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.
Benitez-Ibalo AP, Debárbora VN, Mangold AJ, Nava S, Sebastian PS.After the previous description and characterization of Theileria equi sensu stricto (Genotype A) in Argentina, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible heterogeneity of 18 S rDNA genotypes circulating in this country. Therefore, blood samples from 18 horses from two different neighborhoods of Corrientes City, Corrientes Province, were analyzed for infection with Theileria species. Theileria DNA was detected in five samples (27.8%). Four nearly complete 18 S rDNA gene sequences were obtained and phylogenetic analyses were carried out. The maximum likelihood tree constructe...
Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is the simplest described within the family, related to the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1 and HIV-2). There is an important interplay between host cells and viruses. Viruses need to hijack cellular proteins for their viral cycle completion and some cellular proteins are antiviral agents interfering with viral replication. HIV cellular partners have been extensively studied and described, with a special attention to host proteins able to inhibit specific steps of the viral cycle, called restriction factors. Viruses develop countermeasures against ...
Valderrama-Martinez C, Packham A, Zheng S, Smith W, Plancarte M, Aleman M.Evaluating antibody titers for Sarcocystis neurona for the diagnosis of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis from serum samples is a common practice. However, ensuring timely and proper refrigeration is not always possible. Objective: To evaluate immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) titers for S. neurona from serum samples stored at room temperature and 4°C. Methods: Twenty-two serum samples. Methods: Prospective longitudinal study. Two serum aliquots of 1 mL each were stored at room temperature (20-23.3°C) and 4°C. The unrefrigerated aliquot was immediately tested for IFA titers. Both aliquots...
Broeckl CV, Hiereth S, Straubinger RK.Diagnosis of equine Lyme borreliosis (LB), an infection caused by members of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex (Bbsl), is challenging due to the nonspecific clinical signs of the disease and due to the variety of non-standardized serological tests. Specific vaccine-induced antibodies against LB, providing an effective protection against the infection, complicate the issue further. The standard for the detection of specific antibodies against Bbsl is a two-tier test system based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFA) for antibody sc...
Chen JW, Stefanovski D, Haughan J, Jiang Z, Soma LR, Robinson MA.Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) are both upregulated following traumatic injury. As IL-1RA blocks inflammatory signaling by IL-1β, overexpression of IL-1β relative to IL-1RA may drive inflammatory diseases. As such, determination of the relationship between IL-1β to IL-1RA expression levels in horses may provide insight into disease states or serve as a therapeutic readout of response to medical interventions. As techniques to detect plasma concentrations of IL-1β and IL-1RA in horses lack sensitivity, we developed and validated novel enzyme-linked immunos...
Crisà A, Cardinali I, Giontella A, Silvestrelli M, Lancioni H, Buttazzoni L.Lipizzan is a famous horse breed dating back to 1580 when the original stud of Lipica was established by the Hasburg Archduke Charles II. Currently, the Italian State Stud of Lipizzan Horses (ASCAL) is a conservation nucleus managed through strict mating rules where mitochondrial DNA sequences are used to verify the correct assignment of mares to a historical pedigree maternal lineage. Here, we analyzed the D-loop sequences of Lipizzan horses from the ASCAL in Monterotondo (Rome, Italy) in order to confirm their pedigree assignment to known female founder families. The concurrent investigation...
Wong JKY, Choi TLS, Wong COL, Curl P, Wan TSM, Ho ENM.Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), also known as dimethyl sulfone, is a naturally occurring sulphur-containing compound that can be found in plants, animals and humans. MSM can also be a metabolite of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Due to their anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, both MSM and DMSO are prohibited substances in horseracing. As both substances are naturally occurring, their misuse in horses is controlled by International Residue Limits (IRL) of 1200 and 15 μg/mL, respectively, in horse urine as established by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The elimination ...
Silva GC, Nogueira CEW, Scalco R, Pizzi GLBL, Leite TA, Bastos R, Curcio BR.Gestation length (GL) in horses varies widely, influenced by multiple variables, including maternal, fetal, and environmental factors. This study aimed to investigate and quantify the relative contributions of climatic (photoperiod and temperature-humidity index - [THI]), maternal (age and parity), fetal (sex) and environmental (year and month of foaling) variables influencing gestation length in Thoroughbred mares. Retrospective data encompassing 704 pregnancies across nine breeding seasons in tropical and subtropical Brazilian climates were analyzed. Stepwise regression analysis identified f...
