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.
Hannan MA, Watanabe H, Takeyama A, Yoshida S, Wudamu D, Lkhagvasuren N, Claes A, Stout TAE, Cheong SH, Haneda S, Nambo Y.This study evaluated the viability of in vitro embryo production using ovum pick-up (OPU) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as breeding techniques for pure and crossbred Hokkaido native ponies (n = 9). Oocytes were collected using transvaginal ultrasound-guided follicle aspiration. ICSI was performed on in vitro matured oocytes using frozen semen. Embryonic cultures were monitored using time-lapse cinematography. Blastocysts were cryopreserved and, after thawing, were transferred non-surgically into recipient mares. Over nine OPU sessions, the mean number of aspirated follicles was 2...
The potential of effective microorganisms in composting animal manure might be significant. This work aimed at isolating promising microbial strains for composting cattle and horse manure. A total of forty-five isolates have been isolated from soils of Northern Kazakhstan as well as cattle and horse manure. These microorganisms were extensively studied for their cellulose-degrading capacity, non-pathogenicity, protease, nitrogenase and catalase activities, as well as their growth stimulation, antagonistic ability, and growth rate. As a result, 21 potent strains were selected and genotyped for ...
Furtado T, Perkins E, Archer DC.Research on the outcomes of veterinary treatments in dogs, cats and horses has important benefits for these animals and their owners. However, this information is not always available, and the evidence base is often lower-quality than in human medicine. To identify ways to improve the generation of evidence, we investigated the views of veterinary professionals about research involving companion animal patients and their owners. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with veterinary surgeons and registered veterinary nurses working in UK companion animal clinical practice. Inte...
Kadic LIM, Liu CC, Riggs LM.The aim of this study was to compare the monotonic tensile strength and fatigue strength of a stainless steel cable (SSC) compared to a human non-metallic polymer cable (NMPC) in an metacarpophalangeal joint arthrodesis model lacking a dorsal plate application.An experimental biomechanical equine cadaver limb study. Ten metacarpophalangeal joints were collected from five adult Thoroughbred horses, euthanatized for reasons unrelated to orthopaedic disease. Each pair of metacarpophalangeal joints was randomly instrumented with either a 1.7-mm SSC or a NMPC. Each construct was tested in cyclic ...
Avison A, Physick-Sheard PW, Pyle WG.This paper reviews the myocardial substrate of horses relative to that of humans and discusses the utility of performance horses as a model of exercise-associated cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in athletes. The coronary circulation is similar between the species while coronary artery anomalies and myocardial bridging appear to only be associated with athletic mortality in human athletes and not in performance horses. There are subtle differences in the histology of the sinus and atrioventricular nodes, of unknown clinical significance, while the His bundle is more highly innervat...
Secor EJ, Womack SJ, Ysebaert MP, Colville MJ, Reesink HL.Synovial fluid (SF) is an ideal sentinel fluid for osteoarthritis (OA) diagnosis and prognostication due to its critical homeostatic role, proximity to articular tissues and immune cell composition. Untargeted proteomics enable identification of soluble markers for diagnostic and therapeutic applications while minimising bias. Objective: To use liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to define the SF proteome in horses with and without carpal OA. The goal was to identify differentially regulated proteins in mild-moderate carpal joint disease compared with healthy joints. Meth...
Hosseinzadeh S, Nofouzi K, Hasanzadeh F, Esmaeili S, Ayen E.Q fever is a frequently occurring illness that is induced by the bacterium ) that can infect humans and various animals. It targets the macrophage cells in the tissues, and circulating monocytes. Unassigned: This study was conducted between 2022 and 2023 in the West Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces of northwestern Iran to examine the presence infection of . Specimens were obtained by swabbing from 140 mares (70 from each province) and 20 stallions (10 from each province) which were apparently healthy, and their DNA was analyzed using quantitative PCR assay detecting the element of the bacteri...
Hosseinzadeh S, Nofouzi K, Hasanzadeh F, Esmaeili S, Ayen E.Q fever is a frequently occurring illness that is induced by the bacterium ) that can infect humans and various animals. It targets the macrophage cells in the tissues, and circulating monocytes. Unassigned: This study was conducted between 2022 and 2023 in the West Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces of northwestern Iran to examine the presence infection of . Specimens were obtained by swabbing from 140 mares (70 from each province) and 20 stallions (10 from each province) which were apparently healthy, and their DNA was analyzed using quantitative PCR assay detecting the element of the bacteri...
