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.
Prado AA, Favaron PO, da Silva LC, Baccarin RY, Miglino MA, Maria DA.Isolation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in equines, has been reported for different tissues including bone marrow, adipose, umbilical cord, peripheral blood, and yolk sac. In regard to the MSCs derived from synovial fluid (SF) or membrane (SM), there is data available for humans, dogs, pigs, goats and horses. Especially in equines, these cells have being considered promising candidates for articular regeneration. Herein, we established and characterized MSCs obtained from equine SF and SM. Samples were obtained during arthroscopy and cultured using MEM (Minimum Essential Medium). MSCs were ...
Shokri H.The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Malassezia species from the body skin and external ear canal of healthy horses. The samples were obtained by scraping the skin surface from the nose, groin and dorsum and swabbing from the external ear canal of 163 animals, and then incubated on sabouraud dextrose agar and modified Dixon agar. Malassezia species were isolated from 34.9% of horses. The percentages of Malassezia species were 64.3% for Arab, 35.7% for Persian, 35.4% for Thoroughbred and 27.1% for Turkmen breeds. The greatest abundance of Malassezia species was found in th...
Revold T, Abayneh T, Brun-Hansen H, Kleppe SL, Ropstad EO, Hellings RA, Sørum H.Listeria monocytogenes has been reported to cause various infectious diseases in both humans and animals. More rarely, ocular infections have been reported. To our knowledge, only two cases of Listeria keratitis have been described in horses. We report kerato-conjunctivitis in four Norwegian horses associated with L. monocytogenes. Clinically, all cases were presented with recurrent unilateral kerato-conjunctivitis. L. monocytogenes bacteria were isolated from swab samples from all cases, and cytology carried out in 3 cases was indicative of L. monocytogenes infection. The present report descr...
Ząbek T, Semik E, Szmatoła T, Oklejewicz B, Fornal A, Bugno-Poniewierska M.Methylation profiles across three CpG islands of the RNASEL gene were determined in blood leukocyte samples of Anglo-Arabian and Hucul horses. Bisulfite sequencing revealed hypomethylated state of the RNASEL promoter coinciding with methylated CpG island placed inside the gene. Several CpG sites were identified for which the methylation state was influenced by DNA polymorphism. Two of them showed monoallelic methylation. One of the CpG sites revealed functional polymorphism. A number of partially methylated CpG sites have been observed in the promoter area of RNASEL, which were used for the co...
Liuti T, Reardon R, Smith S, Dixon PM.Infection of the dorsal nasal conchal bulla and ventral nasal conchal bulla has recently been shown to cause clinical disease in horses, but the anatomy of these 2 structures is poorly documented. Objective: To describe the anatomical features, dimensions and relationships to adjacent structures of the dorsal conchal bulla and ventra conchal bulla in normal horses using computed tomography (CT). Methods: Descriptive imaging study using cadavers. Methods: Computed tomographic images acquired from 60 equine cadaver heads that were shown to be free of sinonasal disease were categorised into 3 age...
Diaz F, Bondiolli K, Paccamonti D, Gentry GT.Pregnancy rates after cryopreservation of large equine blastocyst stage embryos have remained lower than other domesticated livestock species. It is generally accepted that the embryonic capsule is the primary barrier to cryoprotectant entry into the embryo proper and techniques need to be developed to circumvent this obstacle. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop an efficient Day 8 equine embryo cryopreservation protocol through blastocyst micromanipulation and vitrification. Grade 1 and 2 embryos recovered from mares (n = 15) 8 days after ovulation were used in these experim...
Ghosh S, Das PJ, Avila F, Thwaits BK, Chowdhary BP, Raudsepp T.Balanced autosomal translocations are a known cause for repeated early embryonic loss (REEL) in horses. In most cases, carriers of such translocations are phenotypically normal, but the chromosomal aberration negatively affects gametogenesis giving rise to both genetically balanced and unbalanced gametes. The latter, if involved in fertilization, result in REEL, whereas gametes with the balanced form of translocation will pass the defect into next generation. Therefore, in order to reduce the incidence of REEL, identification of translocation carriers is critical. Here, we report about a pheno...