Piotrowska-Tomala KK, Szóstek-Mioduchowska A, Jonczyk AW, Drzewiecka EM, Wrobel MH, Hojo T, Ferreira-Dias G, Skarzynski DJ.Endometrosis (chronic degenerative endometritis) results in morphological changes in the equine endometrium and impairs its secretory function. However, the effect of this condition on the myometrium remains unclear. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) may affect female reproductive function and embryo transport by influencing uterine contractility through its receptors (LPARs). The objective of this study was to determine myometrial LPAR1-6 mRNA transcription, and the effects of LPA on myometrial contractions in mares with endometrosis during the mid-luteal and follicular phases of the estrous cycle....
Nakamae Y, Elce YA, Saab ME, McClure JT, Doyle AJ.Alcohol-based antisepsis has shown experimentally to be as effective as 4% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) at reducing bacterial counts (colony forming units; CFU) on equine skin. Our objectives were to determine the immediate and post-surgical reduction in CFU/mL on equine skin prepared with CHG-based or 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA)-based (without CHG) protocols in a clinical setting with arthroscopic surgery. Our hypotheses were that the logCFU/mL reduction would not significantly differ between protocols immediately after preparation or at the end of surgery. Six horses underwent a 40 min bila...
Duarte CR, Raimundo A, Sousa JP, Fernandes O, Santos R.This systematic review aimed to determine the prevalence of lower back pain (LBP) in equestrian athletes (EAs) and identify associated risk factors. Following the PRISMA guidelines, observational studies published between 2004 and 2024 in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and German were included. The review identified relevant studies through the Web of Science, EBSCO, MEDLINE, and SCOPUS (last search performed on 30 October 2024), yielding 14 studies with a total of 4527 participants. The question format for the included studies specified the population as equestrian athletes, the exposure as eq...
Fletcher K, Limon G, Agongo E, Akunzule A, Essel G, Padalino B, Grist A, Gibson TJ.Donkey slaughter in West Africa has received limited scientific attention, despite increasing over recent years. This study aimed to explore factors affecting donkey welfare, both ante-mortem and at slaughter, in the Upper East region of Ghana. A total of 134 donkeys at five different slaughter points were assessed using animal-based indicators. Slaughter involved either blunt force trauma (BFT) using a wooden pole (1 location) or a metal hammer (2 locations); or non-stun ventral neck incision (VNI) (2 locations). Time to loss of consciousness (or return) was assessed, with behavioural and bra...
Rossi HS, Hyytiäinen HK, Junnila JJT, Rajamäki MM, Mykkänen AK.Pneumonia is a common condition in ailing neonatal foals, and it remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in this veterinary patient group. Factors affecting the survival of young foals with pneumonia have not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to explore the potential prognostic factors associated with survival of these foals. Fifty foals under one month of age with pneumonia were included in this retrospective clinical study. The foals were divided into groups based on survival (survived to discharge or died/euthanised during hospitalisation). Multiple clini...
Carrasco L, Utrilla MJ, Fuentes-Romero B, Fernandez-Novo A, Martin-Maldonado B.West Nile Virus (WNV) is a zoonotic, vector-borne pathogen affecting humans and animals, particularly in Europe. The virus is primarily transmitted through mosquitoes that infect birds, which serve as the main reservoirs. Humans and horses are incidental hosts. This review focuses on the epidemiology of WNV in southern Europe, particularly its increasing prevalence. Methods included an extensive literature review and analysis of recent outbreaks. WNV is largely asymptomatic in humans, but a small percentage can develop West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND), leading to severe neurological symp...
Koziy RV, Katselis GS, Yoshimura S, Simko E, Bracamonte JL.Prompt diagnosis of equine septic arthritis is crucial for successful treatment. Serum amyloid A (SAA) has been suggested as a reliable biomarker. However, we previously found that synovial fluid SAA increases in nonaffected joints of horses with septic arthritis. We hypothesized that systemic SAA may leak into the nonaffected joints. If this is the case, we also hypothesized that locally produced joint SAA isoforms may be better candidates for septic arthritis biomarkers. Thus, our objectives were 1) to evaluate the temporal kinetics of systemic and synovial fluid SAA in horses with septic ar...
