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Topic:Veterinary Research
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.
Assessment of fallen equine data in France and their usefulness for epidemiological investigations. Quantitative information about equine mortality is relatively scarce, yet it could be of great value for epidemiology purposes. Several European projects based on the exploitation of data from rendering plants have been developed to improve livestock surveillance. Similar data are available for equines in France but have never been studied to date. The objective of this research was to evaluate the potential of the French Ministry of Agriculture's Fallen Stock Data Interchange (FSDI) database to provide quantitative mortality information on the French equine population. The quality of FSDI equ...
In Vivo Imaging and Tracking of Technetium-99m Labeled Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Equine Tendinopathy. Recent advances in the application of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSC) for the treatment of tendon and ligament injuries in the horse suggest improved outcome measures in both experimental and clinical studies. Although the BMMSC are implanted into the tendon lesion in large numbers (usually 10 - 20 million cells), only a relatively small number survive (<10%) although these can persist for up to 5 months after implantation. This appears to be a common observation in other species where BMMSC have been implanted into other tissues and it is important to understand when this loss o...
Meeting the challenge of disease threats to the U.K. Official Veterinarians (OVs) from across the U.K. came together recently at conference organised to provide targeted CPD for their particular roles. With the theme of 'Reducing the impact of notifiable diseases in the UK', the meeting considered a wide range of topics, spanning large animal, small animal and equine issues. Georgina Mills reports on some of the sessions.
Measurement of Incisor Overjet and Physiological Diastemata Parameters in Quarter Horse Foals. Cephalometric studies are important to quantify abnormalities of jaw length and positioning. In this study, 4 to 7-month-old Quarter horse foals (n = 51) were examined to determine overjet (horizontal overlap) prevalence and measure the size of the physiological diastemata. Results were analyzed in relation to age, sex, and lineage. Another aim of this study was to develop a simple field technique for measuring incisor malocclusion and physiological diastemata dimensions that could be used to monitor the growth of the rostral components of maxilla, incisive bone, and mandible. The overall prev...
Development and evaluation of the internal-controlled real-time PCR assay for Rhodococcus equi detection in various clinical specimens. Rhodococcus equi is the causative agent of rhodococcosis in horses, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality in foals. This bacterium has also been isolated from a variety of animals and is being increasingly reported as a cause of infection in humans, mainly in immunosuppressed individuals. Laboratory diagnostics of R. equi infections based only on conventional microbiological methods shows low accuracy and can lead to misidentification. The objective of the study was to develop and evaluate a real-time PCR assay for direct detection of R. equi in various clinical specimens, including...
Phosphorus digestibility and phytate degradation by yearlings and mature horses. Inorganic P is often added to growing horse diets because organic P, or phytate-P, is believed to have lower digestibility. If horses can efficiently digest organic P, then the need for inorganic P may be reduced. Much of the P in grain-based concentrates fed to growing horses is in the form of phytate-P. Little is known about the ability of growing horses to degrade phytate-P or whether horse age affects mineral digestion in horses. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of age on P, Ca, and Mg digestibility as well as phytate-P degradation. Four yearling geldings and 4 mature ...
Induction of follicular luteinization by equine chorionic gonadotropin in cyclic guinea pigs. The effects of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) on follicular development and ovulation in cyclic guinea pigs were investigated by histological and immunohistochemical analyses. Three groups of guinea pigs (n=12) were administrated subcutaneously with saline, 20 or 50 IU of eCG, respectively, on cyclic Day 12 (Day 1=vaginal openings). Ovaries were collected at 4 and 8 d after administration (6 animals per group each time). The eCG administration induced significant and distinct morphological changes in the ovaries, as it promoted the luteinization of granulosa cells, but not follicular deve...
An Investigation of Equine Mesenchymal Stem Cell Characteristics from Different Harvest Sites: More Similar Than Not. Diseases of the musculoskeletal system are a major cause of loss of use and retirement in sport horses. The use of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMDMSCs) for healing of traumatized tissue has gained substantial favor in clinical settings and can assist healing and tissue regeneration in orthopedic injuries. There are two common sites of harvest of BMDMSCs, the sternum and the ilium. Our objective was to determine if any differences exist in BMDMSCs acquired from the sternum and the ilium. We compared the two harvest sites in their propensity to undergo multilineage differentiatio...
Design and testing of multiplex RT-PCR primers for the rapid detection of influenza A virus genomic segments: Application to equine influenza virus. The avian influenza A virus causes respiratory infections in animal species. It can undergo genomic recombination with newly obtained genetic material through an interspecies transmission. However, the process is an unpredictable event, making it difficult to predict the emergence of a new pandemic virus and distinguish its origin, especially when the virus is the result of multiple infections. Therefore, identifying a novel influenza is entirely dependent on sequencing its whole genome. Occasionally, however, it can be time-consuming, costly, and labor-intensive when sequencing many influenza...
Metalloproteinases and Their Tissue Inhibitors in Comparison between Different Chronic Pneumopathies in the Horse. In chronic respiratory disease, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute to pathological tissue destruction when expressed in excess, while tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) counteract MMPs with overexpression leading to fibrosis formation. They may be out of balance in equine pneumopathies and serve as biomarkers of pulmonary inflammation. We hypothesized that MMPs and TIMPs correlate to clinical findings and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology in different equine chronic pneumopathies. Using a scoring system, 61 horses were classified controls as free of respiratory diseas...
Population Variation Reveals Independent Selection toward Small Body Size in Chinese Debao Pony. Body size, one of the most important quantitative traits under evolutionary scrutiny, varies considerably among species and among populations within species. Revealing the genetic basis underlying this variation is very important, particularly in humans where there is a close relationship with diseases and in domestic animals as the selective patterns are associated with improvements in production traits. The Debao pony is a horse breed with small body size that is unique to China; however, it is unknown whether the size-related candidate genes identified in Western breeds also account for the...
Early pregnancy in the horse revisited – does exception prove the rule? Early equine pregnancy shares many features with that of more intensively assessed domestic animals species, but there are also characteristic differences. Some of those are poorly understood. Descent of the equine conceptus into the uterine lumen occurs at day 5 to 6 after ovulation but is only possible when the embryo secretes prostaglandin E2. Although maintenance of equine pregnancy probably involves secretion of a conceptus derived anti-luteolytic factor, this agent has not been identified. Rapid growth, conceptus mobility and presence of an acellular capsule at the time of maternal recog...
Neonatal Care and Management of Foals Derived by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. There are few reports on the birth of foals resulting from equine adult somatic cell nuclear transfer (NT). On evaluation of reports of 28 live-born adult somatic-cell NT (clone) foals, 3 died within 2 weeks of birth of complications. Approximately 50 % of all reported cloned foals had complications, some requiring aggressive supportive care. The most common abnormalities reported were neonatal maladjustment syndrome, enlarged umbilical remnant, and angular deformity of the forelimbs, similar to problems described in cloned cattle. In contrast, large offspring syndrome and gross abnormalities ...
Multiple etiologies of equine recurrent uveitis–A natural model for human autoimmune uveitis: A brief review. Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) has various etiologies, with Leptospira infection and genetic predisposition being the leading risk factors. Regardless of etiology, expression of ocular proteins associated with maintenance of the blood-ocular barrier is impaired in ERU. The recurring-remitting cycle of ERU repeatedly disrupts the blood-ocular barrier, allowing the previously immune-privileged ocular environment to become the site of a progressive local autoimmune pathology that ultimately results in tissue destruction and vision loss. The immune-mediated process involves humoral and cellular me...
Effect of Obesity on the Preovulatory Follicle and Lipid Fingerprint of Equine Oocytes. Obesity is associated with disrupted reproductive cycles in mares, but the impact of obesity on follicles and oocytes has received minimal attention. We investigated the impact of obesity on 1) expression of selected genes in follicle cells for carbohydrate metabolism, inflammatory cytokines, lipid homeostasis, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and mitochondrial function; 2) follicular fluid content of metabolic hormones and metabolites; and 3) lipid fingerprint of oocytes. Mares (9-13 yr) were classified as control (n = 8, normal weight, body condition score [BCS] 5.1, 10.4% body fat) or obese (n...
First record of Megaselia scalaris (LOEW) (DIPTERA: PHORIDAE) infesting a spinose ear tick, Otobius megnini, colony in Sri Lanka. Megaselia scalaris (Loew) is a cosmopolitan polyphagous small fly with the ability of exploiting variety of ecological niches. Different life history stages act as detritivore, parasite, and parasitoid of wider spectrum of plant and animal matter under natural and laboratory conditions. Here, for the first time we present the opportunistic parasitism of M. scalaris on Otobius megnini, which act as a vector of Q fever and is capable of causing paralysis, toxic conditions, otoacariasis and otitis in humans and other animals. Tick samples from the ear canals of 14 thoroughbred horses were brought...
Effect of firocoxib on cyclooxygenase 2, microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase 1, and cytosolic phospholipase A2 gene expression in equine mononuclear cells. To validate primer sets for use in reverse transcription quantitative PCR assays to measure gene expression of cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) and microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase 1 (mPGES1) in equine mononuclear cells and determine the effects of firocoxib, a selective cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) inhibitor, on COX-2, cPLA2, and mPGES1 gene expression following incubation of mononuclear cells with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Methods: 8 healthy adult horses. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated by density gradient centrifugation and incubated at 37°C with medium alone, f...
Cytological evaluation of tracheal aspirate and broncho-alveolar lavage fluid in comparison to endoscopic assessment of lower airways in horses with recurrent airways obstruction or inflammatory airway disease. The aim of the present study was to compare the grade of discharge accumulation in the tracheal lumen, area of tracheal bifurcation, main bronchi and the tracheal septum thickness with the cytology of the tracheal aspirate (TA) and broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in horses with recurrent airways obstruction and inflammatory airway disease from those horses. This study was conducted on 96 horses with RAO, 139 horses with IAD and 10 control horses. In all the horses, both clinical and endoscopic examinations were performed. During endoscopy, a score of mucus accumulation was estimated in 3/...
Clinical features and management of equine post operative ileus (POI): Survey of Diplomates of the American Colleges of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM), Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) and Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ACVECC). A recent survey of European Colleges (European College of Equine Internal Medicine [ECEIM] and European College of Veterinary Surgeons [ECVS]) revealed the different strategies implemented by, and some of the challenges facing, European clinicians presented with cases of post operative ileus (POI). It was concluded that further comparative analysis of opinions, canvassed from additional colleges of equine veterinary specialism worldwide, would provide valuable additional insight into current POI knowledge on a more global scale. Objective: To report and compare the current strategies favoured ...
Leukocyte modifications during the first month after foaling in mares and their newborn foals. During early post-partum period both neonatal foals and peripartum mares are most susceptible to diseases. The aim of this study was to establish physiologic modifications of leukogram during the first month after foaling in mares and their newborn foals. To this end blood samples were collected from nine mares and nine foals (T0-T10), every three days from the 1st day until the 30th day after foaling. Samples were analysed for white blood cell (WBC) count and differential leucocyte counts. Two-way repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed, in postpartum mares WBC showed significant...
Molecular detection of Anaplasma sp. and Ehrlichia sp. in ticks collected in domestical animals, Colombia. Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species are important tick-borne pathogens that cause disease in cattle, dogs, horses and humans; with little information available about these agents in Colombia. The aim of this study was to provide molecular evidence for the presence of Anaplasma sp. and Ehrlichia sp. species in ticks collected from horses, dogs and cattle in Cordoba, Colombia. In this study, 1.105 ticks were removed from 226 zebu cattle (Bos indicus), 87 dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and 19 horses (Equus caballus), from different localities of Cordoba. Ticks were identified taxonomically and PCR ass...
Comparison of limb loading and movement of Icelandic horses while tölting and trotting at equal speeds. To compare gait mechanics and limb loading in Icelandic horses tölting and trotting at equal speeds and estimate their impact on orthopedic health. Methods: 12 orthopedically normal Icelandic horses. PROCEDURES Kinetic and kinematic gait variables were simultaneously recorded as each horse was ridden at a tölt and trot on an instrumented treadmill at 3.4 m/s and 3.9 m/s. Differences between gaits were tested via 1-factor repeated-measures ANOVA. Results: Horses had a higher stride rate and lower stride impulses at a tölt than at a trot. For forelimbs at a tölt, shorter relative stance dura...
Prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibody in domestic horses in Japan. The present study is the first report that investigated the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in domestic horses in various prefectures of Japan and analyzed risk factors for seropositivity. We performed a latex agglutination test for riding/racing horses from 11 prefectures in Japan (783 samples) and 4 groups of Japanese native horses (254 samples). The total seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii antibody in horses examined in this study was 4.24% (44/1037). As for riding/racing horses, we did not find a statistically different T. gondii seroprevalence between sampling prefectures. In ...
Oviposition site selection by Gasterophilus pecorum (Diptera: Gasterophilidae) in its habitat in Kalamaili Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China. Oviposition site selection is an important aspect of the behavioural ecology of insects. A comparison of the habitats used by a species enhances our understanding of their adaptation to altered environments. We collected data on the oviposition behaviours of Gasterophilus pecorum (Diptera: Gasterophilidae) in its habitat in Kalamaili Nature Reserve (KNR), Xinjiang, China between March and October 2014. We found 91 quadrats were used by G. pecorum for oviposition. Examining 13 ecological factors using the t-test, chi-square test, and principal component analysis showed that G. pecorum's oviposi...
The longitudinal effect of a multi-strain probiotic on the intestinal bacterial microbiota of neonatal foals. The microbiota plays a key role in health and disease. Probiotics are a potential way to therapeutically modify the intestinal microbiota and prevent disease. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of probiotics on the bacterial microbiota of foals during and after administration. Methods: Randomised placebo controlled field trial. Methods: Thirty-eight healthy neonatal foals enrolled in a previous study were selected. The foals had received a multi-strain probiotic (four Lactobacillus spp. 3-4 × 10 colony-forming units (cfu)/g each, Bifidobacterium animalis spp. lact...
Defining the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome in Equine Neonates. Defining and describing the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis facilitated recognition and investigation of the complex disease processes involving the host response to infection and trauma. Over the years a variety of definitions of SIRS have been examined and applied to numerous research studies to improve critical care in both human and veterinary clinical practice. This article summarizes the history of the development of the SIRS definition, outlines the pathophysiologic processes that are involved in SIRS, and provides a specific definition for use in foal medicine...
The Normal and Abnormal Equine Neonatal Musculoskeletal System. The first weeks of life are critical in many aspects, and the musculoskeletal system is no exception. Being able to stand and nurse within hours of life is necessary for survival. Laxity, flexural deformities, and skeletal immaturity can all make it difficult for neonates to ambulate. The increased vascularity to bones and cartilage mixed with the newly forming immune system also make neonates susceptible to infections that we rarely see in adult animals. This article concentrates on orthopedic conditions seen in the first 2 weeks of life.
The Equine Neonatal Central Nervous System: Development and Diseases. Neonatal encephalopathy is the most common neurologic condition affecting newborn foals and shares similarities with perinatal asphyxia syndrome of human infants. In many cases of neonatal encephalopathy there is no obvious episode of acute or chronic hypoxia and other mechanisms likely play a role in the pathogenesis. Increased concentrations of neuroactive progestagens are found in affected foals; whether these molecules are protective, as has been suggested, or play a role in the pathogenesis is unknown. Neurologic diseases other than neonatal encephalopathy affect foals occasionally and sh...
Oral creatine supplementation on performance of Quarter Horses used in barrel racing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral creatine supplementation on the athletic performance of equines used for barrel racing. Ten healthy Quarter Horses, or Quarter Horse crossbred, weighing 429.7 ± 25.3 kg and with mean age of 3.8 ± 1.2 years, were used. Animals were evaluated in four different moments (M1, M2, M3, M4), and between M3 and M4, they were supplemented with 28 g of creatine/100 kg of body weight, orally, for 45 days. Although significant alterations for LDH activity, plasma glucose and packed cell volume were observed, it was possible to conclude th...
Comparing the effect of modeled climatic variables on the distribution of African horse sickness in South Africa and Namibia. Africa horse sickness (AHS) is a lethal disease of horses with a seasonal occurrence that is influenced by environmental conditions that favor the development of Culicoides midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). This study compared and evaluated the relationship of various modeled climatic variables with the distribution and abundance of AHS in South Africa and Namibia. A comprehensive literature review of the historical AHS reported data collected from the Windhoek archives as well as annual reports from the Directorate of Veterinary services in Namibia were conducted. South African AHS reported ...