Berner D, Hellige M, Harvey GG, Gerlach K, Iglesias-Garcia M, Manso-Diaz G.Paranasal sinus cysts (PSC) and progressive ethmoid haematomas (PEH) are regularly observed in the paranasal sinus system. Due to their different prognosis and treatment options, differentiation of both lesions prior to surgery on computed tomographic (CT) images is important for guidance. It was hypothesised that PSC and PEH can be reliably differentiated on CT images. The database of four European equine referral centres were retrospectively searched for horses that had undergone a CT examination of the head and had a confirmed PSC or PEH. Additionally, cases with confirmed sinusitis were se...
Cito F, Di Francesco CE, Averaimo D, Chiaverini A, Alessiani A, Di Domenico M, Cresci M, Rulli M, Cantelmi MC, Di Bernardo MD, Giammarino A.... subsp. (SEZ) is a major problem in equine veterinary medicine. Typically, a commensal in horses, SEZ can cause severe disease including respiratory infections, septicaemia and reproductive tract infections under certain conditions. Recent evidence suggests that humans can also develop severe disease infection through direct contact with infected animals or the consumption of contaminated unpasteurised milk and milk products. This study investigates SEZ strains isolated from nasal swabs of equidae in central Italy in 2023 to describe the epidemiology and genomic characteristics of circulating...
Domino M, Borowska M, Stefanik E, Domańska-Kruppa N, Skibniewski M, Turek B.In equine surface electromyography (sEMG), challenges related to the reliability and interpretability of data arise, among other factors, from methodological differences, including signal processing and analysis. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the filtering-induced changes in basic signal features in relation to the balance between signal loss and noise attenuation. Raw sEMG signals were collected from the quadriceps muscle of six horses during walk, trot, and canter and then filtered using eight filtering methods with varying cut-off frequencies (low-pass at 10 Hz, high-pass at 20 Hz...
Thieulent CJ, Carossino M, Reis JKPD, Vissani MA, Barrandeguy ME, Valle-Casuso JC, Balasuriya UBR.Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV), the causative agent of Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), presents a significant threat to equine populations worldwide. While local EIAV prevalence has been estimated in several studies, no global prevalence has been determined. Thus, this study aimed to review the literature on EIAV prevalence in the 21st century. A comprehensive electronic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, SciELO.org, African Journals Online, and NZresearch.org, yielding 105 articles published between January 1st, 2000, and December 31st, 2024 (spanni...
Filho RRR, França DS, Alonso MA, Riccio AV, Affonso FJ, Brito MM, Francischini MCP, Nichi M, Boakari Y, Fernandes CB.During gestation, there is a higher energy demand which increases oxygen requirements. As a result, there is an elevated production of reactive oxygen species. Notably, unlike in horses, the effects of maternal age and parity on women's oxidative profiles are well-documented. Thus, this study aimed to investigate oxidative changes in mares during the last third of gestation and the postpartum period, considering age and parity. Seventeen mares were categorized by age (3-7, 8-11, ≥12 years) and parity (nulliparous, 1-3, 4-6 parities). Oxidative processes were assessed using Thiobarbituric Aci...
Warren AS, Werner LA, Thombs LA, Rodgerson DH, Spirito MA, Sandow CB, McCracken MJ.To report the impact of ventral midline colopexy on colic, recurrence of large colon volvulus (LCV) and time to next live foal. Methods: Retrospective case control study. Methods: A total of 188 Thoroughbred broodmares surgically treated for LCV (2016-2020). Methods: Horses treated for LCV were grouped based on whether they received a colopexy (CP) or did not (NCP). All broodmares that underwent a second LCV surgery were subsequently categorized into two groups: those that received a colopexy (RCP) and those that did not (NRCP). Differences in the number of horses with large colon compromise, ...
Szacawa E, Kozieł N, Brzezińska S, Augustynowicz-Kopeć E, Weiner M, Szulowski K, Krajewska-Wędzina M. is one of the most dangerous pathogens of both animals and humans. Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is a disease caused by mycobacteria belonging to the complex (MTBC), which spreads mainly among domestic cattle but also to mammals other than cattle. The transmission of MTBC between different species requires research and epidemiological investigations to control its spread. When multiple species are a reservoir of infection, it poses a significant public health and veterinary concern. In this study, the diagnosis of alpaca, cattle, horses, dogs, a sheep and a cat from one farm suspected of bovine ...
