RBAE). Processing algorithms are used to produce clearer images of digital radiographs in clinical settings, but this distorts RBAE. This study compared RBAE from digital radiographs to BMC from bone ash, and physical and digital morphology measurements. Digital radiographs were taken of six third metacarpals (MCIII) from equine cadavers with an aluminum step wedge penetrometer. A 2-cm transverse section of bone was digitally analyzed and excised from each MCIII. For ...
Deacon LJ, Navas de Solis C, Richardson DW, Polkes A, Reef VB.• An ACF developed in a hospitalized horse following orthopedic surgery. • Spontaneous closure of the ACF occurred 6 weeks after initial diagnosis. • Echocardiography is the primary imaging modality to confirm the presence of ACF in equids. [Figure: see text]
Takeyama T, Sasaki N.Thoracic spinous process osseous changes in horses occur due to riding-induced back compression. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the findings of thoracic spinous process osseous changes on radiographic imaging and conformation based on the difference in over-riding of the dorsal spinous processes in racing horses. This study included 55 sports horses. The hardness of the back muscles (the multifidus, longissimi, and latissimi collectively) was measured, and the horses were divided into two groups: low muscle hardness (n = 16) and high muscle hardness (n = 39). We conf...
Rozario C, Martínez-Sobrido L, McSorley HJ, Chauché C.Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are important respiratory pathogens of horses and humans. Infected individuals develop typical respiratory disorders associated with the death of airway epithelial cells (AECs) in infected areas. Virulence and risk of secondary bacterial infections vary among IAV strains. The IAV non-structural proteins, NS1, PB1-F2, and PA-X are important virulence factors controlling AEC death and host immune responses to viral and bacterial infection. Polymorphism in these proteins impacts their function. Evidence from human and mouse studies indicates that upon IAV infection, the...
Zuidema D, Kerns K, Sutovsky P.Artificial insemination of livestock has been a staple technology for producers worldwide for over sixty years. This reproductive technology has allowed for the rapid improvement of livestock genetics, most notably in dairy cattle and pigs. This field has experienced continuous improvements over the last six decades. Though much work has been carried out to improve the efficiency of AI, there are still many areas which continue to experience improvement, including semen analysis procedures, sperm selection techniques, sperm sexing technologies, and semen storage methods. Additionally, the use ...
Vdovina NV, Yuryeva IB.Mezenskaya horse (Mezenka) is Russia's aboriginal breed. It is a domestic selection in the northern territories of Arkhangelsk region. The breed is perfectly adapted to the conditions of the Far North, and has a number of valuable economic and biological qualities. At present, it has a limited gene pool and is bred only in the Mezensky district, where one gene pool-breeding farm is operating and so is a number of basic farms, where selection and breeding activities take place with the breed. Due to a small population of Mezen horses, the challenge of preserving its intra-breed diversity is ver...
Esdaile E, Kallenberg A, Avila F, Bellone RR.Coat color is a trait of economic significance in horses. Variants in seven genes have been documented to cause white patterning in horses. Of the 34 variants that have been identified in KIT proto-oncogene, receptor tyrosine kinase (), 27 have only been reported in a single individual or family and thus not all are routinely offered for genetic testing. Therefore, to enable proper use of marker-assisted selection, determining breed specificity for these alleles is warranted. Screening 19 unregistered all-white Shetland ponies for 16 white patterning markers identified 14 individuals whose phe...
Wang L, Unger L, Sharif H, Eriksson S, Gerber V, Rönnberg H.Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) plays a key role in the synthesis of deoxythymidine triphosphate (dTTP) and is thus important for DNA replication and cell proliferation. The expression of TK1 is highest during S-phase, and it is rapidly degraded after mitosis. In cancer cells, TK1 is upregulated, resulting in leakage of excess TK1 into the blood. Consequently, serum TK1 has been used as a diagnostic and prognostic cancer biomarker, mainly in human medicine. The aims of this work were to characterize equine TK1 and to evaluate its suitability as a serum biomarker for equine lymphoma. Results: Equine T...
