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.
Menzies-Gow NJ, Wakeel F, Little H, Buil J, Rickards K.Laminitis causes lameness in donkeys, but its prevalence and factors associated with disease remain uncertain. Objective: To determine the prevalence of and identify factors associated with laminitis in donkeys. Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods: All donkeys at the Donkey Sanctuary, UK, October 2015 to March 2019 were included. For animals that had laminitis during this period, age, sex, weight, body condition score, and the onset date and type of each episode (first or recurrent, acute or chronic) were recorded. Additionally, management data, foot lesion score, endocrine d...
Jiang Z, Haughan J, Moss KL, Stefanovski D, Ortved KF, Robinson MA.Gene therapy is currently prohibited in human and equine athletes and novel analytical methods are needed for its detection. Most in vivo products use non-integrating, recombinant viral vectors derived from adeno-associated virus (AAV) to deliver transgenes into cells, where they are transcribed and translated into functional proteins. Although the majority of wild-type AAV (WTAAV) DNA is removed from recombinant AAV (rAAV) vectors, some sequences are conserved. The goal of this study was to develop a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) screening test targeting conserved AAV sequence...
Pusterla N, Leutenegger CM, Barnum S, Wademan C, Hodzic E.Equine respiratory viruses remain a leading cause of equine morbidity and mortality, with the resurgence of certain infections, an increasing population of elderly, more susceptible horses, the growth of international equine commerce, and an expansion in geographic distribution of pathogens. The focus of rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases has also shifted recently, with the appearance and increasing importance of nucleic acid amplification-based techniques, primarily polymerase chain reaction (PCR), at the expense of traditional methods such as clinical microbiology. While PCR is fast, rel...
Vail KJ, da Silveira BP, Bell SL, Cohen ND, Bordin AI, Patrick KL, Watson RO.Rhodococcus equi is a major cause of foal pneumonia and an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised humans. While alveolar macrophages constitute the primary replicative niche for R. equi, little is known about how intracellular R. equi is sensed by macrophages. Here, we discovered that in addition to previously characterized pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., Tnfa, Il6, Il1b), macrophages infected with R. equi induce a robust type I IFN response, including Ifnb and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), similar to the evolutionarily related pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Follow up studi...
Nylund LE, Sinclair PJ, McLean AN, Cobley S.Cross-country eventing is one of the highest-risk sporting activities for serious injury outcomes. This study investigated relationships between fall characteristics and high-risk falls at jumps in cross-country eventing. A video analysis protocol was systematically developed to analyze 87 video recordings of high-risk rider falls; defined as when the rider's head impacted the ground and/or where there was potential horse impact with the rider. Falls were classified according to competition type, jump type, horse-related, and rider-related factors. At least one high-risk fall characteristic wa...
Paine SW, Aldurdunji M, Garth-Greeves A, Muir T, Hincks PR.Hydroxyzine and cetirizine are first- and second-generation oral antihistamine drugs, respectively, used to treat allergic reactions in horses. Cetirizine is also a metabolite of hydroxyzine, which may lead to complexities in regulating their use in equine sporting events. The aim of the research was to be able to provide detection times (DT) from pharmacokinetic studies in thoroughbred horses to better inform trainers, and their veterinary surgeons, prescribing these substances for treatment of Thoroughbred racehorses. Six and two horses were given 9 repeated administrations of hydroxyzine HC...
Jindra C, Kamjunke AK, Jones S, Brandt S.Bovine papillomavirus types 1 and 2 (BPV1 and BPV2) are accepted aetiological agents of equine sarcoids. Recently, genetically similar BPV13 has been identified from equine sarcoids in Brazil. Objective: To determine whether BPV13 DNA can be also found in sarcoid-affected horses in Austria, and donkeys in Northern Italy and the UK, and should hence be considered in the context of vaccine-mediated sarcoid prevention. Methods: Cross sectional study. Methods: A total of 194 archival, equine and asinine DNA isolates derived from confirmedly delta-BPV-positive tumours were subjected to quality cont...