Taylor PM, Gozalo-Marcilla M, Bettschart-Wolfensberger R, Redondo JI, Johnston GM.To present the essence of the presentation 'CEPEF - what we knew then and what we know now' given at the autumn meeting of the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists in 2024, celebrating its 60th anniversary. Methods: (this is not a formal systematic review). PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and the 4th Confidential Enquiry into Equine Perioperative Fatalities (CEPEF4). Search terms used: horse; pony; equine; anaesthesia; anesthesia; recovery; morbidity and mortality. Conclusions: It is well recognized that general anaesthesia carries a greater risk of mortality in horses than in other domestic...
Pinho APVB, Ferreira F, Fuck JJ, de Oliveira JP, Dias RA, Grisi-Filho JHH, Heinemann MB, Telles EO, Amaku M, Ferreira Neto JS.Considering that control strategies for Equine Infectious Anemia, based on the serological diagnosis of equids and the removal of positive animals, may not be optimal for developing countries with an absolute predominance of grade working animals, this study aimed to address this issue based on the epidemiological situation of the disease in Pará, a state in the Brazilian Amazon. Pará was divided into five regions, and within each region a pre-established number of farms were randomly selected. Within each farm, a pre-set number of animals were randomly selected and submitted to Agar Gel Imm...
Loftus L, Asher L, Leach M.Over the last twenty years the definition of good animal welfare has advanced from the 'absence of negative welfare states' to the aim of identifying the presence of positive welfare states; however, research on positive animal welfare is relatively new. Consequently, through expert consultation, this study aimed to synthesise knowledge regarding domesticated equine emotional state, specifically methods to induce and measure positive affective states, which could be of significant benefit to equine welfare across sectors. A Delphi consultation of experts in the field of equine behaviour, welfa...
Fernandes T, Uberti B, Robin M.Utrasonographic measurements of the abdominal viscera and the heart in growing Arabian foals have not been described. Objective: To establish normal intervals for ultrasonographic measurements of cardiac indices and abdominal viscera in growing Arabian foals from birth to 1 year of age. Methods: Prospective longitudinal descriptive study. Methods: Ultrasonographic images were captured from 15 foals every 3 months from 1 week to 1 year of age. During each examination, at least three images were obtained at each location and measurements were obtained using standardised ultrasonographic approa...
Cardinaux EM, Oltmanns H, Beineke A, Meißner J, Geburek F.Flexural limb deformities are a widespread condition in foals. Oxytetracycline is a common conservative treatment option with relaxing effects on the muscle-tendon-unit, potentially mediated through a matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP)-inhibitor mechanism. Its high therapeutic dose for this indication, potential negative side effects, and the guidelines for prudent use of antimicrobials make investigating alternatives desirable. In this study, the influence of substances with potentially similar mechanisms of action, however without antimicrobial properties, on viability and proliferation of juven...
Connysson M, Jansson A.It is generally accepted that plasma muscle enzyme activity of creatine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) may increase in racehorses after exercise and racing, indicating muscle fibre damage and/or increased leakage from muscle fibres. However, other studies suggest that starch intake might influence plasma muscle enzyme activity reported postexercise. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different starch allowances on plasma muscle enzyme activity in Standardbred trotters in professional training. Seventy-six horses from five professional trainers were sampled pre- and po...
Reinthaler B, Gabner S, Apprich V, Jehle M, Licka T.Equine hoof canker is a chronic proliferative condition of the hoof tissues that is often time-consuming and frustrating to treat. After surgical debridement, topical application of cisplatin (cis-Diamindichlorplatin II) has been reported, requiring repeatedly handling this hazardous substance during bandage changes. Alternatively, intraarterial application of cisplatin could be used, similar to the treatment of some human neoplastic diseases. As the side effects of such a treatment are currently unknown, evaluation of associated risks is necessary before treating live horses. Thus, forelimbs ...
Ostmeier M, Schellenberger F, Troillet A, Scharner D.Mouth specula with incisor bite plates shift the pressure from all teeth exclusively to the incisors in the opening phase which leads to increased forces on dental, osseous, and soft tissue structures of the horse's head. The potentially pathological character of these forces is described clinically by single reports of maxilla and mandible fractures occurring during the use of opened mouth specula. This study describes these forces on incisor teeth in horses during odontoplasty of cheek teeth under sedation. Measurements were documented using a modified "Günther" mouth speculum fitted with a...