Di Francesco P, Cajon P, Desterke C, Perron Lepage MF, Lataillade JJ, Kadri T, Lepage OM.To assess the clinical value and safety of the application of allogeneic equine oral mucosa mesenchymal stromal cells (OM-MSCs) to wounds. Animals. 8 healthy adult horses without front limb skin lesions or musculoskeletal disease. Procedures. Stem cells were isolated from the oral mucosa of a donor horse. Horses were subjected to the creation of eight full-thickness cutaneous wounds, two on each distal forelimb (FL) and two on both sides of the thorax (TH). Each wound was subjected to one out of four treatments: no medication (T1), hyaluronic acid- (HA-) gel containing OM-MSC (T2), HA-gel cont...
Madkour FA, Abdelsabour-Khalaf M.The current study aims to provide a new method for the identification of animal species by using the scanning electron microscopic study on the nasal skin around the nostril. The reference databases for animal identification using traditional ways (i.e., hair and bone analyses) were somewhat available. This study was conducted on the nasal skin of seven different animal species: large ruminants (Saidi buffalo and frozen Angus cattle); small ruminants (Egyptian goat and Rahmani sheep); camels (one-hump dromedary camel); equines (African domestic donkey and Arabian horse); carnivores (farm domes...
Starke SD, May SA.The evaluation of hindlimb lameness remains a major challenge in everyday clinical practice. In the absence of clear guidelines, veterinarians use different visual assessment methods for this task whose robustness is unknown. Objective: Determination of the robustness of five visual hindlimb lameness assessment methods based on the comparison of left and right tuber coxae movement. Methods: Validated mathematical hindlimb lameness model based on experimental data from the literature. Methods: Vertical movement of left (LTC) and right (RTC) tuber coxae was simulated for the range of common hind...
The Journal of heredityDecember 12, 2021
Volume 113, Issue 3 238-247 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esab070
Esdaile E, Avila F, Bellone RR.American Standardbreds were developed as a harness racing horse breed. The United States Trotting Association closed the studbook in 1973 and implemented a book size cap in 2009. This study aimed to investigate genetic diversity in the American Standardbred after the studbook cap was introduced using short tandem repeats (STRs) and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Sixteen STRs from horses foaled from 2010 to 2015 and their sires and dams (n = 50 621) were utilized to examine allelic richness (Ar), expected heterozygosity (HE), observed heterozygosity (HO), unbiased heterozygosity (HU), ...
Houck EL, Papich MG, Delk KW.Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) frequently develop painful conditions, such as traumatic injuries or osteoarthritis, necessitating the administration of pain-relieving medications. One of the preferred treatments is the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone because of the availability of oral formulations and the familiarity of its use in horses. For the main study, a single oral dose of phenylbutazone at 2 mg/kg was administered to healthy adult rhinoceros (n = 33) housed at six North American zoological institutions. Each rhinoceros had up to four blood ...
Story MR, Nout-Lomas YS, Aboellail TA, Selberg KT, Barrett MF, Mcllwraith CW, Haussler KK. Dangerous behavior is considered an undesired trait, often attributed to poor training or bad-tempered horses. Unfortunately, horses with progressive signs of dangerous behavior are often euthanized due to concerns for rider safety and limitations in performance. However, this dangerous behavior may actually originate from chronic axial skeleton pain. This case series describes the medical histories and clinical presentations of horses presented for performance limitations and dangerous behavior judged to be related to intractable axial skeleton pain. Fourteen horses that developed severe pe...
Cutler C, Viljanto M, Taylor P, Hincks P, Biddle S, Van Eenoo P.Selective androgen receptor modulators, SARMs, are a large class of compounds developed to provide therapeutic anabolic effects with minimal androgenic side effects. A wide range of these compounds are available to purchase online and thus provide the potential for abuse in sports. Knowledge of the metabolism of these compounds is essential to aid their detection in doping control samples. In vitro models allow a quick, cost-effective response where administration studies are yet to be carried out. In this study, the equine phase I metabolism of the non-steroidal SARMs GSK2881078, LGD-2226, LG...