Belli CB, Fernandes WR, Torres LN, Sucupira MCA, de Sá LRM, Maiorka PC, Neuenschwander HM, de Barros AMC, Baccarin RYA.Copper toxicity is thought to be a rare condition in horses. However, the number of cases diagnosed in Brazil is growing. This article aims to describe cases of copper toxicity involving horses from different geographic locations and discuss findings of physical examinations, differential diagnoses and potential causes. Five cases referred from 4 different properties where at least 15 other horses were affected were described. Hemolytic anemia and hemoglobinuria, presence of Heinz bodies and elevated aspartate aminotransferase and gamaglutamil transferase levels were detected in all cases. The...
Lindroth KM, Lindberg JE, Johansen A, Müller CE.Free faecal liquid (FFL) in horses is characterised by the excretion of faeces in two phases (one solid and one liquid), which may cause dermatitis on the hindlegs. The causes of FFL are not known. Results from previous studies have indicated that feed ration composition and management factors may play important roles in the occurrence of FFL. A case-control study was therefore performed in which data on feed rations, feeding practices and management factors were compared between horses with (case) and without (control) FFL on 50 private farms in Sweden and Norway. The comparisons show that ca...
Storch C, Fuhrmann H, Schoeniger A.Osteoarthritis the quality and span of life in horses. Previous studies focused on nasal cartilage as a possible source for autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) in cartilage defects in humans. "HOX gene-negative" nasal chondrocytes adapted articular HOX patterns after implantation into caprine joint defects and produced cartilage matrix proteins. We compared the HOX gene profile of equine chondrocytes of nasal septum, anterior and posterior fetlock to identify nasal cartilage as a potential source for ACI in horses. Cartilage was harvested from seven horses after death and derived chondro...
Butler AJ, Greenbank H, Parrish R, Nielsen MK, Stoughton WB.Cyathostomins are the most common parasites of adult horses worldwide. Currently, the three classes of anthelmintics used to treat cyathostomin infections includes benzimidazoles, pyrimidines and macrocyclic lactones. However, due to widespread overuse, cyathostomins have developed varying degrees of resistance to all classes of anthelmintics. Fecal egg count reduction tests (FECRT) are currently used to determine the presence of anthelmintic resistance (AR), while egg reappearance periods (ERP) are used to investigate early macrocyclic lactone resistance. The objective of this study was to in...
Hay AN, Potter A, Lindsay D, LeRoith T, Zhu J, Cashwell S, Witonsky S, Leeth C.Sarcocystis neurona is the predominant etiological agent of the infectious equine neurologic disease, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), which is prevalent in the United States. A wealth of knowledge about S. neurona biology and its life cycle has accumulated over the last several decades. However, much remains unknown about the aberrant equine host's immune response to S. neurona and the relatively high prevalence of exposure to the protozoa but relatively infrequent occurrence of clinical neurologic disease. Mouse models simulating EPM are commonly used to study the disease due to num...
Journal of biomechanicsAugust 28, 2021
Volume 128 110715 doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110715
Akbari Shahkhosravi N, C R Bellenzani M, M S Davies H, Komeili A.Hoof conformation plays a key role in equine locomotion. Toe-in conformation is an abnormal condition characterized by inward deviation of the limb from its frontal axis. Several studies have documented differences in hoof deformation and hoof kinematics in horses with toe-in and normal hoof conformations. However, the reason behind this has yet to be understood. The present study hypothesizes that a different center of pressure (COP) path underneath the hoof is the cause of different deformation patterns and hoof kinematics in toe-in hooves. In vivo measurements and finite element (FE) analys...
Goodarzi N, Zehtabvar O, Tohidifar M.This study was conducted to present a comprehensive and integrative computed tomography (CT) - anatomical cross sections atlas of skull, volumetric properties of the paranasal sinuses, and morphometric values for surface cranial nerves in the adult Arabian horse. Ten heads of Arabian horse breed were used. The different structures in the nasal, oral and cranial cavities were determined and labelled in the anatomical sections and their corresponding CT scan images. Three paranasal sinuses namely maxillary, conchofrontal and sphenopalatine sinuses were identified in the CT scan images. The cauda...
Khan A, Mushtaq MH, Muhammad J, Ahmed B, Khan EA, Khan A, Zakki SA, Altaf E, Haq I, Saleem A, Warraich MA, Ahmed N, Rabaan AA.There are different opinions around the World regarding the zoonotic capability of H3N8 equine influenza viruses. In this report, we have tried to summarize the findings of different research and review articles from Chinese, English, and Mongolian Scientific Literature reporting the evidence for equine influenza virus infections in human beings. Different search engines i.e. CNKI, PubMed, ProQuest, Chongqing Database, Mongol Med, and Web of Knowledge yielded 926 articles, of which 32 articles met the inclusion criteria for this review. Analyzing the epidemiological and Phylogenetic data from ...