Toft K, Honoré ML, Ripley N, Nielsen MK, Mardahl M, Fromm B, Hedberg-Alm Y, Tydén E, Nielsen LN, Nejsum P, Thamsborg SM, Cirera S, Pihl TH.The equine bloodworm, Strongylus vulgaris, is a common and highly pathogenic parasite in horses due to its migratory life cycle involving the intestinal arteries. Current diagnostic techniques cannot detect the prepatent migrating stages of S. vulgaris, highlighting the need for new biomarkers. Parasites release microRNAs (miRNAs) into their environment, which could potentially be detectable in host blood samples. Additionally, host miRNA expression patterns may change in response to infection. This study aimed to identify miRNAs associated with S. vulgaris infection by profiling the horse's m...
Guidoni K, Chiaradia E, Pepe M, Di Meo A, Tognoloni A, Seccaroni M, Beccati F.Intra-articular corticosteroids, such as triamcinolone acetonide (TA), help reduce pain related to osteoarthritis (OA), but they may impair cartilage metabolism. In contrast, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, a regenerative therapy, has shown potential to promote healing and regeneration of articular cartilage. This study investigates the effects of combining PRP with TA to treat osteoarthritis in racehorses. The study proposes that PRP injection following TA treatment could reduce side effects and improve treatment outcomes. Firstly, in the in vitro study, chondrocytes were exposed to diffe...
François AC, Renaud B, Kruse CJ, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Votion DM.Anne-Christine François, Benoît Renaud, Caroline-Julia Kruse, Christel Marcillaud-Pitel and Dominique-Marie Votion of the Atypical Myopathy Alert Group discuss insights from 20 years of research and surveillance on equine atypical myopathy.
Watanabe M, Sato F, Innan H.We investigated the changes in inbreeding levels in Japanese Thoroughbred horses over the past 46 years. Our results show a significant increase in inbreeding over the past 30 years, primarily due to the influence of two sires, Northern Dancer and Sunday Silence. Northern Dancer's bloodline spread gradually through descendants like Northern Taste, leading to a slower increase in the inbreeding coefficient. In contrast, Sunday Silence was directly imported and became a leading sire, causing a rapid increase in his blood proportion and inbreeding coefficient. Our findings suggest that monitoring...
Egli P, Boone L, Huber L, Higgins C, Gaonkar PP, Arrington J, Naskou MC, Peroni J, Gordon J, Lascola KM.Platelet lysate (PL) demonstrates antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties offering potential for treatment of bacterial pneumonia in horses. It remains unknown whether nebulization is suitable for PL administration in horses. This pilot study characterized particle size and flow rate of pooled equine PL (single preparation) nebulized using an equine-specific nebulizer (Flexivent®). Unassigned: Protein composition and antimicrobial activity were compared before and after nebulization. Protein composition was evaluated according to growth factor, antimicrobial peptide and cytokine concen...
LeCompte Lazić RA, Nielsen BD, Robison CI, Schott HC, Herdt TH, Larson CK.The 2007 Horse NRC reduced cobalt (Co) requirements from 0.1 ppm to 0.05 ppm in dietary dry matter, though preliminary research suggested increasing dietary-Co enhanced fiber digestion in horses. This study aimed to evaluate fiber digestion with varying dietary Co amounts, as well as to compare serum Co concentrations with dietary Co content. Four geldings (mean body weight [BW] 503 ± 37 kg) were studied in a 4 × 4 Latin square design consisting of four 5-week periods, each comprising a 2-week washout phase followed by a 3-week treatment phase. Supplementing 0.0, 5.6, 16.8, or 28.0 mg of Co ...
So YM, Kwok WH, Ching CCW, Wong COL, Wan TSM, Ho ENM.Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are banned substances in both human and equine sports. They are often administered intramuscularly to horses in esterified forms for the purpose of extending their duration of action. As such, the detection of intact esters of endogenous steroids in hair is particularly advantageous, as it can provide unequivocal proof of their external origin. Compared with urine and blood matrices, hair in general allows a longer detection window as long as the administered drug can be incorporated into hair and has not degraded. This can be useful in doping control of equi...
Santosuosso E, Léguillette R, Shoemaker S, Baumwart R, Temple S, Hemmerling K, Kell T, Bayly W.Fitness assessment of horses remains challenging. Heart rate variability (HRV) can be used to monitor human athlete's training, but its value is unknown in horses. Objective: The linear domain HRV variables are affected by fitness. Methods: Twelve healthy untrained thoroughbreds were randomly split into a training group (6 weeks of incremental racetrack training) and a control group (no training). Methods: Linear domain HRV variables were analyzed (high frequency [HF], low frequency [LF], their normalized units [Hf, Lf], root mean square of successive differences between beats [RMSSD], Poinc...
Scott I, Lawrence KE, Gee EK.Shortened egg reappearance periods (ERP) have been seen as an early warning of anthelmintic resistance development in cyathostomins in horses. The hypothesis has been that in these instances, efficacy against egg laying adult cyathostomins remains high, but a decline in activity against later larval stages leads to the earlier resumption of egg shedding after treatment. In this study using a single herd of horses we investigated the ERP of a number of commonly used equine anthelmintics and examined whether ERP might show seasonal variation between winter and summer. Four main Faecal egg count ...
Farkas A, Thieme K, Soimala T, Jensen CK, Eule JC.This retrospective study evaluates the efficacy of povidone-iodine (PI) and polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) as preoperative antiseptics in equine ophthalmic procedures. Methods: Horses that underwent routine ophthalmic surgery and procedures. Methods: Data were collected retrospectively from the medical records of equine patients undergoing ophthalmic procedures. Inclusion criteria were sampling for aerobic microbial culture at three different time points (T0: pre-irrigation, T1: post-irrigation, and T2: postoperatively) and T0 showing bacterial growth. Microbiological outcomes were assesse...
Padalino B, Pellegrini F, Felici M, Zappaterra M, Catella C, Cordisco M, Lorusso E, Cirone F, Pratelli A.Respiratory disorders (RDs) are a common transport-related welfare consequence in horses. This prospective study described the journeys of horses transported to two slaughterhouses in Italy, documented the prevalence of potentially RD-related pathogens, and identified possible predisposing factors. Data were recorded from arrival until 48 h after arrival and included the collection of Deep Nasopharyngeal Swabs (DNS), journey details and welfare assessment of horses (n = 155). PCR was used to quantify the presence of influenza A virus, reovirus, equine herpesvirus type 1 and 4, adenovirus, r...
Liu Y, Zhou F, Zheng W, Bai T, Chen X, Guo L.The sleeping and eating behaviors of horses are important indicators of their health. With the development of the modern equine industry, timely monitoring and analysis of these behaviors can provide valuable data for assessing the physiological state of horses. To recognize horse behaviors in stalls, this study builds on the SlowFast algorithm, introducing a novel loss function to address data imbalance and integrating an SE attention module in the SlowFast algorithm's slow pathway to enhance behavior recognition accuracy. Additionally, YOLOX is employed to replace the original target detecti...
Equine asthma, a prevalent chronic inflammatory condition affecting the equine population, significantly compromises the performance and quality of life in affected horses. Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are often the first-line pharmacological intervention due to their potent anti-inflammatory properties. This meta-analysis investigates the clinical efficacy of ICS in treating equine asthma, emphasizing the number needed to treat (NNT) and the likelihood of achieving a clinical response. A comprehensive literature search identified relevant studies comparing ICS with placebo (PCB) controlled t...
Folk KM, White RR, Gleason CB.Cryotherapy is often used to reduce inflammation in acute equine laminitis cases. Certain hoof temperatures have been suggested as effective in minimizing the inflammatory process; however, there is limited evidence on which methods are best at achieving these temperatures. Our objective was to determine how different methods of cryotherapy influence the rate and extent of cooling for the equine hoof wall. Four horses received three hoof cooling treatments and a control (CON; no treatment application) in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Treatments included (1) ice surrounding the hoof in a 5 L fl...
Samper JC, Hernandez Aviles JC, Ramirez-Agamez LF, Love CC, Gonzalez-Marin C, Fleury P, Dini P, De La Fuente A, Foss R, Campos FL, Ross PJ.The application of sex-sorted semen in horses has historically lagged the bovine industry due to differences in the reproductive physiology and grater variability in equine semen quality. Recent advancements, including SuperGen™ sorters and Ultraplus™ semen processing methods developed by STgenetics® (Navasota, Texas), have significantly improved the efficiency of the sex-sorting process and reduced the sperm damage previously reported. To facilitate the broader use sex-sorted semen in the equine industry, it is essential to address challenges such as shipping cooled semen to a central so...
Beekman L, Tohver T, Dardari R, Léguillette R.The stability of reference genes has a tremendous effect on the results of relative quantification of genes expression by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Equine Inflammatory Airway Disease (IAD) is a common condition often treated with corticosteroids. The diagnosis of IAD is based on clinical signs and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid cytology. The aim of this study was to identify reference genes with the most stable mRNA expression in the BAL cells of horses with IAD irrespective of corticosteroids treatment. Results: The expression stability of seven candidate reference genes (B2...
Smit H, Gaastra W, Kamerling JP, Vliegenthart JF, de Graaf FK.The erythrocyte receptor for Escherichia coli K99 fimbrial adhesin was isolated from equine erythrocytes and characterized as Neu5Gc-alpha(2----3)-Galp-beta(1----4)-GLcp-beta(1----1)-Ceramide. This glycolipid acted as the receptor for K99 by four different experimental approaches: inhibition of equine erythrocyte hemagglutination by preincubation of K99-positive bacteria or purified K99 fimbriae with the isolated glycolipid; inhibition of attachment of K99-positive bacteria to porcine intestinal epithelial cells in the presence of the isolated glycolipid; induction of binding of K99-positive b...
Walter S, Rasche A, Moreira-Soto A, Pfaender S, Bletsa M, Corman VM, Aguilar-Setien A, García-Lacy F, Hans A, Todt D, Schuler G....The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major human pathogen. Genetically related viruses in animals suggest a zoonotic origin of HCV. The closest relative of HCV is found in horses (termed equine hepacivirus [EqHV]). However, low EqHV genetic diversity implies relatively recent acquisition of EqHV by horses, making a derivation of HCV from EqHV unlikely. To unravel the EqHV evolutionary history within equid sister species, we analyzed 829 donkeys and 53 mules sampled in nine European, Asian, African, and American countries by molecular and serologic tools for EqHV infection. Antibodies were found in...
Pirie RS, Collie DD, Dixon PM, McGorum BC.Equine heaves is a naturally occurring organic dust-induced asthma characterized by airway neutrophilia, mucus hypersecretion and obstructive lung dysfunction. However, the relative role of different dust components in disease severity remains unclear. Objective: This study investigated the relative contribution of inhaled endotoxin and organic dust particulates (mainly mould spores) in inducing heaves in heaves-susceptible horses. Methods: Control and heaves-susceptible horses received inhalation challenges with hay dust suspension (HDS) before and after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) depletion. He...
Singh AK, Jiang Y, White T, Spassova D.The performances of a radioimmunoassay method, a chemiluminescent immunoassay method, and a chemiluminescent-enzyme immunoassay method were evaluated for the analysis of cortisol and total thyroxine in blood samples obtained from dogs, cats, horses, and humans (reference samples). The analysis of cortisol in human and animal samples exhibited good precision, linearity, and recovery. The 3 methods gave comparable values for the ACTH-induced increase and the dexamethasone-induced decrease in cortisol concentrations in animal samples. The recoveries of total thyroxine from human samples, analyzed...
Guo HY, Pang K, Zhang XY, Zhao L, Chen SW, Dong ML, Ren FZ.This study investigated the changes in chemical composition, nitrogen fraction distribution, and AA profile of milk samples obtained during lactation from the Jiangyue breed of donkey in Northwest China. Results showed that donkey milk contained 9.53% total solids, 1.57% protein, 1.16% fat, 6.33% lactose, and 0.4% ash on average, which is more similar to mare and human milk than to the milk of other mammals. Throughout the lactation investigated, pH and density were constant, protein and ash content showed an apparent negative trend (an increase in lactose content during 120 d postpartum, foll...
Bucknell DG, Gasser RB, Beveridge I.A quantitative post mortem study of 150 horses from Victoria was conducted to determine the prevalence and epidemiology of gastrointestinal parasites. A total of 42 species of metazoan parasite was found. The following species of non-cyathostome parasite were found (% prevalence): Trichostrongylus axei (51%); Habronema muscae (13%); H. majus (2%); Draschia megastoma (5%); Gastreophilus intestinalis (81%); G. nasalis (29%); Parascaris equorum (5%); Anoplocephala perfoliata (29%); Fasciola hepatica (0.7%); Oxyuris equi (7%); Strongylu vulgaris (23%); S. edentatus (23%); S. equinus (3%); Crateros...
Wallner B, Palmieri N, Vogl C, Rigler D, Bozlak E, Druml T, Jagannathan V, Leeb T, Fries R, Tetens J, Thaller G, Metzger J, Distl O, Lindgren G....The Y chromosome directly reflects male genealogies, but the extremely low Y chromosome sequence diversity in horses has prevented the reconstruction of stallion genealogies [1, 2]. Here, we resolve the first Y chromosome genealogy of modern horses by screening 1.46 Mb of the male-specific region of the Y chromosome (MSY) in 52 horses from 21 breeds. Based on highly accurate pedigree data, we estimated the de novo mutation rate of the horse MSY and showed that various modern horse Y chromosome lineages split much later than the domestication of the species. Apart from few private northern Euro...
Nielsen MK, Baptiste KE, Tolliver SC, Collins SS, Lyons ET.Increasing levels of anthelmintic resistance in equine nematodes have led to recommendations of more sustainable anthelmintic treatment protocols with emphasis on parasite surveillance and diagnosis, rather than prophylactic calendar-based treatments. This requires knowledge of the diagnostic test performance of techniques for counts of eggs per gram of feces (EPG) as well as methods for culturing, counting and identifying third stage (L(3)) strongyle larvae per gram of feces (LPG). For horses, such information does not exist in the published literature. The aim of this study was to examine th...
Schmidt A, Möstl E, Wehnert C, Aurich J, Müller J, Aurich C.Based on plasma cortisol concentrations it is widely accepted that transport is stressful to horses. So far, cortisol release during transport has not been evaluated in depth by non-invasive techniques such as analysis of salivary cortisol and faecal cortisol metabolites. Transport also causes changes in heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV). In this study, salivary cortisol, faecal cortisol metabolites, heart rate and HRV in horses transported by road for short (one and 3.5 h) and medium duration (8 h) were determined. With the onset of transport, salivary cortisol increased immediately...
Pusterla N, Mapes S, Wademan C, White A, Ball R, Sapp K, Burns P, Ormond C, Butterworth K, Bartol J, Magdesian KG.The purpose of this study was to describe clinical, hematological and fecal PCR results from 161 horses involved in outbreaks associated with ECoV. The outbreaks happened at four separate boarding facilities between November 2011 and April 2012 in the States of CA, TX, WI and MA. Following the molecular detection of ECoV in the feces from the initial index cases, the remaining herdmates were closely observed for the development of clinical signs. Fecal samples were collected from sick and healthy horses for the PCR detection of ECoV. All four outbreaks involved primarily adult horses. Fifty-ni...
Caliari SR, Harley BA.Biomolecular environments encountered in vivo are complex and dynamic, with combinations of biomolecules presented in both freely diffusible (liquid-phase) and sequestered (bound to the extracellular matrix) states. Strategies for integrating multiple biomolecular signals into a biomimetic scaffold provide a platform to simultaneously control multiple cell activities, such as motility, proliferation, phenotype, and regenerative potential. Here we describe an investigation elucidating the influence of the dose and mode of presentation (soluble, sequestered) of five biomolecules (stromal cell-de...
Kamm JL, Nixon AJ, Witte TH.Understanding the expression of catabolic and anabolic genes during osteoarthritis progression should help to identify the major mediators of the disease. Objective: To compare the cytokine and anabolic marker concentrations in synovium, synovial fluid and cartilage between normal and osteoarthritic joints. Methods: Carpi from horses age 2-11 years were used. Tissues were harvested at the time of surgery or euthanasia, and RNA was isolated for RT-PCR analysis. Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), aggrecanase 1 (ADAMTS-4), aggrecanase 2 (ADAMTS-5), matrix metallopro...
Monteiro-Riviere NA, Bristol DG, Manning TO, Rogers RA, Riviere JE.Studies in dermatology, cutaneous pharmacology, and toxicology utilize skin from different animal species and body sites. However, regional differences exist in topical chemical percutaneous absorption studies in man and in animal. The objective of this study was to compare epidermal thickness and number of cell layers across species and body sites using both formalin-fixed paraffin and frozen sections. Cutaneous blood flow determined by laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) was compared to histologic data. Six animals of each of the following species were used: monkeys, pigs, dogs, cats, cows, hors...
Gallo N, Natali ML, Sannino A, Salvatore L.Type I collagen has always aroused great interest in the field of life-science and bioengineering, thanks to its favorable structural properties and bioactivity. For this reason, in the last five decades it has been widely studied and employed as biomaterial for the manufacture of implantable medical devices. Commonly used sources of collagen are represented by bovine and swine but their applications are limited because of the zoonosis transmission risks, the immune response and the religious constrains. Thus, type-I collagen isolated from horse tendon has recently gained increasing interest a...
van Eeden C, Williams JH, Gerdes TG, van Wilpe E, Viljoen A, Swanepoel R, Venter M.To determine which agents cause neurologic disease in horses, we conducted reverse transcription PCR on isolates from of a horse with encephalitis and 111 other horses with acute disease. Shuni virus was found in 7 horses, 5 of which had neurologic signs. Testing for lesser known viruses should be considered for horses with unexplained illness.
Bulmer LS, Murray JA, Burns NM, Garber A, Wemelsfelder F, McEwan NR, Hastie PM.Gut microbiota have been associated with health, disease and behaviour in several species and are an important link in gut-brain axis communication. Diet plays a key role in affecting the composition of gut microbiota. In horses, high-starch diets alter the hindgut microbiota. High-starch diets are also associated with increased behavioural reactivity in horses. These changes in microbiota and behaviour may be associated. This study compares the faecal microbiota and behaviour of 10 naïve ponies. A cross-over design was used with experimental groups fed high-starch (HS) or high-fibre (HF) die...
Ueti MW, Palmer GH, Kappmeyer LS, Statdfield M, Scoles GA, Knowles DP.The protozoan parasite Babesia equi replicates within erythrocytes. During the acute phase of infection, B. equi can reach high levels of parasitemia, resulting in a hemolytic crisis. Horses that recover from the acute phase of the disease remain chronically infected. Subsequent transmission is dependent upon the ability of vector ticks to acquire B. equi and, following development and replication, establishment of B. equi in the salivary glands. Although restriction of the movement of chronically infected horses with B. equi is based on the presumption that ticks can acquire and transmit the ...
Uldahl M, Clayton HM.Information is needed to guide sport administrators in formulating rules for equipment use in competitions. Objective: To seek associations between spurs, bits, nosebands and whips with injuries in horses during competitions in four equestrian sports. Methods: Cross sectional study. Methods: Post competition evaluations were performed in 3143 horse/rider combinations competing in Danish Equestrian Federation competitions in dressage, showjumping, eventing and endurance by trained evaluators who recorded the presence and type of spurs, bits, nosebands, and whips. Further evaluations recorded no...
Amtmann E, Müller H, Sauer G.Bovine papilloma virus (BPV) appears to be the etiological agent of common equine connective tissue tumors. We investigated the physical state of the viral DNA within such tumors and found no indication for integration into the host genome. The BPV genomes were present as free circular episomes. Two equine sarcoids were shown to contain multiple copies of free circular BPV type 1 (BPV-1) DNA. When the tumors were digested with several single-cut restriction enzymes, there were only form III BPV-1 DNA sequences could be revealed. One of the sarcoids contained, apart from wild-type BPV-1 DNA, a ...
Kennedy R, Lappin DF, Dixon PM, Buijs MJ, Zaura E, Crielaard W, O'Donnell L, Bennett D, Brandt BW, Riggio MP.Equine periodontal disease is a common and painful condition and its severe form, periodontitis, can lead to tooth loss. Its aetiopathogenesis remains poorly understood despite recent increased awareness of this disorder amongst the veterinary profession. Bacteria have been found to be causative agents of the disease in other species, but current understanding of their role in equine periodontitis is extremely limited. The aim of this study was to use high-throughput sequencing to identify the microbiome associated with equine periodontitis and oral health. Subgingival plaque samples from 24 h...
Couëtil LL, Rosenthal FS, DeNicola DB, Chilcoat CD.To evaluate the association among clinical signs, results of cytologic evaluation of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and measures of pulmonary function in horses with inflammatory respiratory disease. Methods: 9 healthy horses, 5 horses with inflammatory airway disease (IAD), and 9 horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: Clinical examination, lung function tests, and BAL were performed on each horse. Results: Standard lung mechanics of horses with exacerbated COPD differed significantly from those of healthy horses; however, there were few differences among horse...
Lindenberg F, Krych L, Kot W, Fielden J, Frøkiær H, van Galen G, Nielsen DS, Hansen AK.Shortly after birth the mammalian gut is colonized, by a transient microbiota, highly susceptible to environment and diet, that eventually stabilizes and becomes the resident gut microbiota. In a window of opportunity during the colonization, oral tolerance is established towards resident bacteria. In this study, the development of the equine gut microbiota was investigated in ten foals from parturition until post weaning. We found great differences in the core species of the gut microbiota composition between time-matched samples on Day 7 and 20 post-partum. Between day 20 and Day 50 post-par...
Balaggan KS, Binley K, Esapa M, MacLaren RE, Iqball S, Duran Y, Pearson RA, Kan O, Barker SE, Smith AJ, Bainbridge JW, Naylor S, Ali RR.We evaluated the efficacy of equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV)-based lentiviral vectors encoding endostatin (EIAV.endostatin) or angiostatin (EIAV.angiostatin) in inhibiting angiogenesis and vascular hyperpermeability in the laser-induced model of choroidal neovascularisation (CNV). Equine infectious anaemia virus.endostatin, EIAV.angiostatin or control (EIAV.null) vectors were administered into the subretinal space of C57Bl/6J mice. Two weeks after laser injury CNV areas and the degree of vascular hyperpermeability were measured by image analysis of in vivo fluorescein angiograms. Compar...
Diab SS, Songer G, Uzal FA.Clostridium difficile is considered one of the most important causes of diarrhea and enterocolitis in horses. Foals and adult horses are equally susceptible to the infection. The highly resistant spore of C. difficile is the infectious unit of transmission, which occurs primarily via the fecal-oral route, with sources of infection including equine feces, contaminated soil, animal hospitals, and feces of other animals. Two major risk factors for the development of C. difficile associated disease (CDAD) in adult horses are hospitalization and antimicrobial treatment, although sporadically, cases...
Ross PF, Rice LG, Osweiler GD, Nelson PE, Richard JL, Wilson TM.During the 1989 corn harvest season, numerous reports of equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM) outbreaks and a pulmonary edema (PPE) syndrome in swine from several regions of the United States were received by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL), Ames, Iowa. Previous and concurrent research linked Fusarium moniliforme and fumonisin-contaminated feeds to both diseases. Chemical and mycological investigations revealed fumonisin B1 (FB1) concentrations of 20 to 360 ppm in suspect swine feeds and 8 to 117 ppm in suspect equine feeds. Nonproblem feeds contained concentrations below 8...
Koehler K, Stechele M, Hetzel U, Domingo M, Schönian G, Zahner H, Burkhardt E.This report describes a case of cutaneous leishmaniosis in a horse in southern Germany. Diagnosis is based on histopathology, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. The protozoan was identified as Leishmania infantum via PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism. The horse did not show specific Leishmania antibodies. The lesions healed completely within 6 months without any specific treatment. Since neither the infected horse nor its dam had ever left their rural area, autochthonous infection in Germany cannot be excluded. Factors possibly influencing the epidemiological situatio...
Atta EH, Dias DS, Marra VL, de Azevedo AM.The best antithymocyte globulin preparation for first-line immune suppression in patients with severe aplastic anemia is still not clear. The aim of this study was to compare hematological response and overall survival in patients submitted to horse or rabbit antithymocyte globulin as first-line treatment for severe aplastic anemia. We retrospectively compared 71 consecutive patients with severe aplastic anemia, classified according to the antithymocyte globulin preparation. Analyses included variables related to patients and to immune suppression. Forty two patients (59.1%) received horse and...
Ablondi M, Viklund Å, Lindgren G, Eriksson S, Mikko S.A growing demand for improved physical skills and mental attitude in modern sport horses has led to strong selection for performance in many warmblood studbooks. The aim of this study was to detect genomic regions with low diversity, and therefore potentially under selection, in Swedish Warmblood horses (SWB) by analysing high-density SNP data. To investigate if such signatures could be the result of selection for equestrian sport performance, we compared our SWB SNP data with those from Exmoor ponies, a horse breed not selected for sport performance traits. Results: The genomic scan for homoz...
Wutz G, Auer H, Nowotny N, Grosse B, Skern T, Kuechler E.Equine rhinoviruses (ERVs) are picornaviruses which cause a mild respiratory infection in horses. The illness resembles the common cold brought about by rhinoviruses in humans; however, the presence of a viraemia during ERV-1 infection, the occurrence of persistent infections and the physical properties are all more reminiscent of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). cDNA cloning and sequencing of the genomes of ERV-1 and ERV-2 between the poly(C) and poly(A) tracts showed that the serotypes are heterogeneous. Nevertheless, the genomic architecture of both serotypes is most similar to that of ...