Bampidis V, Azimonti G, Bastos ML, Christensen H, Fašmon Durjava M, Kouba M, López-Alonso M, López Puente S, Marcon F, Mayo B, Pechová A....Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of a tincture from the bark of J. Presl (cinnamon tincture) when used as a sensory additive in feed and water for drinking for all animal species. The product is a water/ethanol ■■■■■ solution, with a dry matter content of approximately 0.9%. The product contains on average 0.344% polyphenols (of which 0.001% are flavonoids) and 0.001% cinnamaldehyde. Methyleugenol was present at the...
Kaiser-Thom S, Hilty M, Ramseyer A, Epper P, Gerber V.Equine pastern dermatitis (EPD) is a multifactorial syndrome, with prolonged exposure to moisture assumed to be a predisposing or primary factor. Objective: To examine the course of EPD lesion severity, changes in bacterial skin microbiota, and the influence of meteorological factors. Methods: Prospective, longitudinal cohort study over a one-year period, with six Franches-Montagnes stallions, four affected by EPD and two unaffected, that were kept under the same conditions. Methods: Pasterns were scored for lesion severity and sampled once a month for 12 consecutive months. Lesion severity, t...
Cappelli K, Mecocci S, Capomaccio S, Beccati F, Palumbo AR, Tognoloni A, Pepe M, Chiaradia E.Physical exercise has been associated with the modulation of micro RNAs (miRNAs), actively released in body fluids and recognized as accurate biomarkers. The aim of this study was to measure serum miRNA profiles in 18 horses taking part in endurance competitions, which represents a good model to test metabolic responses to moderate intensity prolonged efforts. Serum levels of miRNAs of eight horses that were eliminated due to metabolic unbalance (Non Performer-NP) were compared to those of 10 horses that finished an endurance competition in excellent metabolic condition (Performer-P). Circulat...
Rørvang MV, Ničová K, Sassner H, Nawroth C.Many frameworks have assessed the ultimate and ontogenetic underpinnings in the development of object permanence, but less is known about whether individual characteristics, such as sex or training level, as well as proximate factors, such as arousal or emotional state, affect performance in these tasks. The current study investigated horses' performance in visible and invisible displacement tasks and assessed whether specific ontogenetic, behavioral, and physiological factors were associated with performance. The study included 39 Icelandic horses aged 2-25 years, of varying training levels. ...
Ochala J, Finno CJ, Valberg SJ.Myosinopathies are defined as a group of muscle disorders characterized by mutations in genes encoding myosin heavy chains. Their exact molecular and cellular mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, we have focused our attention on a -related E321G amino acid substitution within the head region of the type IIx skeletal myosin heavy chain, associated with clinical signs of atrophy, inflammation and/or profound rhabdomyolysis, known as equine myosin heavy chain myopathy. We performed Mant-ATP chase experiments together with force measurements on isolated IIx myofibres from control horse...
Herren FL, Gerber V, Meier R, Schweizer-Gorgas D, Klopfenstein Bregger MD.The volumes of equine teeth may change considerably over time for several reasons including domestication, routine dental floating, and the hypsodont and anelodont nature of the teeth. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) of the head is routinely performed in standing horses and, in this proof of concept study, the feasibility of measuring tooth volume from CBCT datasets was determined. The CBCT images of 5 equine cadaver cheek teeth were segmented with a software 3-dimensional (3D) Slicer using a predefined protocol, corrected manually, and re-assembled into a 3D model. Individual tooth volum...