Ciamillo SA, Bills KW, Gassert TM, Richardson DW, Brown KA, Stefanovski D, Ortved KF.Stress-induced bone injury can lead to catastrophic injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses. Accumulation of high-speed exercise can increase the risk of subchondral bone injury. Objective: To investigate the effect of high-speed exercise on the subchondral bone of the metacarpo-metatarsophalangeal (MCP/MTP) joints using standing cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in young racing Thoroughbreds. Methods: Observational cohort study. Methods: Forty-one 2-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses during their first year of training were evaluated at 0, 6 and 12 months. Horses were evaluated for lameness an...
Cantatore F, Marcatili M, Giacchi A, Stephenson R, Withers J.Morel-Lavallée lesions (MLLs) are post-traumatic, closed, degloving injuries observed in humans and cats. Morel-Lavallée lesions have never been reported in horses. An 8-year-old Warmblood gelding used for dressage presented with a large swelling on the craniomedial aspect of the stifle that did not respond to conservative treatment. Ultrasonography revealed a large anechogenic fluid-filled cavity with a well-defined capsule. Standing endoscopic examination revealed separation between the deep crural fascia, vastus medialis muscle and skin. Cytology of the fluid collected demonstrated a lymp...
Milczek-Haduch D, Żmigrodzka M, Witkowska-Piłaszewicz O.Significant systemic metabolic benefits result from even a single exercise session by activating multiple metabolic and signaling pathways within the organism. Among these mechanisms, extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a critical role by delivering their molecular cargo to neighboring or distant cells, thereby influencing cellular metabolism and function. As research progresses, EVs represent an exciting frontier in exercise science and fitness adaptation processes. There is increasing interest in understanding the physiology of EVs as signaling particles and their use as minimally invasive dia...
Bouquet A, Nicol C, Knowles EJ, Schofield I, Menzies-Gow NJ.Clinical signs of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) are frequently mistaken for 'normal' ageing and may not be optimally assessed. Objective quality of life (QoL) assessment could improve clinical decision-making. Objective: To develop an owner-reported health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) assessment tool for equines with PPID. To assess factors associated with HRQoL scores. Methods: Quantitative, cross-sectional study. Methods: HRQoL tool development followed a standard psychometric process of item (any aspect of PPID and its management that could impact QoL) identification (foll...
Pádua GT, Tavares MA, de Lima NJ, Paula WVF, Dos Santos GC, Neves LC, Bittencourt RBM, Paludo RLDR, Cardoso ERN, da Silva BBF, Pádua BR....This study sought to investigate the presence of anti- spp. antibodies in georeferenced serum samples from equids across all regions of the state of Goiás, while also presenting variables that indicate risk factors for the circulation of rickettsiae, and evaluating the presence of rickettsial DNA in ticks collected from equids and the surrounding environment in the municipalities of Uruaçu and Porangatu, located in the northern region of the state. A total of 1156 equid serum samples provided by the Goiás Agricultural Defense Agency (Agrodefesa) were analyzed for antibodies against 4 antig...
Tagliavia C, Pietra M, Salamanca G, De Silva M, Canova M, Cacchione S, Castagnetti C, Bombardi C, Grandis A.Endoscopy of the guttural pouches in neonatal foals occasionally reveals atypical aspects in the course of the extracranial internal carotid arteries (ICAs) that are hardly seen in adult horses. While in veterinary medicine the data available on the presence of these anomalies in domestic mammals are limited and incomplete, in human medicine the morphological aspects of the ICAs have been the subject of extensive studies. Anomalies in the course and geometry of ICAs are commonly defined as dolichoarteriopathies, and should be classified as tortuous, kinked or coiled. To document whether the an...
Volding DM, Flores-Ahlschwede P, Cramer MJ, Landrock KK, Sayre KC, Welsh TH, Bordin AI, Piccione J, Cohen ND.To determine the effects of transfusion of Rhodococcus equi hyperimmune plasma (REHIP) on serum electrolyte and protein concentrations in neonatal foals. Unassigned: A prospective observational study of 355 privately owned Thoroughbred foals from 13 farms in New York and cross-sectional study of REHIP samples. Blood was collected immediately before and after transfusion of either 1 or 2 L of REHIP to foals, and serum samples were separated and frozen until tested for concentrations of sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl), total protein (TP), albumin, and globulins. Samples (n = 90) of REH...