Salem SE, Proudman CJ, Archer DC.Changes in management of the surgical colic patient over the last 30 years have resulted in considerable improvement in post operative survival rates. However, post operative complications remain common and these impact negatively on horse welfare, probability of survival, return to previous use and the costs of treatment. Multiple studies have investigated risk factors for post operative complications following surgical management of colic and interventions that might be effective in reducing the likelihood of these occurring. The findings from these studies are frequently contradictory and t...
Lepage SI, Nagy K, Sung HK, Kandel RA, Nagy A, Koch TG.Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are more and more frequently used to treat orthopedic injuries in horses. However, these cells are limited in their expandability and differentiation capacity. Recently, the first equine-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines were reported by us [ 1 ]. In vitro differentiation of iPSCs into MSC-like cells is an attractive alternative to using MSCs derived from other sources, as a much larger quantity of patient-specific cells with broad differentiation potential could be generated. However, the differentiation capacity of iPSCs to MSCs and the p...
Houtsma A, Bedenice D, Pusterla N, Pugliese B, Mapes S, Hoffman AM, Paxson J, Rozanski E, Mukherjee J, Wigley M, Mazan MR.Inflammatory airway disease (IAD) in horses, similar to asthma in humans, is a common cause of chronic poor respiratory health and exercise intolerance due to airway inflammation and exaggerated airway constrictive responses. Human rhinovirus is an important trigger for the development of asthma; a similar role for viral respiratory disease in equine IAD has not been established yet. Methods: In a case-control study, horses with IAD (n = 24) were compared to control animals from comparable stabling environments (n = 14). Horses were classified using pulmonary function testing and bronc...
Sano Y, Matsuda K, Okamoto M, Takehana K, Hirayama K, Taniyama H.Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in the uveal tract participate in ocular immunity including immune homeostasis and the pathogenesis of uveitis. In horses, although uveitis is the most common ocular disorder, little is known about ocular immunity, such as the distribution of APCs. In this study, we investigated the distribution of CD163-positive and MHC II-positive cells in the normal equine uveal tract using an immunofluorescence technique. Eleven eyes from 10 Thoroughbred horses aged 1 to 24 years old were used. Indirect immunofluorescence was performed using the primary antibodies CD163, MHC...
Gürelli G, Canbulat S, Aldayarov N.Species composition and distribution of intestinal ciliates were investigated in the feces from 15 domestic horses living in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Twenty-three species belonging to 14 genera were identified. This is the first study on intestinal ciliates in domestic horses living in Kyrgyzstan. The mean number of ciliates was 14.1 ± 6.8 x10(4) cells ml(-1) of feces and the mean number of ciliate species per host was 6.0 ± 3.2. No endemic or new species were detected. Blepharocorys was the major genus as these ciliates were detected in high proportions. In contrast Holophryoides, Allantosoma w...
de Laat MA, McGree JM, Sillence MN.Compared with some other species, insulin dysregulation in equids is poorly understood. However, hyperinsulinemia causes laminitis, a significant and often lethal disease affecting the pedal bone/hoof wall attachment site. Until recently, hyperinsulinemia has been considered a counterregulatory response to insulin resistance (IR), but there is growing evidence to support a gastrointestinal etiology. Incretin hormones released from the proximal intestine, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide, augment insulin secretion in several species but require invest...
Ringmark S, Jansson A, Lindholm A, Hedenström U, Roepstorff L.The aim of this study was to document effects of two high-intensity training regimes on horse health. Sixteen Standardbred horses in training from September as 1-year-olds with the goal to race as 3-year-olds were used in a 2.5 year study. Horses were trained in either a control training program (C-group) or in a program with 30% reduced high intensity distance compared to the C-group (R-group). Clinical examinations were performed nine times. Locomotion asymmetry was registered with a sensor-based system 17 times. There was no difference in health scores, locomotion asymmetry or veterinary tr...