Abbas G, Ghafar A, Hurley J, Bauquier J, Beasley A, Wilkes EJA, Jacobson C, El-Hage C, Cudmore L, Carrigan P, Tennent-Brown B, Gauci CG, Nielsen MK....Cyathostomins are the most important and common parasitic nematodes of horses, with > 50 species known to occur worldwide. The frequent and indiscriminate use of anthelmintics has resulted in the development of anthelmintic resistance (AR) in horse nematodes. In this study we assessed the efficacy of commonly used anthelmintics against cyathostomins in Australian thoroughbred horses. Methods: Two drug efficacy trials per farm were conducted on two thoroughbred horse farms in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the first trial, the horses on Farm A were treated with single and combinations ...
Breuil MF, Joseph M, Petry S.The gold standard method to isolate and identify Taylorella equigenitalis, the contagious agent of equine metritis, is the culture method according to the World Organisation for Animal Health Terrestrial Manual. No selective T. equigenitalis chocolate agar medium has been developed since the 1980s and the existing media show limited performances due to the fastidious nature of T. equigenitalis and the presence of interfering bacteria in the genital tract of equines. Here, the growth rates of 6 T. equigenitalis strains and 7 non-T. equigenitalis strains were compared on Timoney's selective medi...
Spinaci M, Nerozzi C, Mislei B, Blanco-Prieto O, Mari G, Galeati G, Bucci D.The growing and widespread use of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) has raised an intense public debate about the impact of environmental contamination on animal and human health, including male fertility. The aim of this study was to deepen the impact of glyphosate (Gly) and GBHs on mammalian sperm investigating the effect of in vitro exposure of stallion spermatozoa to Gly and to its commercial formulation Roundup® (R). Spermatozoa were incubated at 37 °C with different Gly or R concentrations (from 0.5 to 720 μg/mL Gly or R at the same Gly-equivalent concentrations). After 1 h of in...
Firshman AM, Valberg SJ.Insulin resistance is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of many equine conditions such as pars intermedia dysfunction, equine metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipaemia, laminitis, endotoxaemia and osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD); whereas polysaccharide storage myopathy in Quarter Horses and equine motor neuron disease (EMD) have been associated with increased insulin sensitivity. However, it is clear that there is not one ideal test, in terms of both practicality and accuracy, for evaluating insulin sensitivity in horses and improved diagnostic techniques are required. This...
Balasuriya UB.Equine arteritis virus (EAV), the causative agent of equine viral arteritis (EVA), is a respiratory and reproductive disease that occurs throughout the world. EAV infection is highly species-specific and exclusively limited to members of the family Equidae, which includes horses, donkeys, mules, and zebras. EVA is an economically important disease and outbreaks could cause significant losses to the equine industry. The primary objective of this article is to summarize current understanding of EVA, specifically the disease, pathogenesis, epidemiology, host immune response, vaccination and treat...
Gao Y, Zhang Y, Yang X, Qiu JH, Duan H, Xu WW, Chang QC, Wang CR.Equine strongyles, the significant nematode pathogens of horses, are characterized by high quantities and species abundance, but classification of this group of parasitic nematodes is debated. Mitochondrial (mt) genome DNA data are often used to address classification controversies. Thus, the objectives of this study were to determine the complete mt genomes of three Cyathostominae nematode species (, and ) of horses and reconstruct the phylogenetic relationship of Strongylidae with other nematodes in Strongyloidea to test the hypothesis that spp. belong to Cyathostominae using the mt genomes...
Epe C, Ising-Volmer S, Stoye M.The results of the coproscopical examinations in horses, dogs, cats and hedgehogs between 1984 and 1991 are presented. In 9192 samples from horses 55.5% stages of strongylids, 4.0% of Parascaris equorum, 2.2% of anoplocephalids, 1.6% Strongyloides westeri, 0.7% of Oxyuris equi, 0.6% of Eimeria leuckarti, 0.2% of Fasciola hepatica and 0.04% of Dictyocaulus arnfieldi were found. In 48.0% of the 46 samples from donkeys eggs from strongylids were detected, in 17.4% larvae from Dictyocaulus arnfieldi, in 2.2% eggs from Strongyloides westeri, Parascaris equorum and oocysts from Eimeria leuckarti, re...