Liu G, Cao W, Salawudeen A, Zhu W, Emeterio K, Safronetz D, Banadyga L.Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which belongs to the Vesiculovirus genus of the family Rhabdoviridae, is a well studied livestock pathogen and prototypic non-segmented, negative-sense RNA virus. Although VSV is responsible for causing economically significant outbreaks of vesicular stomatitis in cattle, horses, and swine, the virus also represents a valuable research tool for molecular biologists and virologists. Indeed, the establishment of a reverse genetics system for the recovery of infectious VSV from cDNA transformed the utility of this virus and paved the way for its use as a vaccine ...
The Journal of heredityAugust 26, 2021
Volume 112, Issue 5 436-442 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esab034
Cieslak J, Brooks SA, Wodas L, Mantaj W, Borowska A, Sliwowska JH, Ziarniak K, Mackowski M.Only the blue dun coat color, produced by the action of the dun allele on the background of a black base coat, is officially permitted in the Polish primitive horse (PPH, Konik) breed, yet the population is not visually homogenous and various coat color shades occur. Herein, the molecular background of PPH coat color was studied based on genotyping of known causative variants in equine coat color-related genes (ASIP, MC1R, TBX3, SLC36A1, SLC45A2, PMEL17, and RALY). Additionally, screening for the new polymorphisms was conducted for the ASIP gene coding sequence and the TBX3 1.6-kb insert (asso...
Alnaeem A, Shawaf T, Ali AM, Hemida MG.In the current study, we are investigating the viral causes of some respiratory clinical signs in some animals belongs to the family Equidae in eastern Saudi Arabia (ESA) during winter- 2019. We observed the progression of severe respiratory clinical signs among some horses, donkeys, and ponies in the ESA. Animals showed rapid respiration, fever, nasal discharges (started as serous then changed into mucopurulent with the progression of the infection per some animals). We conducted a longitudinal study to monitor the progression of this outbreak. We conducted molecular surveillance for the infl...
Lutzer A, Nagel C, Murphy BA, Aurich J, Wulf M, Gautier C, Aurich C.Blue light directed at 1 eye advances the equine ovulatory season but may also advance foaling. In this study, effects of blue LED light on pregnancy outcome were assessed. A total of 20 mares with singleton pregnancies were studied over 2 consecutive years in a cross-over design. In 1 year, mares received an extended photoperiod using 50 lux of blue LED light (468 nm) directed at a single eye from 08:00 until 23:00 daily via head-worn light masks starting mid-December and in the other year remained untreated as controls. Gestation was shorter in blue LED light-treated than in control pregnan...
Harding C, Viljanto M, Cutler C, Habershon-Butcher J, Biddle S, Scarth J.Oxandrolone is an anabolic-androgenic steroid with favourable anabolic to androgenic ratio, making it an effective anabolic agent with less androgenic side effects. Although its metabolism has been studied in humans, its phase I and II metabolism has not been previously reported in the horse. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro metabolism of oxandrolone (using both equine liver microsomes and S9) and in vivo metabolism following oral administration (three daily doses of 50 mg of oxandrolone to a single Thoroughbred horse), using both gas and liquid chromatography-mass s...
Kubacki J, Lechmann J, Fraefel C, Bachofen C.We present the genome sequence of equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) sequenced directly from the nasal swab of a Swiss horse that attended an international equestrian event in Valencia, Spain, the origin of an outbreak of neurological disorders in horses in several European countries in February 2021.
Pérez-Castrillo S, González-Fernández ML, Gutiérrez-Velasco L, Villar-Suárez V.To characterize the ultrastructure of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that were harvested from the adipose tissue (AT-MSCs) and bone marrow (BM-MSCs) of horses and transfected with green fluorescent protein. Methods: MSCs from adipose tissue and bone marrow of 6 adult female Hispano-Bretón horses. Methods: Harvested equine MSCs were cultivated and transfected with green fluorescent protein, and the immunophenotypes of the MSCs were characterized by use of anti-CD90 and anti-CD105 monoclonal antibodies. When stable transfection of MSCs was achieved, the morphological and ultrastructural characte...