Havelaar AH, Furuse K, Hogeboom WM.In an attempt to explain the presence of F-specific (RNA) bacteriophages in waste-water, faecal material from humans and a variety of animals was examined. The phages were detected in appreciable numbers only in faeces from pigs, broiler chickens, sheep and calves but not from dogs, cows, horses and humans. Parallel examinations for somatic coliphages, thermotolerant coliforms, faecal streptococci and spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia revealed the consistent presence of these organisms in all types of samples, albeit in variable numbers. The number of F-specific bacteriophages was related...
Beekman L, Tohver T, Léguillette R.The pathophysiology of inflammatory airway disease (IAD) is unknown, but in some cases involves the accumulation of mast cells, neutrophils, or both in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). The objective of this study was to characterize cytokine gene expression in the BALF cells of horses with IAD, including a comparison of cytokine gene expression between IAD horses with increased BALF mast cells (IAD-Mast) or neutrophils (IAD-Neutro). Methods: The mRNA expression of IL-4, IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-8, IL-1β, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p35, and eotaxin-2 was studied by quantitative polymerase chain ...
Harrison SM, Whitton RC, Kawcak CE, Stover SM, Pandy MG.Storage and utilization of strain energy in the elastic tissues of the distal forelimb of the horse is thought to contribute to the excellent locomotory efficiency of the animal. However, the structures that facilitate elastic energy storage may also be exposed to dangerously high forces, especially at the fastest galloping speeds. In the present study, experimental gait data were combined with a musculoskeletal model of the distal forelimb of the horse to determine muscle and joint contact loading and muscle-tendon work during the stance phase of walking, trotting and galloping. The flexor te...
Watts AE, Ackerman-Yost JC, Nixon AJ.To compare in vitro three-dimensional (3D) culture systems that model chondrogenesis of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Methods: MSCs from five horses 2-3 years of age were consolidated in fibrin 0.3% alginate, 1.2% alginate, 2.5×10(5) cell pellets, 5×10(5) cell pellets, and 2% agarose, and maintained in chondrogenic medium with supplemental TGF-β1 for 4 weeks. Pellets and media were tested at days 1, 14, and 28 for gene expression of markers of chondrogenic maturation and hypertrophy (ACAN, COL2B, COL10, SOX9, 18S), and evaluated by histology (hematoxylin and eosin, Tolu...
Deeg CA, Hauck SM, Amann B, Pompetzki D, Altmann F, Raith A, Schmalzl T, Stangassinger M, Ueffing M.Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is an autoimmune disease that occurs with a high prevalence (10%) in horses. ERU represents the only reliable spontaneous model for human autoimmune uveitis. We already identified and characterized novel autoantigens (malate dehydrogenase, recoverin, CRALBP) by analyzing the autoantibody-binding pattern of horses affected by spontaneous recurrent uveitis (ERU) to the retinal proteome. CRALBP also seems to be relevant to human autoimmune uveitis. Proteomic screening of vitreous and retinal samples from ERU diseased cases in comparison to healthy controls has led t...
Worster AA, Nixon AJ, Brower-Toland BD, Williams J.To determine the morphologic and phenotypic effects of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFbeta1) on cultured equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and articular chondrocytes. Methods: Bone marrow aspirates and articular cartilage samples from a 2-year-old and two 8-month-old horses. Methods: After initial isolation and culture, MSC and chondrocytes were cultured in Ham's F-12 medium supplemented with TGF-beta1 at a concentration of 0, 1, 5, or 10 ng/ml. Medium was exchanged on day 2, and cells were harvested on day 4. Medium was assayed for proteoglycan (PG) content. Total RNA was isolated fro...
Starke SD, Willems E, May SA, Pfau T.Trotting a horse in circles is a standard and important part of the subjective equine lameness examination, yet objective data on this form of locomotion are sparse. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of trotting in a circle on head and trunk movement symmetry. Vertical movements of the head, withers, os sacrum and left and right tuber coxae were measured using inertial sensors as 12 sound horses were trotted on a hard surface in a straight line and in a circle on both reins. Seven asymmetry measures and hip hike were calculated for each horse for at least nine strides of comp...