Claes F, Ilgekbayeva GD, Verloo D, Saidouldin TS, Geerts S, Buscher P, Goddeeris BM.In this study, we compared the complement fixation test (CFT), the horse complement fixation test (HCFT) and a card agglutination test for trypanosomosis (CATT/T. evansi) for the diagnosis of equine trypanosomosis in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Cohen's kappa test was used to evaluate the concordance between the three tests. Kappa scores for CFT versus HCFT and CATT are both 0.6165 (95% Confidence Interval CI 0.414--0.819) indicating a "substantial" agreement between CFT and HCFT or CATT, respectively. Kappa for HCFT versus CATT is 0.395 (CI 0.142--0.648) indicating a "fair" agreement between t...
Galuppi R, Piva S, Castagnetti C, Iacono E, Tanel S, Pallaver F, Fioravanti ML, Zanoni RG, Tampieri MP, Caffara M.The present study aims to evaluate the prevalence, pattern of spread and risk factors for the transmission of cryptosporidiosis in foals and mares hospitalized in a University Equine Perinatology Unit, where a new subtype family of Cryptosporidium horse genotype was described by Caffara et al. (2013). Mares (36) and foals (37) hospitalized during the 2012 foaling season were included. Multiple sampling from each animal was performed (a total of 305 stool samples were collected). One hundred and eleven environmental samples (gauze swabs) were also collected before and after the breeding season....
Höglund J, Ljungström BL, Nilsson O, Uggla A.A scolex antigen of the horse tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata containing at least 14 different proteins was employed in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of antibodies to A. perfoliata in equine sera. The assay was applied to sera from 426 slaughtered horses with different numbers of worms and with varying degrees of intestinal lesions. As measured by the ELISA, there was a very strong effect on the antibody levels both from the number of tapeworms present and from the intestinal lesion score. However, considerable individual variation was observed between horses wit...
Finno CJ, Gianino G, Perumbakkam S, Williams ZJ, Bordbari MH, Gardner KL, Burns E, Peng S, Durward-Akhurst SA, Valberg SJ.The cause of immune-mediated myositis (IMM), characterized by recurrent, rapid-onset muscle atrophy in Quarter Horses (QH), is unknown. The histopathologic hallmark of IMM is lymphocytic infiltration of myofibers. The purpose of this study was to identify putative functional variants associated with equine IMM. A genome-wide association (GWA) study was performed on 36 IMM QHs and 54 breed matched unaffected QHs from the same environment using the Equine SNP50 and SNP70 genotyping arrays. A mixed model analysis identified nine SNPs within a ~ 2.87 Mb region on chr11 that were significantly (...
Rivero JL, Talmadge RJ, Edgerton VR.The aim of this study was to characterize the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms present in equine skeletal muscle. Methods: Muscle biopsies were removed from the superficial region of the gluteus medius muscle of five mature horses and analyzed by immunohistochemistry (using a battery of monoclonal antibodies specific for rat MyHC isoforms) and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results: Immunohistochemistry allowed subdivision of three different muscle fiber populations containing a single MyHC, one slow and two fast, and two hybrid populations, one containing slow an...
White SH, Johnson SE, Bobel JM, Warren LK.Untrained Thoroughbred horses (6 mares and 6 geldings; 11 yr [SE 1] and 565 kg [SE 11]) were used to evaluate antioxidant gene expression and enzyme activity in blood and skeletal muscle in response to prolonged exercise after receiving 2 levels of dietary selenium for 36 d: 0.1 (CON; = 6) or 0.3 mg/kg DM (SEL; = 6). Horses were individually fed 1.6% BW coastal bermudagrass hay, 0.4% BW whole oats, and a mineral/vitamin premix containing no Se. Sodium selenite was added to achieve either 0.1 or 0.3 mg Se/kg DM in the total diet. On d 35, horses underwent 2 h of submaximal exercise in a free-st...