Zhang Y, Wen X, Xiao P, Fan X, Li M, Chahan B.Ticks in Xinjiang distribute widely and account for one third of China. Ticks can carry and transmit bacteria, virus, and parasite. However, the research of tick-borne pathogens in Xinjiang is rather little. To understand the situation of hard tick carry Theileria equi, Babesia caballi and Rickettsia spp. of Zhaosu and Altay in Xinjiang. In this study, 119 tick samples were obtained from horses in Xinjiang, China, Ticks were identified morphologically to determine species and PCR was used to investigate the situation of pathogens by hard ticks. One hundred and seven belong to Dermacentor margi...
Park CS, Lee SY, Cho GJ.In this study, we aimed to investigate the recent changes such as allele frequencies and total probability of exclusion (PE) in Thoroughbred horses in Korea using short tandem repeat (STR) parentage panels between 2006 and 2016. Methods: The genotype was provided for 5,988 horse samples with 15 microsatellite markers (AHT4, AHT5, ASB2, ASB17, ASB23, CA425, HMS1, HMS2, HMS3, HMS6, HMS7, HTG4, HTG10, LEX3 and VHL20). Results: In our study, the observed number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 (HMS1) to 9 (ASB17) in 2006 and 4 (HMS1) to 9 (ASB2) in 2016, with a mean value of 6.28 and 6.40, respe...
Yılmaz İ, Maraş Z, Uğur Y, Erkan Özgür M, Durmaz M, İbrahim Ulusoy H, Erdoğan S.Metamizole sodium (MT) is an analgesic and antipyretic drug molecule used in humans, horses, cattle, swine, and dogs. Metamizole rapidly hydrolyzes and turns into methylamino antipyrine (MAA), an active primary metabolite of MT. The present study aims to determine the pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of MT metabolites after intravenous (IV) and intramuscular (IM) administration into sex of Arabian horses (Equus ferus caballus) using a cross-over study design. The plasma samples were extracted by solid-phase extraction (SPE) method, and plasma concentrations of MT metabolites were analyzed by high...
Scheurer L, Bachofen C, Hardmeier I, Lechmann J, Schoster A.Equid Gamma herpesvirus (eGHV) infections have been reported worldwide and may be correlated with clinical signs, e.g., affecting the respiratory tract in young horses. eGHV are shed by healthy horses as well as horses with respiratory tract disease. The prevalence in healthy Swiss horses is unknown to date but this data would provide valuable information for causal diagnosis in clinical cases and formulation of biosecurity recommendations. Nasal swabs from 68 healthy horses from 12 Swiss stables and 2 stables near the Swiss border region in Germany were analyzed by panherpes nested PCR. Posit...
Moraes BSS, Curcio BR, Müller V, Bruhn FRP, Santos IPOD, Danielski JNS, Nogueira CEW.The aim of this study was (i) to evaluate the relationship of climatic factors with gestational length (GL) and (ii) to evaluate the relationship of sire, foal gender and maternal factors with GL in mares. Retrospective data from 470 gestations of 202 respective mares were collected from a Criollo breeding farm in the southern hemisphere. GL was considered as the interval between ovulation and parturition. Climatic and environmental data (temperature, relative humidity, daily sunshine hours, precipitation, temperature humidity index - THI) were obtained daily and the mean values for foaling mo...
Tantely ML, Guis H, Randriananjantenaina I, Raharinirina MR, Velonirina HJ, Cardinale E, Raveloarijaona N, Cêtre-Sossah C, Garros C, Girod R.In Madagascar, the high West Nile virus (WNV) antibody prevalence reported in horse populations suggests a high level of vector-horse contact. This study aims to characterize the mosquito species usually involved in WNV transmission in horse stables in Madagascar. Five horse stables were investigated in October and November 2016 in five distinct inland areas. Mosquitoes were collected using double net traps baited with human, poultry or horse as well as light traps. Blood meal identification from engorged females was performed using host-specific PCRs. A total of 2898 adult mosquitoes were col...