Edwards S, Clode AB, Gilger BC.This retrospective case series evaluates husbandry and environmental conditions in relation to eosinophilic keratitis in horses. While no associations were found between disease and husbandry practices or specific environmental factors such as humidity or temperature, an increased prevalence of presentation in summer months was identified in this population of horses.
D○ LR, Stefanovski D, Boston RC, Boyle AG.To evaluate predictor variables for and complications associated with Streptococcus equi subsp equi infection (strangles) in horses. Methods: Retrospective case-control study. Methods: 108 horses with strangles (cases) and 215 horses without strangles (controls). Methods: Medical records from January 2005 through July 2012 were reviewed. Cases were defined as horses with clinical signs of strangles (pyrexia, retropharyngeal lymphadenopathy, and mucopurulent nasal discharge) that were associated with a confirmed strangles outbreak or had positive results for S equi on PCR assay or bacteriologic...
Kwasnik M, Gora IM, Rola J, Zmudzinski JF, Rozek W.The phylogenetic analysis of influenza virus is based mainly on the variable hemagglutinin or neuraminidase genes. However, some discrete evolutionary trends might be revealed when more conservative genes are considered. We compared all available in GenBank database full length NS sequences of equine influenza virus including Polish isolates. Four nucleotides at positions A202, A237, T672 and A714 and three amino acids at positions H59, K71 and S216 which are also present in A/eq/Pulawy/2006 and A/eq/Pulawy/2008 may be discriminating for the Florida sublineage. Threonine at position 83 seems t...
Gao KX, Chen NB, Liu WJ, Li R, Lan XY, Chen H, Lei CZ, Dang RH.Gray horses are born colored, and they then gradually lose their hair pigmentation. Tremendous progress has been made in identifying the genes responsible for graying with age in horses in recent years. Results show that gray coat color in horses is caused by a 4.6-kb duplication in intron 6 of the syntaxin 17 gene (STX17), which constitutes a cis-acting-regulatory mutation. However, little is known about the gray phenotype in native Chinese horses. This study was conducted to explore the frequency distribution of the gray mutation in native Chinese horse breeds. A total of 489 samples from 14...
Wylie CE, Shaw DJ, Fordyce FM, Lilly A, Pirie RS, McGorum BC.We hypothesised that the apparent geographical distribution of equine grass sickness (EGS) is partly attributable to suboptimal levels of soil macro- and trace elements in fields where EGS occurs. If proven, altering levels of particular elements could be used to reduce the risk of EGS. Objective: To determine whether the geographical distribution of EGS cases in eastern Scotland is associated with the presence or absence of particular environmental chemical elements. Methods: Retrospective time-matched case-control study. Methods: This study used data for 455 geo-referenced EGS cases and 910 ...
Conway ED, Stiles J, Townsend WM, Weng HY.OBJECTIVE To evaluate species differences and effects of storage duration and temperature on the anticollagenase efficacy of canine, feline, and equine serum on in vitro corneal degradation. SAMPLES Corneas and serum from dogs, cats, and horses. PROCEDURES Clinically normal corneas from dogs, cats, and horses were harvested within 2 hours after euthanasia. Serum samples from dogs, cats, and horses were collected and pooled by species. Corneal specimens were incubated with collagenase derived from Clostridium histolyticum, 5mM calcium chloride in saline (0.9% NaCl) solution, and feline, canine,...
Back H, Ullman K, Leijon M, Söderlund R, Penell J, Ståhl K, Pringle J, Valarcher JF.Equid herpesvirus 5 (EHV-5) is related to the human Epstein-Barr virus (human herpesvirus 4) and has frequently been observed in equine populations worldwide. EHV-5 was previously assumed to be low to non-pathogenic; however, studies have also related the virus to the severe lung disease equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis (EMPF). Genetic information of EHV-5 is scanty: the whole genome was recently described and only limited nucleotide sequences are available. In this study, samples were taken twice 1 year apart from eight healthy horses at the same professional training yard and samples f...
Aleman M, Spriet M, Williams DC, Nieto JE.Auditory loss is a common deficit in horses with temporohyoid osteoarthropathy (THO), however, recovery of function is unknown. Objective: To investigate neurologic function with emphasis in audition in horses with THO after treatment. To describe anatomical alterations of the petrous temporal bone that might result in auditory loss. Methods: Twenty-four horses with a clinical diagnosis of THO. Methods: Prospective study. A brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) study was done as part of the criteria for inclusion in horses with a clinical diagnosis of THO from the years of 2005 to 2014. Ph...
McFadden AM, Hanlon D, McKenzie RK, Gibson I, Bueno IM, Pulford DJ, Orr D, Dunowska M, Stanislawek WL, Spence RP, McDonald WL, Munro G, Mayhew IG.On 9 January 2014 (Day 0) a mare from a stud farm in the Waikato region presented with urinary incontinence without pyrexia. Over the following 33 days 15 mares were clinically affected with neurological signs. All but one mare had a foal at foot. The most commonly observed clinical signs were hind limb paresis and ataxia. In some cases recumbency occurred very early in the course of disease and seven mares were subject to euthanasia for humane reasons. Results: Equid herpesvirus (EHV) type 1 was detected using PCR in various tissues collected post mortem from two mares with neurological signs...
Pybus OG, Thézé J.Just 5 years ago the hepatitis C virus (HCV) - a major cause of liver disease infecting >3% of people worldwide - was the sole confirmed member of the Hepacivirus genus. Since then, genetically-diverse hepaciviruses have been isolated from bats, dogs, cows, horses, primates and rodents. Here we review current information on the hepaciviruses and speculate on the zoonotic origins of the viruses in humans, horses and dogs. Recent and direct cross-species transmission from horses to dogs appears plausible, but the zoonotic origins of HCV in humans remain opaque. Mechanical transmission by biting ...
Brudvig JM, Swenson CL.Rapid and precise measurement of total and differential nucleated cell counts is a crucial diagnostic component of cavitary and synovial fluid analyses. Objective: The objectives of this study included (1) evaluation of reliability and precision of canine and equine fluid total nucleated cell count (TNCC) determined by the benchtop Abaxis VetScan HM5, in comparison with the automated reference instruments ADVIA 120 and the scil Vet abc, respectively, and (2) comparison of automated with manual canine differential nucleated cell counts. Methods: The TNCC and differential counts in canine pleura...
Pusterla N, Vin R, Leutenegger C, Mittel LD, Divers TJ.Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is an emerging virus associated clinically and epidemiologically with fever, depression, anorexia and less frequently colic and diarrhoea in adult horses. Sporadic cases and outbreaks have been reported with increased frequency since 2010 from Japan, the USA and more recently from Europe. A faeco-oral transmission route is suspected and clinical or asymptomatic infected horses appear to be responsible for direct and indirect transmission of ECoV. A presumptive clinical diagnosis of ECoV infection may be suggested by clinical presentation, haematological abnormalities ...
León B, Jiménez-Sánchez C, Retamosa-Izaguirre M.Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is an arbovirus transmitted by arthropods, widely distributed in the Americas that, depending on the subtype, can produce outbreaks or yearly cases of encephalitis in horses and humans. The symptoms are similar to those caused by dengue virus and in the worst-case scenario, involve encephalitis, and death. MaxEnt is software that uses climatological, geographical, and occurrence data of a particular species to create a model to estimate possible niches that could have these favorable conditions. We used MaxEnt with a total of 188 registers of VEEV pr...
Blanke A, Aupperle H, Seeger J, Kubick C, Schusser GF.Clinical, anatomical and histological aspects of the equine acoustic organ have been poorly investigated and illustrated in literature so far. It is understood that an intact acoustic organ and hearing function are of vital importance for the well-being of flight animals like horses. The knowledge of the acoustic organ is usually transferred analogously from other mammals to horses. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed and complete histological description of the healthy equine auditory organ, and to determine its congruity to other mammalians. Anatomical dissections and histolo...