Back W, Schamhardt HC, Savelberg HH, van den Bogert AJ, Bruin G, Hartman W, Barneveld A.Kinematic data of the equine hind limb are presented graphically and related to functional aspects of the hind limb in locomotion. The trot of 24 two-year-old Dutch Warmblood horses was recorded at 4 m/s on a high-speed treadmill using kinematic analysis equipment. Joint angle-time, angle-angle, stick and marker diagrams were used to present graphically the data following standardised procedures. As the kinematic data were expressed with reference to the joint angles of the horse standing squarely and were time-standardised to the duration of the stride cycle, mean joint curves for the total g...
Keenan DM, Alexander S, Irvine C, Veldhuis JD.Cortisol is an important mediator of physiological stress responses. Hypothalamic CRH and arginine vasopressin (AVP) and pituitary ACTH, in addition to hypothalamic and pituitary cortisol feedback, regulate cortisol secretion. Importantly, joint interactions among the four, rather than the signal of any one hormone, govern this life-preserving axis. Quantifying in vivo strength of such joint interactions has been difficult, especially without direct injection of cortisol, CRH, AVP, or ACTH. The goal of the present research was to estimate these joint feedback and feedforward interactions in vi...
Marchetti B, Gault EA, Cortese MS, Yuan Z, Ellis SA, Nasir L, Campo MS.Bovine papillomavirus type 1 is one of the aetiological agents of equine sarcoids. The viral major oncoprotein E5 is expressed in virtually all sarcoids, sarcoid cell lines and in vitro-transformed equine fibroblasts. To ascertain whether E5 behaves in equine cells as it does in bovine cells, we introduced the E5 open reading frame into fetal equine fibroblasts (EqPalF). As observed in primary bovine fibroblasts (BoPalF), E5 by itself could not immortalize EqPalF and an immortalizing gene, such as human telomerase (hTERT/hT), was required for the cells to survive selection. The EqPalF-hT-1E5 c...
Zoonoses and public healthMarch 12, 2008
Volume 55, Issue 3 149-155 doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2008.01106.x
Vedovello Filho D, Jorge FA, Lonardoni MV, Teodoro U, Silveira TG.American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is an endemic disease in the north-west of Paraná state, Brazil, where it occurs in humans and dogs. Few studies have been undertaken on the occurrence of the disease in other domestic animals and horses. In this study we investigated the infection of horses by Leishmania in ACL-endemic rural areas. Direct agglutination test (DAT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were employed. Fifty-five horses from rural areas in the municipalities of Doutor Camargo, Ourizona, São Jorge do Ivaí, Ivatuba and Santa Fé (Agua do O) were analysed. DAT-detected antibod...
Trotz-Williams L, Physick-Sheard P, McFarlane H, Pearl DL, Martin SW, Peregrine AS.Infection with the tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata has been found to be associated with equine colic in horses in the United Kingdom. Using a matched case-control study design, data collected from 117 pairs of horses in Ontario were examined for evidence of associations between risk of colic and A. perfoliata infection, and between seropositivity to infection and management practices. Cases were horses in southern Ontario diagnosed with colic by local veterinarians, and control horses were from the same stables as cases and were matched by age, breed and gender where possible. Infection stat...
Schubert S, Brehm W, Hillmann A, Burk J.For clinical applications of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), serum-free culture is preferable to standardize cell products and prevent contamination with pathogens. In contrast to human MSCs, knowledge on serum-free culture of large animal MSCs is limited, despite its relevance for preclinical studies and development of veterinary cellular therapeutics. This study aimed to evaluate the suitability of a commercially available serum-free human MSC medium for culturing equine adipose-derived MSCs in comparison with human adipose MSCs. Enzyme-free isolation by explant technique and e...