Higuera A, Herrera G, Jimenez P, García-Corredor D, Pulido-Medellín M, Bulla-Castañeda DM, Pinilla JC, Moreno-Pérez DA, Maloney JG, Santín M.... is frequently reported in fecal samples from animals and humans worldwide, and a variety of subtypes (STs) have been observed in wild and domestic animals. In Colombia, few studies have focused on the transmission dynamics and epidemiological importance of in animals. In this study, we characterized the frequency and subtypes of in fecal samples of domestic animals including pigs, minipigs, cows, dogs, horses, goats, sheep, and llama from three departments of Colombia. Of the 118 fecal samples included in this study 81.4% ( = 96) were positive for using a PCR that amplifies a fragment of t...
Seo HJ, Truong AT, Kim KH, Lim JY, Min S, Kim HC, Yoo MS, Yoon SS, Klein TA, Cho YS.The horse industry has grown rapidly as a leisure industry in the Republic of Korea (ROK) in parallel with an increased demand for equestrian activities. As a result, there has been an increase in horse breeding and equestrian population and potential exposure to ticks and their associated pathogens. To provide a better understanding of the potential disease risks of veterinary and medical importance, a study was conducted to determine the geographical distribution and diversity of ticks collected from horses and vegetation associated with horse racetracks/ranches throughout the ROK. This incl...
Deeg CA, Amann B, Lutz K, Hirmer S, Lutterberg K, Kremmer E, Hauck SM.Müller glial cells are important regulators of physiological function of retina. In a model disease of retinal inflammation and spontaneous recurrent uveitis in horses (ERU), we could show that retinal Müller glial cells significantly change potassium and water channel protein expression during autoimmune pathogenesis. The most significantly changed channel protein in neuroinflammatory ERU was aquaporin 11 (AQP11). Aquaporins (AQP, 13 members) are important regulators of water and small solute transport through membranes. AQP11 is an unorthodox member of this family and was assigned to a thi...
Kay AT, Bolt DM, Ishihara A, Rajala-Schultz PJ, Bertone AL.To assess analgesia, inflammation, potency, and duration of action associated with intra-articular injection of triamcinolone acetonide (TA), mepivacaine hydrochloride, or both in metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints of horses with experimentally induced acute synovitis. Methods: 18 horses. Methods: Both forelimbs of each horse were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 3 times. After the first LPS injection, 1 forelimb of each horse was treated with intra-articular injection of mepivacaine (80 mg; n=6), TA (9 mg; 6), or mepivacaine with TA (same doses of each; 6) 12 hours after the initial LPS i...
Grinberg A, Pomroy WE, Carslake HB, Shi Y, Gibson IR, Drayton BM.To assess the occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in faecal specimens from foals, and investigate an outbreak of neonatal cryptosporidiosis in foals revealed in the course of the study. Methods: Faecal specimens from foals received by a diagnostic veterinary laboratory in New Zealand between 2006 and 2007 were submitted to Massey University and tested microscopically for the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts. The Cryptosporidium isolates in the oocyst-positive specimens were genetically identified to species level. In addition, specimen submission data from the participating laboratory for...
McBrearty KA, Murray A, Dunowska M.To determine which viruses circulate among selected populations of New Zealand horses and whether or not viral infections were associated with development of respiratory disease. Methods: Nasal swabs were collected from 33 healthy horses and 52 horses with respiratory disease and tested by virus isolation and/or PCR for the presence of equine herpesviruses (EHV) and equine rhinitis viruses. Results: Herpesviruses were the only viruses detected in nasal swab samples. When both the results of nasal swab PCR and virus isolation were considered together, a total of 41/52 (79%) horses with respirat...
Cohen ND, Smith KE, Ficht TA, Takai S, Libal MC, West BR, DelRosario LS, Becu T, Leadon DP, Buckley T, Chaffin MK, Martens RJ.To compare isolates of Rhodococcus equi on the basis of geographic source and virulence status by use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Methods: 290 isolates of R equi (218 virulent isolates from foals and 72 avirulent isolates from feces, soil, and respiratory tract samples) obtained between 1985 and 2000 from horses and horse farms from 4 countries. Methods: DNA from isolates was digested with the restriction enzyme Asel and tested by use of PFGE. Products were analyzed for similarities in banding patterns by use of dendrograms. A similarity matrix was constructed for isolates, and...