Raabe O, Shell K, Goessl A, Crispens C, Delhasse Y, Eva A, Scheiner-Bobis G, Wenisch S, Arnhold S.Mesenchymal stem cells are regarded as common cellular precursors of the musculoskeletal tissue and are responsible for tissue regeneration in the course of musculoskeletal disorders. In equine veterinary medicine extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is used to optimize healing processes of bone, tendon and cartilage. Nevertheless, little is known about the effects of the shock waves on cells and tissues. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of focused ESWT on the viability, proliferation, and differentiation capacity of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells...
Raudsepp T, Lee EJ, Kata SR, Brinkmeyer C, Mickelson JR, Skow LC, Womack JE, Chowdhary BP.Development of a dense map of the horse genome is key to efforts aimed at identifying genes controlling health, reproduction, and performance. We herein report a high-resolution gene map of the horse (Equus caballus) X chromosome (ECAX) generated by developing and typing 116 gene-specific and 12 short tandem repeat markers on the 5,000-rad horse x hamster whole-genome radiation hybrid panel and mapping 29 gene loci by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The human X chromosome sequence was used as a template to select genes at 1-Mb intervals to develop equine orthologs. Coupled with our previou...
Gustafson AL, Tallmadge RL, Ramlachan N, Miller D, Bird H, Antczak DF, Raudsepp T, Chowdhary BP, Skow LC.A physical map of ordered bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones was constructed to determine the genetic organization of the horse major histocompatibility complex. Human, cattle, pig, mouse, and rat MHC gene sequences were compared to identify highly conserved regions which served as source templates for the design of overgo primers. Thirty-five overgo probes were designed from 24 genes and used for hybridization screening of the equine USDA CHORI 241 BAC library. Two hundred thirty-eight BAC clones were assembled into two contigs spanning the horse MHC region. The first contig contain...
Alghamdi AS, Lovaas BJ, Bird SL, Lamb GC, Rendahl AK, Taube PC, Foster DN.Bovine semen is naturally deposited in the vagina and spermatozoa migrate through the cervix into the uterus leaving the bulk of seminal plasma (SP) behind. In equine, both spermatozoa and SP are deposited directly in the uterus and SP reduces sperm binding to neutrophils and prevents the formation of DNA-based neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). We investigated the role of bovine SP on sperm-neutrophil binding using the four most common bovine semen extenders. Contrary to equine, bovine spermatozoa removed from SP had low binding to neutrophils for up to 3h, but as little as 10% SP increas...
Welch HM, Bridges CG, Lyon AM, Griffiths L, Edington N.The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and co-cultivation were used to identify the lymphoreticular system as the site of latency of equid herpesvirus I (EHV-1). Primers for PCR were designed from aligned nucleotide sequences of the glycoprotein gB genes to amplify the same region of both the EHV-1 and EHV-4 genomes. Subsequent restriction digests using specific enzymes distinguished the amplified fragments of the EHV-1 genome from those of the EHV-4 genome. Ten weeks following an experimental infection of five ponies with EHV-1, latent virus was detected by PCR and recovered by co-cultivation, p...
Christensen M, Jacobsen S, Ichiyanagi T, Kjelgaard-Hansen M.Major acute phase proteins (APPs) have proven diagnostically useful in dogs, cats and horses with routine use facilitated by commercially available automated heterologous assays. An automated assay applicable across all three species would highly facilitate further dissemination of routine use, and the aim of this study was to validate an automated latex agglutination turbidimetric immunoassay based on monoclonal anti-human serum amyloid A (SAA) antibodies for measurement of canine, feline and equine SAA. Serum samples from 60 dogs, 40 cats and 40 horses were included. Intra- and inter-assay i...
Singh RK, Dhama K, Karthik K, Khandia R, Munjal A, Khurana SK, Chakraborty S, Malik YS, Virmani N, Singh R, Tripathi BN, Munir M, van der Kolk JH.Among all the emerging and re-emerging animal diseases, influenza group is the prototype member associated with severe respiratory infections in wide host species. Wherein, Equine influenza (EI) is the main cause of respiratory illness in equines across globe and is caused by equine influenza A virus (EIV-A) which has impacted the equine industry internationally due to high morbidity and marginal morality. The virus transmits easily by direct contact and inhalation making its spread global and leaving only limited areas untouched. Hitherto reports confirm that this virus crosses the species ba...
Palmer JL, Bertone AL.The use of extremely small dosages of intra-articular E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin can create a model of synovitis that mimics acute synovitis in horses. Dosages of 5000 ng, 25 ng, 0.5 ng, 0.25 ng, 0.17 ng and 0.125 ng per joint were injected into various joints of a total of 6 horses. The dose response of LPS on clinical signs and synovial fluid parameters was evaluated at baseline and 12, 24, 36 and 48 h after LPS injection. Peripheral venous blood analysis was performed at baseline and at 0, 4, and 12 h after LPS injection. Dosages greater than 0.5 ng/joint resulted in clinica...
Dorn PL, Derse D.Deletion analysis of the equine infectious anemia virus long terminal repeat revealed that sequences responsive to virus-specific transactivation are located within the region spanning the transcriptional start site (-31 to +22). In addition, an active exon of a trans-acting factor (tat) was identified downstream of pol and overlapping env (nucleotides 5264 to 5461). Activation by tat is accompanied by an increase in the steady-state levels of mRNA directed by the equine infectious anemia virus long terminal repeat.
Böer U, Lohrenz A, Klingenberg M, Pich A, Haverich A, Wilhelmi M.Decellularized equine carotid arteries (dEAC) may represent a reasonable alternative to alloplastic materials in vascular replacement therapy. Acellularity of the matrix is standardly evaluated by DNA quantification what however may not record sufficiently the degree of matrix immunogenicity. Thus, our aim was to analyze dEAC with a low DNA content for residual cellular proteins. A detergent-based decellularization protocol including endonuclease treatment resulted in dEAC with 0.6 ± 0.15 ng DNA/mg dry weight representing 0.33 ± 0.14% of native tissue DNA content. In contrast, when matrices ...
Marasas WF.Fusarium moniliforme is one of the predominant fungi associated with corn intended for human and animal consumption world-wide. Fumonisins, food-borne carcinogens that occur naturally in corn, were first isolated and chemically characterized in South Africa in 1988. The major metabolite, fumonisin B1 (FB1), was subsequently shown to cause leukoencephalomalacia (LEM) in horses, pulmonary edema syndrome (PES) in pigs, and liver cancer in rats. FB1 is also a cancer promoter and initiator in rat liver; hepatotoxic to horses, pigs, rats, and vervet monkeys; cytotoxic to mammalian cell cultures; and...
Wieringa R, de Vries AA, Rottier PJ.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is an enveloped, positive-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Arteriviridae of the order NIDOVIRALES: Six transmembrane proteins have been identified in EAV particles: the nonglycosylated membrane protein M and the glycoprotein GP(5) (previously named G(L)), which occur as disulfide-bonded heterodimers and are the major viral envelope proteins; the unglycosylated small envelope protein E; and the minor glycoproteins GP(2b) (formerly designated G(S)), GP(3), and GP(4). Analysis of the appearance of the GP(2b), GP(3), and GP(4) proteins in viral particles by g...
Bowles DE, Holden VR, Zhao Y, O'Callaghan DJ.To assess the role of the equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) ICP0 protein (EICP0) in gene regulation, a variety of molecular studies on the EICP0 gene and gene products of both the attenuated cell culture-adapted Kentucky A (KyA) strain and the Ab4p strain were conducted. These investigations revealed that (i) the ICP0 open reading frame (ORF) of the KyA virus strain is 1,257 bp in size and would encode a protein of 419 amino acids, and in comparison to the ICP0 gene (ORF63) of the Ab4p strain of 1,596 bp (E. A. Telford, M. S. Watson, K. McBride, and A. J. Davison, Virology 189:304-316, 1992), ...
Diallo IS, Hewitson G, Wright L, Rodwell BJ, Corney BG.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV1) is a major disease of equids worldwide causing considerable losses to the horse industry. A variety of techniques, including PCR have been used to diagnose EHV1. Some of these PCRs were used in combination with other techniques such as restriction enzyme analysis (REA) or hybridisation, making them cumbersome for routine diagnostic testing and increasing the chances of cross-contamination. Furthermore, they involve the use of suspected carcinogens such as ethidium bromide and ultraviolet light. In this paper, we describe a real-time PCR, which uses minor groove-bindi...
Pfau T, Stubbs NC, Kaiser LJ, Brown LE, Clayton HM.To determine whether body lean angle could be predicted from circle radius and speed in horses during lunging and whether an increase in that angle would decrease the degree of movement symmetry (MS). Methods: 11 medium- to high-level dressage horses in competition training. Methods: Body lean angle, head MS, and trunk MS were quantified during trotting while horses were instrumented with a 5-sensor global positioning system-enhanced inertial sensor system and lunged on a soft surface. Speed and circle radius were varied and used to calculate predicted body lean angle. Agreement between observ...