Van Den Top JG, Ensink JM, Gröne A, Klein WR, Barneveld A, Van Weeren PR.Penile and preputial tumours are not uncommon in the horse, but can cause discomfort and lead to serious complications. Several types of tumour of the male external genitalia have been described. The most common type is the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which is found mainly in older horses. Reports of a breed predilection for penile tumour formation are equivocal, but castration, coat colour, poor hygiene and various infectious agents have all been suggested to predispose to the development of some types of tumour (e.g. SCC, papilloma and melanoma). Careful assessment of the primary tumour i...
Cherry NA, Jones SL, Maggi RG, Davis JL, Breitschwerdt EB.Bartonella species bacteremia has been identified in numerous animal species. These bacteria cause, or have been associated with, a spectrum of clinical manifestations in dogs and human patients. The frequency of exposure to or infection with Bartonella spp. among healthy and sick horses has not been reported. Objective: To test healthy and sick horses and sick foals from the southeastern United States for serological, microbiological, and molecular evidence of Bartonella infection. Methods: Forty-seven healthy horses, 15 sick foals, 22 horses with musculoskeletal manifestations, and 8 horses ...
Szabó C, Vizesi Z, Vincze A.Heart rate is one of the gold standards used to assess the workload level and fitness of horses. However, when slight differences need to be detected, it is not sensitive enough. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the effect of competition level and phase of exercise on the heart rate and heart rate variability parameters in show jumpers. Fourteen horses were examined competing on three different levels: 100 cm (n = 4), 120 cm (n = 6), and 130 cm (n = 4). The length of work (min); average and maximum heart rate; average, maximum and minimum RR intervals (ms); SD1 and SD2 (ms); RMSSD ...
Wilsterman S, Soboll-Hussey G, Lunn DP, Ashton LV, Callan RJ, Hussey SB, Rao S, Goehring LS.Infection with equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) causes respiratory disease, late term abortions and equine herpesvirus myeloencephalitis (EHM) and remains an important problem in horses worldwide. Despite increasing outbreaks of EHM in recent years, our understanding of EHM pathogenesis is still limited except for the knowledge that a cell-associated viremia in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) is a critical link between primary respiratory EHV-1 infection and secondary complications such as late-term abortion or EHM. To address this question our objective was to identify which PBMC subpo...
Chung C, Leib SR, Fraser DG, Ellis SA, McGuire TC.Improved typing of horse classical MHC class I is required to more accurately define these molecules and to extend the number identified further than current serological assays. Defining classical MHC class I alleleic polymorphism is important in evaluating cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses in horses. In this study, horse classical MHC class I genes were analyzed based on reverse transcription (RT)-PCR amplification of sequences encoding the polymorphic peptide binding region and the more conserved alpha 3, transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions followed by cloning and sequencing. Primer s...
Zaneb H, Kaufmann V, Stanek C, Peham C, Licka TF.To assess differences in activities of back and pelvic limb muscles by use of surface electromyography (SEMG) in chronically lame and nonlame horses during walking and trotting. Methods: 12 nonlame horses and 12 horses with unilateral chronic mild to moderate pelvic limb lameness. Methods: On each horse, bipolar electrodes were attached to the skin over the midpoints of the right and left longissimus thoracis (Lot), semitendinosus (Set), biceps femoris (Bif), gluteus medius (Glm), and extensor digitorum longus (Edl) muscles. For each muscle, synchronous kinematic and SEMG recordings were made ...
de Solis CN, Althaus F, Basieux N, Burger D.Sudden death affects the health of horses, the safety of riders and the public perception of animal welfare during equestrian events. Objective: To describe the signalment, clinical history, sudden death episode, rider injuries and causes of sudden death during exercise or closely thereafter in sport and pleasure riding horses. Methods: Retrospective case series based on an online questionnaire. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to the veterinary and equestrian community. Connections of animals reported in the press to have died suddenly were sent the survey. Responses were anal...