Dickey EJ, Long SN, Hunt RW.Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a condition that occurs in both human newborns and foals. The condition is the subject of extensive current research in human infants, but there have been no direct studies of HIE in foals, and hence, knowledge of the condition has been extrapolated from studies in humans and other animal models. The purpose of this review article is to highlight the most up-to-date and relevant research in the human field, and discuss how this potentially might have an impact in the management of foals with HIE.
McEwan Jenkinson D, Elder HY, Bovell DL.Sweating has a variety of functions in mammals including pheromone action, excretion of waste products and maintenance of the skin surface ecosystem. In a small number of mammalian species, which includes humans and the Equidae, it also has an important role in thermoregulation. This review is focused specifically on the thermoregulatory role of sweat in Equidae and the causes of sweating failure (anhidrosis). The first part describes the glandular appearance, sweat composition, and output rates; and considers the latest theories on the glandular control and secretory mechanisms. It is conclud...
Rosenthal FS, Gruntman A, Couetil LL.Measurements of total, respirable, and real-time airborne particulate were obtained in 12 horse barns in summer and winter. Respirable and total particulate concentrations were measured gravimetrically; real-time particulate was measured with an aerosol photometer. Total particulate (TP) ranged from nondetectable (ND) to 2.1 mg/m3 and from ND to 1.2 mg/m3 for winter and summer sampling, respectively. Respirable particulate (RP) ranged from ND to 0.2 mg/m3 and from ND to 0.7 mg/m3 for winter and summer measurements, respectively. The mean respirable fraction of particulate for summer and winter...
von Rechenberg B, Leutenegger C, Zlinsky K, McIlwraith CW, Akens MK, Auer JA.This study investigated the potential association of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in subchondral cystic lesions (SCL) in horses. With the technique of in situ hybridisation in paraffin sections of fibrous tissue of SCL and quantitative real-time PCR in fresh frozen fibrous tissue and undecalcified bone sections of SCL embedded in acrylic resin, upregulation of mRNA of both cytokines could be demonstrated. mRNA of IL-1beta was upregulated at the periphery of the cystic lesion adjacent to normal bone, whereas IL-6 mRNA was upregulated within the fibrous tissue found with...
Yuan Z, Gallagher A, Gault EA, Campo MS, Nasir L.Bovine papillomavirus (BPV) type 2 is involved in carcinogenesis of the urinary bladder in cattle, while BPV-1 is commonly associated with equine sarcoid tumours. In both cases the early viral proteins are expressed, but virion is not produced. Given the similarities in BPV biology between the tumours in cattle and horses, bovine bladder cancers and equine sarcoids were compared with respect to physical status, load of viral DNA and variability of the E5 open reading frame (ORF). Rolling circle amplification demonstrated that BPV-1 and BPV-2 genomes exist as double stranded, episomal, circular...
Hill EW, McGivney BA, Rooney MF, Katz LM, Parnell A, MacHugh DE.Race distance aptitude in Thoroughbred horses is highly heritable and is influenced largely by variation at the myostatin gene (MSTN). Objective: In addition to MSTN, we hypothesised that other modifying loci contribute to best race distance. Methods: Using 3006 Thoroughbreds, including 835 'elite' horses, which were >3 years old, had race records and were sampled from Europe/Middle-East, Australia/New Zealand, North America and South Africa, we performed genome-wide association (GWA) tests and separately developed a genomic prediction algorithm to comprehensively catalogue additive geneti...
Hollis AR, Dallap Schaer BL, Boston RC, Wilkins PA.More information is needed regarding accuracy of commonly used methods of glucose measurement in the critically ill horse. Objective: Glucometry will have good agreement with a laboratory standard. Glucometry with plasma will have better agreement than when performed with whole blood. Methods: Fifty sequentially admitted equine emergency patients, aged >1year. Methods: Venous blood was collected at admission and immediately analyzed by point-of-care glucometry on both whole blood (POC/WB) and plasma (POC/PL), a multielectrode blood gas analyzer with whole blood (BLG), and a standard laborat...
Wright JD, Kelly WR, Waddell AH, Hamilton J.Verminous encephalomyelitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis larvae was diagnosed in 2 foals at necropsy. The principal clinical feature was tetraparesis, although history and neurological examination revealed progressive and multifocal neurological disease. At presentation, a tentative diagnosis of parasitic larval migration involving the central nervous system (CNS), presumably due to Strongylus vulgaris, was proposed. Dissection of the spinal cord in one case resulted in recovery of intact larvae of both sexes of A. cantonensis. In both foals, histopathology of the brain and spinal cord r...