Handschuh S, Okada CTC, Walter I, Aurich C, Glösmann M.Here, we describe a workflow for high-detail microCT imaging of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) equine embryos recovered on Day 34 of pregnancy (E34), a period just before placenta formation. The presented imaging methods are suitable for large animals' embryos with intention to study morphological and developmental aspects, but more generally can be adopted for all kinds of FFPE tissue specimens. Microscopic 3D imaging techniques such as microCT are important tools for detecting and studying normal embryogenesis and developmental disorders. To date, microCT imaging of vertebrate e...
Canè V, Botti P, Farneti D, Soana S.The effect of pulsing electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) on bone repair was studied in principal metacarpal bones of eight adult male horses: Six horses were treated with PEMFs, and two horses were untreated. In treated horses, Helmholtz coils were applied during a 60-day period to the left metacarpal bones, bored with eight holes of equal diameter and depth, from the middiaphysis toward the distal metaphysis. Eight equal holes bored in the right metacarpal, surrounded by unactivated Helmholtz coils, were taken as controls. The two untreated horses were taken as additional control. The results of ...
Tonpitak W, Pathomsakulwong W, Sornklien C, Krajaejun T, Wutthiwithayaphong S.Pythiosis is caused by , a fungus-like organism in the class . It can infect humans and a variety of animal species in tropical, subtropical and some temperate regions. Cases of animal pythiosis have occurred predominantly in horses in the skin and subcutaneous tissue at the limbs and in the ventral portion of thoracoabdominal wall - lesions in the nasal region are rarely reported. Moreover, although many human pythiosis cases have been reported in Thailand, no cases of animal pythiosis in Thailand have been reported. Methods: We report a case of pythiosis in a horse infected at the nasal cavi...
Grøndahl C, Hyttel P, Grøndahl ML, Eriksen T, Gotfredsen P, Greve T.The objectives were to describe the ultrastructure of equine oocytes aspirated from small and preovulatory follicles, and to relate the ultrastructural features to follicle size and follicular fluid steroid concentrations. Mares were examined every second day by transrectal ultrasonography, and follicles measuring > 30 mm were aspirated (in vivo) using a 20-cm-long 12-gauge needle through the flank. Following slaughter, both large and small follicles were aspirated (in vitro) from six mares. The oocytes were isolated under a stereomicroscope and processed for transmission electron microscop...
Weideman H, Schoeman SJ, Jordaan GF, Kidd M.This study investigated if environmental factors had an effect on the incidence of epistaxis related to exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) among racehorses in southern Africa. Data covering the period 1986-2001 and involving 778 532 race runs were analysed. This included the following information: date of race, age, sex, name of breeder, trainer, distance, jockey, state of going, weight carried, racing centre and altitude. Veterinarians employed by the Jockey Club suspended officially entered horses that presented with epistaxis (frank bleeding from the nostrils) after racing. On-co...
Hart KA, Ferguson DC, Heusner GL, Barton MH.Cosyntropin (adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH]) stimulation tests are used to evaluate adrenal function. Low-dose ACTH stimulation tests are the most accurate method for diagnosing relative adrenal insufficiency in critically ill humans but have not been evaluated in foals. Objective: Peak serum cortisol concentrations in healthy foals will not be significantly different after intravenous administration of 1, 10, 100, and 250 microg of cosyntropin. Methods: 14 healthy neonatal foals, 3-4 days of age. Methods: A randomized cross-over model was used in which cosyntropin (1, 10, 100, or 250 micr...
Andersen C, Jacobsen S, Walters M, Lindegaard C.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a significant health issue in humans as well as horses. Experimental models of equine carpal OA have been used to investigate OA pathogenesis and potential therapeutic candidates. A 5-scale scoring system (OARSI) for macroscopic pathological cartilage changes already exists, but there is a need for a scoring system with better differentiation of severity. The aim of this study was therefore to develop and validate such a scoring system. Results: New scoring system were developed for cartilage erosions (Copenhagen Equine Total Cartilage Score, CEqTCS) along with synovial ...
Rossi TM, Kavsak PA, Maxie MG, Pearl DL, Pyle WG, Physick-Sheard PW.Human cardiac troponin I (cTnI) assays have been used in equine medicine, often without prior analytical validation for equine use. In the absence of appropriate validation, the clinical significance of assay results is uncertain and can lead to misdiagnosis. We followed the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology guidelines and investigated linearity, precision, limit of quantification (LoQ), and comparative recovery for 6 commercial cTnI assays developed for use in human medicine. Clinically acceptable linearity was observed in assays A-D, whereas assay E did not detect equine cTn...
Tjälve H.The present article gives a summary of suspected adverse reactions reported by Swedish veterinarians during the period 1991-1995. The summary shows that severe adverse drug-reactions sometimes occur in Swedish veterinary practice. In horses, several cases of acute reactions in animals treated with procaine benzylpenicillin were reported and seven horses died within a few minutes after intramuscular injections of the drug. In cattle and swine most reports referred to the use of antimicrobial agents. In dogs reactions to vaccines were the most frequently reported adverse effects. The reactions w...
Orzan F, Angelini P, Oglietti J, Leachman RD, Cooley DA.Two cases of horseshoe lung are described; one was suspected and the other was diagnosed preoperatively. Both underwent successful surgical treatment. The embryology of this anomaly is briefly reviewed with reference to the closely related scimitar syndrome (anomalous venous return of right lung to inferior atriocaval junction). Diagnostic studies are discussed with stress on the need for a thorough functional evaluation of both the heart and lungs before the surgical indication is made.
Elmas CR, Koenig JB, Bienzle D, Cribb NC, Cernicchiaro N, Coté NM, Weese JS.Septic synovitis is a potentially debilitating and life-threatening disorder in horses. We hypothesized that a universal bacterial real-time PCR (RT-PCR) assay would have improved sensitivity and decreased turn-around time for detection of bacteria in synovial fluid (SF) samples. Forty-eight SF samples were collected from 36 horses that presented to two referral institutions with suspected septic synovitis. Universal RT-PCR, bacterial culture and SF analysis were performed on all samples, and an interpretation on the sample being septic or not was derived by three board certified specialists f...
Voß K, Tetens J, Thaller G, Becker D.Roan (Rn) horses show a typical seasonal change of color. Their body is covered with colored and white hair. We performed a descriptive statistical analysis of breeding records of Icelandic horses to challenge the hypothesis of roan being lethal in utero under homozygous condition. The roan to non-roan ratio of foals from roan × roan matings revealed homozygous roan Icelandic horses to be viable. Even though roan is known to be inherited in a dominant mode and epistatic to other coat colors, the causative mutation is still unknown. Nevertheless, an association between roan phenotype and the K...
Nardoni S, Sgorbini M, Barsotti G, Corazza M, Mancianti F.To identify and quantify ocular fungi from healthy donkeys living in the center of Italy. Methods: One hundred and two Amiata donkeys were examined. Methods: Conjunctival swabs from both eyes were seeded onto Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) and malt extract agar (MEA), and incubated at 25 degrees C over a 10-day period. Filamentous fungi identification was achieved to the genus level; yeast colonies were identified for macro-micromorphologic and physiological characteristics. Results: Eighty-one donkeys out of 102 (79.4%) were positive for fungi; 47/102 (46.1%) had positive cultures from both ey...
Vashisht K, Rock RW, Summers BA.A 5-year-old National Show horse mare presented with a soft mass on the left dorsolateral aspect of the tongue. Over the next 2 years, the mare developed numerous, similar, coalescing masses that extended along the left dorsolateral aspect to the tip of the tongue. Microscopically, the bases for these masses were slender, fusiform, mesenchymal cells that formed compact whorls around myelinated and unmyelinated nerves. These cells were labeled by antibodies directed against vimentin but not by S-100. Ultrastructurally, multiple, concentrically arranged, long, slender cell processes, with discon...
Ritruechai P, Weller R, Wakeling JM.The longissimus dorsi is the largest muscle in the equine back and plays an important role in locomotor ability and performance in the horse. In vivo studies suggest that the mechanical function varies between different muscle segments, in part determined by anatomy. It is possible therefore that variations in function reflect variations in the anatomy of the longissimus dorsi along its length. Objective: To identify if there are regional variations in muscle architecture of the longissimus dorsi. Methods: Computed tomography scans were obtained from 8 cadaver backs to identify the cross-secti...
Erickson BK, Seaman J, Kubo K, Hiraga A, Kai M, Yamaya Y, Wagner PD.In a previous study we evaluated the mechanism of alveolar-arterial PO2 (AaPO2) reduction when nitrogen is replaced with helium in normoxia (FIO2 = 0.21). The reduction in AaPO2 was not due to changes in VA/Q inequality, pulmonary O2 diffusing capacity, or cardiac output, but to more complete diffusion equilibration as a consequence of the higher ventilation and thus PAO2 (which reduced the average slope of the hemoglobin O2 dissociation curve (ODC), and thus enhanced diffusive equilibration). We hypothesized that hypoxic He/O2 breathing in contrast would not reduce the AaPO2 because PAO2 and ...
Metz GE, Abeyá MM, Serena MS, Panei CJ, Echeverría MG.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) induces apoptosis in infected cells. Cell death caused by EAV has been studied mainly using three cell lines, BHK-21, RK-13 and Vero cells. The mechanism of apoptosis varies among cell lines and results cannot be correlated owing to differences in EAV strains used. We evaluated different markers for apoptosis in BHK-21, RK-13 and Vero cell lines using the Bucyrus EAV reference strain. Acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining revealed morphological changes in infected cells, while flow cytometry indicated the extent of apoptosis. We also observed DNA fragmentation,...
Nanda S, Dalai AK, Gökalp I, Kozinski JA.The organic wastes such as lignocellulosic biomass, municipal solid waste, sewage sludge and livestock manure have attracted attention as alternative sources of energy. Cattle manure, a waste generated in surplus amounts from the feedlot, has always been a chief environmental concern. This study is focused on identifying the candidacy of horse manure as a next generation feedstock for biofuel production through supercritical water gasification. The horse manure was gasified in supercritical water to examine the effects of temperature (400-600°C), biomass-to-water ratio (1:5 and 1:10) and reac...
Valle-Casuso JC, Gaudaire D, Martin-Faivre L, Madeline A, Dallemagne P, Pronost S, Munier-Lehmann H, Zientara S, Vidalain PO, Hans A.RNA viruses are responsible for a large variety of animal infections. Equine Arteritis Virus (EAV) is a positive single-stranded RNA virus member of the family Arteriviridae from the order Nidovirales like the Coronaviridae. EAV causes respiratory and reproductive diseases in equids. Although two vaccines are available, the vaccination coverage of the equine population is largely insufficient to prevent new EAV outbreaks around the world. In this study, we present a high-throughput in vitro assay suitable for testing candidate antiviral molecules on equine dermal cells infected by EAV. Using t...
Kwok KY, Choi TLS, Kwok WH, Wong JKY, Wan TSM.Anabolic and androgenic steroids (AASs) are a class of prohibited substances banned in horseracing at all times. The common approach for controlling the misuse of AASs in equine sports is by detecting the presence of AASs and/or their metabolites in urine and blood samples using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). This approach, however, often falls short as the duration of effect for many AASs are longer than their detection time in both urine and blood. As a result, there is a high risk that such AASs could escape detection in the...
van Duijkeren E, van Klingeren B, Vulto AG, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, Breukink HJ, van Miert AS.The in vitro activity of 17 antimicrobial drugs against strains of Salmonella typhimurium (n = 52), Salmonella thompson (n = 2), Salmonella heidelberg (n = 3), Salmonella hadar (n = 2), Salmonella enteritidis (n = 1), Salmonella infantis (n = 1) and Salmonella derby (n = 1) was tested using the agar dilution method. The strains were isolated from horses admitted to the Large Animal Clinics of Utrecht University. The majority of strains were susceptible to gentamicin, amikacin, kanamycin, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, flumequine, colistine, furazolidone and ceftiofur. However, all strains of Sal...
Walliser U, Fenner A, Mohren N, Keefe T, deVries F, Rundfeldt C.The benefit of pre and post-operative administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the relief of post-operative pain and control of inflammation in horses following orthopaedic surgery has not been previously investigated in controlled clinical field trials, and the utility of such treatment is a matter of ongoing dispute. Recently the utility of post-operative pain management was emphasized. It was therefore our aim to determine the efficacy of meloxicam in horses following partial resection of fractured splint bones. This condition was selected since the limited extent of the ...
Lee SK, Park D, Lee I.Equine parvovirus-hepatitis (EqPV-H) causes equine hepatitis. The prevalence of EqPV-H in healthy horses has been reported in the United States, China, Germany, and Austria. The present study determined the prevalence of EqPV-H in the sera of clinically healthy horses in South Korea to identify the potential factors for infection and examine the genetic diversity of EqPV-H DNA sequences through comparison with foreign strains. Serum samples collected from 321 horses were tested for EqPV-H using non-structural protein 1 (NS1)-specific polymerase chain reaction. The associations of EqPV-H infect...
Weiss DJ, Evanson OA.To evaluate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of equine neutrophils in blood. Methods: Blood samples from 5 healthy adult Thoroughbreds. Methods: Neutrophil integrin (CD11/CD18) expression, size variation, degranulation, and deformability were measured with and without incubation with LPS. Time and concentration studies were done. The mechanism of endotoxin-induced neutrophil activation was investigated by inactivating complement or preincubating neutrophils with inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) synthesis, prostaglandin-leukotriene synthesis, or platelet-activati...
Asadollahpour Nanaei H, Ayatollahi Mehrgardi A, Esmailizadeh A.Equine athletes have a genetic heritage that has been evolved for millions of years, which provides an opportunity to study the genetics of locomotion pattern and performance in mammals. The Hanoverian, a breed originating in Germany, is arguably among the most athletic of horse breeds, as well as possessing a balanced character and beautiful appearance. Here, we compared the whole genomes of Hanoverian with three other horse breeds (Akhal-Teke, Franches-Montagnes, and Standardbred), using the fixation index (Fst) and cross-population composite likelihood ratio (XP-CLR) methods for testing the...
Anastasiou A, Skioldebrand E, Ekman S, Hall LD.The distal row of carpal bones (C2, C3, and C4) from eight left intercarpal joints--four from Standardbred Trotters and four from Swedish Warmblood horses--were used to assess the potential of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to detect cartilage and bone lesions. The joints used in the study were classified by macroscopic and radiographic examinations as having normal, mild, moderate, or severe articular cartilage lesions and bone sclerosis. Those classifications correlated well with the appearance of the MR images. Bone sclerosis in the MR images was observed as regions of decreased signal int...
Lagares MA, Castanheira PN, Amaral DC, Vasconcelos AB, Veado JC, Arantes RM, Stahlberg R.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro viability of equine embryos vitrified in three different solutions. Day 6 and 6.5 embryos were measured and morphologically evaluated. Only grade 1 or 2 morulae and early blastocysts were vitrified. Eighteen embryos were distributed in Group 1: 40 percent ethylene glycol in PBS, Group: 2 and 3: 40 percent ethylene glycol, 18 percent Ficoll, 0.3M sucrose or 0.3M trehalose in PBS, respectively. The vitrified embryos were loaded individually into 0.25 ml straws, which were cooled and immersed in liquid nitrogen. After warming at 20 degree ...