Hoane JS, Yeargan MR, Stamper S, Saville WJ, Morrow JK, Lindsay DS, Howe DK.Neospora hughesi is a recently identified cause of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis. However, the significance of this parasite is poorly understood. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a recombinant form of the N. hughesi 29-kDa surface antigen (rNhSAG1) was developed for serodiagnosis of equine N. hughesi infections. Parallel ELISA analysis showed that animals immunized or infected with N. hughesi exhibited greater antibody reactivity with rNhSAG1 than with the Neospora caninum homolog, rNcSAG1. The rNhSAG1 ELISA showed 94.4% sensitivity and 95.0% specificity when compared wi...
Evans KE, McGreevy PD.There is a lack of an established method for quantifying equine skull morphology. This study proposes a method that is valid for use on both live and deceased horses. A total of nine head measurements (skull length, cranial length, nasal length, ratio of cranial:nasal length, cranial width, zygomatic width, mandibular depth, nasal profile area, cranial profile area) and six indices (skull index, cranial index, nasal index, mandibular index, nasal profile index, cranial profile index) were recorded from 30 horses from a variety of breeds whilst the soft tissues of the head were intact. A line w...
Bogaert L, Martens A, De Baere C, Gasthuys F.The purpose of the present study was to examine whether bovine papillomavirus (BPV) DNA can be detected on the normal skin and in the habitual surroundings of horses with and without equine sarcoids by means of superficially taken swabs. In affected horses, no significant difference in presence of BPV-DNA could be observed between samples obtained from the equine sarcoid surface, from normal skin close to the tumour and from a normal skin site in direct contact with the tumour. From the group of healthy horses living in contact with affected horses, 44% were BPV-DNA positive. The surroundings ...
Bacon SJ, Ellis SA, Antczak DF.In most mammals, the fetus limits its presentation of paternal antigens to the mother by suppressing the cell-surface expression of proteins of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on trophoblast. In the horse, however, functional, polymorphic MHC class I antigens are expressed at high levels on the invasive trophoblast cells of the chorionic girdle between Days 32 and 36 of pregnancy, although not on the adjacent noninvasive trophoblast of the chorion and allantochorion membranes. In this study, the control of MHC class I gene expression was investigated in invasive and noninvasive hors...
Funk RA, Pleasant RS, Witonsky SG, Reeder DS, Werre SR, Hodgson DR.Lyme disease can affect people, dogs, and horses, but it remains poorly understood, especially in the horse. Determining the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in horses in different geographic areas will enable better understanding of the epidemiology of the disease, thus improving diagnosis and treatment of affected animals. Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of B. burgdorferi in horses in southwest Virginia. Methods: Horses presented for routine Coggins testing from January 2013 to January 2014 had additional blood drawn for Lyme Multiplex Assay testing. Methods: Of 492 samples ...
Costa LR, Spier SJ, Hirsh DC.Ribotyping and susceptibility to 17 antimicrobial agents were used to compare 37 isolates of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (28 from horses, 1 from cattle, 3 from sheep and 5 from goats) derived from various types of lesions, and different geographic locations. According to the presence of nitrate reductase, all but one isolate from horses reduced nitrate (nitrate-positive), whereas all isolates from sheep and goats were unable to reduce nitrate (nitrate-negative). The ribotype of the nitrate-negative isolate from a horse with ulcerative lymphangitis was identical to all the other isolates...
Hildebrand F, Venner M, Giguère S.Gamithromycin is active in vitro against the bacterial agents most commonly associated with bronchopneumonia in older foals. However, the clinical efficacy and safety of this drug have not been investigated. Objective: Gamithromycin is effective for the treatment of bronchopneumonia in foals. Methods: One hundred and twenty-one foals on a farm endemic for infections caused by Rhodococcus equi. Methods: In a controlled, randomized, and double blinded clinical trial, foals with ultrasonographic evidence of pulmonary abscesses (abscess score 8.0-20 cm) were randomly allocated in 3 treatment group...