Morein B, Blomqvist G, Hu K.The maintenance of pregnancy requires suppression of the maternal immune system which would naturally recognize the developing fetus as an allograft and seek to destroy it by mounting a Th1 regulated cytotoxic immune response. During pregnancy a range of soluble factors are produced by the placenta which switch maternal immune regulation towards a protective Th2 phenotype. These factors also influence the developing fetal immune system and all newborns initially have an immunological milieu skewed towards Th2 immunity. Vaccination during the neonatal period must therefore overcome the dual cha...
Jörg A, Henderson WR, Murphy RC, Klebanoff SJ.Horse eosinophils purified to greater than 98% generated slow reacting substance (SRS) when incubated with the calcium ionophore A23187. On a per cell basis, eosinophils generated four to five times the SRS produced by similarly treated horse neutrophils. Eosinophil SRS production was inhibited by 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid and augmented by indomethacin and arachidonic acid, suggesting that it was a product(s) of the lipoxygenase pathway of arachidonic acid metabolism. Compounds with SRS activity were purified by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and identified by ultraviolet spe...
Zhao S, McDermott PF, White DG, Qaiyumi S, Friedman SL, Abbott JW, Glenn A, Ayers SL, Post KW, Fales WH, Wilson RB, Reggiardo C, Walker RD.Three hundred and eighty Salmonella isolates recovered from animal diagnostic samples obtained from four state veterinary diagnostic laboratories (AZ, NC, MO, and TN) between 2002 and 2003 were tested for antimicrobial susceptibilities and further characterized for bla(CMY) beta-lactamase genes, class 1 integrons and genetic relatedness using PFGE. Forty-seven serovars were identified, the most common being S. Typhimurium (26%), S. Heidelberg (9%), S, Dublin (8%), S. Newport (8%), S. Derby (7%), and S. Choleraesuis (7%). Three hundred and thirteen (82%) isolates were resistant to at least one ...
Grilz-Seger G, Neuditschko M, Ricard A, Velie B, Lindgren G, Mesarič M, Cotman M, Horna M, Dobretsberger M, Brem G, Druml T.Intensive artificial and natural selection have shaped substantial variation among European horse breeds. Whereas most equine selection signature studies employ divergent genetic population structures in order to derive specific inter-breed targets of selection, we screened a total of 1476 horses originating from 12 breeds for the loss of genetic diversity by runs of homozygosity (ROH) utilizing a 670,000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array. Overlapping homozygous regions (ROH islands) indicating signatures of selection were identified by breed and similarities/dissimilaritie...
Yin X, Hu Z, Gu Q, Wu X, Zheng YH, Wei P, Wang X.Human tetherin is a host restriction factor that inhibits replication of enveloped viruses by blocking viral release. Tetherin has an unusual topology that includes an N-terminal cytoplasmic tail, a single transmembrane domain, an extracellular domain, and a C-terminal glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor. Tetherin is not well conserved across species, so it inhibits viral replication in a species-specific manner. Thus, studies of tetherin activities from different species provide an important tool for understanding its antiviral mechanism. Here, we report cloning of equine tetherin and charact...
Wagner B, Miller DC, Lear TL, Antczak DF.This report contains the first map of the complete Ig H chain constant (IGHC) gene region of the horse (Equus caballus), represented by 34 overlapping clones from a new bacterial artificial chromosome library. The different bacterial artificial chromosome inserts containing IGHC genes were identified and arranged by hybridization using overgo probes specific for individual equine IGHC genes. The analysis of these IGHC clones identified two previously undetected IGHC genes of the horse. The newly found IGHG7 gene, which has a high homology to the equine IGHG4 gene, is located between the IGHG3 ...
Bryant NA, Wilkie GS, Russell CA, Compston L, Grafham D, Clissold L, McLay K, Medcalf L, Newton R, Davison AJ, Elton DM.Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) causes respiratory disease, abortion, neonatal death and neurological disease in equines and is endemic in most countries. The viral factors that influence EHV-1 disease severity are poorly understood, and this has hampered vaccine development. However, the N752D substitution in the viral DNA polymerase catalytic subunit has been shown statistically to be associated with neurological disease. This has given rise to the term "neuropathic strain," even though strains lacking the polymorphism have been recovered from cases of neurological disease. To broaden understan...