Scorpio DG, Leutenegger C, Berger J, Barat N, Madigan JE, Dumler JS.Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis by inducing immunopathologic responses. Its immunodominant Msp2 protein is encoded by a family of >100 paralogs. Msp2 (msp2) expression modulates in the absence of immune pressure, and prolonged in vitro passage modulates in vivo virulence. Because programmed MSP2 expression occurs in Anaplasma marginale, we hypothesized a similar event in A. phagocytophilum in vivo, with specific Msp2 expression triggering immunopathologic injury or clinical manifestations of disease. We examined msp2 transcripts in 11 B6 mice and 6 horses inocu...
Ribeiro MG, Seki I, Yasuoka K, Kakuda T, Sasaki Y, Tsubaki S, Takai S.We investigated the prevalence of virulent Rhodococcus equi in clinical isolates from 41 foals (19 sporadic and seven endemic cases) in Brazil between 1991 and 2003. Of the 41 virulent isolates, six contained an 85-kb type I plasmid, 33 contained an 87-kb type I plasmid, both of which have been found in isolates from the Americas, and the remaining two contained a new variant, which did not display the EcoRI, EcoT22I and BamHI digestion patterns of the 11 representative plasmids already reported (85-kb types I-IV; 87-kb types I and II; 90-kb types I-V). We tentatively designated the new varian...
Stull CL, Morrow J, Aldridge BA, Stott JL, McGlone JJ.Thirty-eight mature horses were assigned to one of two equal groups to evaluate two treatments consisting of either 24 hours of continuous road transport (24T) or two 12-hour periods of transport separated by off-loading, resting and feeding the horses for 12 hours (12/12T). A subset of six horses from each group served as controls for the other group. The horses were loaded into a commercial straight-deck trailer and travelled loose in one of two standard-sized compartments. After the journeys the horses were put back into their paddocks for a 24-hour recovery period. Venous blood samples wer...
Kindig CA, Gallatin LL, Erickson HH, Fedde MR, Poole DC.To investigate the role of nitric oxide, NO, in facilitating cardiorespiratory function during exercise, five horses ran on a treadmill at speeds that yielded 50, 80 and 100% of peak pulmonary oxygen uptake (V(O(2)) peak) as determined on a maximal incremental test. Each horse underwent one control (C) and one (NO-synthase inhibitor; N(G)-L-nitro-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), 20 mg/kg) trial in randomized order. Pulmonary gas exchange (open flow system), arterial and mixed-venous blood gases, cardiac output (Fick Principle), and pulmonary and systemic conductances were determined. L-NAME red...
Parker RA, Yeates JW.Assessing patients' quality of life (QOL) is a core part of clinical decision making. Various methodologies for assessing patients' QOL have been developed in human medicine and small animal veterinary disciplines. In contrast, the lack of aids for QOL assessment in equine veterinary practice leaves practitioners reliant on subjective assessments of QOL, which may be prone to avoidable errors. Objective: This paper suggests pragmatic ways in which QOL may be enhanced, while remaining appropriate for the time, financial and owner-based constraints within equine practice. Methods: Through interd...
Pollitt CC, Visser MB.In acute laminitis, the suspensory apparatus of the distal phalanx fails at the lamellar dermal/epidermal interface. A grading system for the histopathology of laminitis is based on the consistent pattern of histologic changes to the secondary epidermal lamellae, basal cells, and basement membrane that occur as carbohydrate-induced laminitis develops. The actual trigger factors of carbohydrate-induced laminitis remain unidentified.
Hess TM, Rexford JK, Hansen DK, Harris M, Schauermann N, Ross T, Engle TE, Allen KG, Mulligan CM.The objective of this study was to examine the effects of different sources of dietary omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid supplementation on plasma, red blood cell, and skeletal muscle fatty acid compositions in horses. Twenty-one mares were blocked by age, BW, and BCS and assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatments with 7 mares per treatment. Dietary treatments were: 1) control or no fatty acid supplement (CON), 2) 38 g of n-3 long chain, highly unsaturated fatty acid (LCHUFA) supplement/d provided by algae and fish oil (MARINE) containing alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaen...