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.
Almeida da Silveira E, Levasseur A, Lacourt M, Elce Y, Petit Y.To compare the biomechanical properties of a hybrid locking compression plate (LCP) construct with the compression screw technique as a treatment for transverse mid-body proximal sesamoid bone fractures. Methods: Ten paired forelimbs from abattoir horses were used. The medial proximal sesamoid bone of each limb was osteotomized transversely and randomly assigned, to either repair with a two-hole 3.5 mm LCP or a 4.5 mm cortical screw placed in lag fashion. Each limb was tested biomechanically by axial loading in single cycle until failure. The point of failure was evaluated from the load-displa...
Seo JP, Tsuzuki N, Haneda S, Yamada K, Furuoka H, Tabata Y, Sasaki N.Fracture is one of the most life-threatening injuries in horses. Fracture repair is often associated with unsatisfactory outcomes and is associated with a high incidence of complications. This study aimed to evaluate the osteogenic effects of gelatin/β-tricalcium phosphate (GT) sponges loaded with different concentrations/ratios of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in an equine bone defect model. Seven thoroughbred horses were used in this study. Eight bone defects were created in the third metatarsal bones of each horse. Then, eight treatments, namely con...
Sabbagh M, Danvy S, Ricard A.Genetic parameters and environmental factors were estimated for foaling ease (FE) and stillbirths (SBs) in four breeds of draft horses based on 11 229, 38 877, 35 764 and 13 274 FE and SB scores recorded between 1998 and 2010 for Ardennais (A), Breton (B), Comtois (C) and Percheron (P), respectively. Incidences for the three FE categories were: easy or without help 91.0% (A) to 95.4% (B), difficult 3.4% (B) to 7.1% (A) and intervention of a veterinarian 1.1% (B) to 1.9% (A). The frequency of SB ranged between 5.4% (B) and 9.4% (A). A multiple-trait threshold animal model was used that included...
Easley JT, Hendrickson DA.Equine standing surgery and laparoscopy are becoming increasingly important aspects of equine surgery. Laparoscopic advancements lag behind the human medical field, mainly due to decreased access to appropriate training and instrumentation. It is nearly impossible to cover the topic of equine standing surgery without discussing advances in laparoscopy, because without such advances, equine standing surgery lacks potential for forward progress. Although novel standing techniques continue to be published, the addition of minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques adds an entirely new dimension a...
Morrell JM, Klein C, Lundeheim N, Erol E, Troedsson MH.Bacteria (environmental contaminants and occasionally potential pathogens) are found in most stallion ejaculates and may negatively affect sperm quality during storage. Since the use of antibiotics can lead to the development of resistance, an alternative means of microbial control is desirable. The removal of bacteria from stallion semen using Single Layer Centrifugation through Androcoll-E was investigated. Known doses of cultured bacteria were added to freshly collected ejaculates (15mL aliquots) before processing by Single Layer Centrifugation. The resulting sperm pellets and controls (not...
Fornal A, Radko A, Piestrzyńska-Kajtoch A.Short tandem repeat (STR) loci, i.e. microsatellites are a class of genetic markers commonly used for population studies and parentage control. This study determined the usefulness of microsatellite markers recommended by International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) for identification and pedigree analysis in horses based on the example of Polish Hucul horse population (Equus caballus). The set of seventeen microsatellites loci was tested (AHT4, AHT5, ASB2, HMS2, HMS3, HMS6, HMS7, HTG10, HTG4, HTG6, HTG7, VHL20, ASB17, ASB23, CA425, HMS1, LEX3) for 216 individuals. All samples were genotyp...
Schulman M, Becker A, Ganswindt S, Guthrie A, Stout T, Ganswindt A.Validation of a method for the minimally-invasive measurement of physiological stress will help understanding of risk factors that may contribute to stress-associated events including recrudescence of Equid herpesvirus (EHV), which is anecdotally associated with sales consignment of pregnant Thoroughbred mares. In this study we compared two similar groups of late-gestation Thoroughbred broodmares on the same farm: a consigned Sales group (N = 8) and a non-consigned Control group (N = 6). The Sales mares were separated from their paddock companions and grouped prior to their preparation...
Wong JK, Wan TS.Doping(1) in sports is highly detrimental, not only to the athletes involved but to the sport itself as well as to the confidence of the spectators and other participants. To protect the integrity of any sport, there must be in place an effective doping control program. In human sports, a 'top-down' and generally unified approach is taken where the rules and regulations against doping for the majority of elite sport events held in any country are governed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). However, in horseracing, there is no single organisation regulating this form of equestrian sport; i...
O'Donnell MM, Harris HM, O'Toole PW, Ross RP.We report the draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus equi strain DPC6820, isolated from equine feces. L. equi is a predominant Lactobacillus species in the horse hindgut microbiota. An examination of the genome identified genes and enzymes highlighting L. equi adaptations to the herbivorous gastrointestinal tract of the horse, including fructan hydrolases. This genome sequence may help us further understand the microbial ecology of the equine hindgut and the influence lactobacilli have on it.
de Brot S, Junge H, Hilbe M.Two horses were presented with non-specific clinical signs of several weeks' duration and were humanely destroyed due to a poor prognosis. At necropsy examination, both horses had multiple small, white nodules replacing pancreatic tissue and involving the serosal surface of the abdominal cavity, the liver and the lung. Microscopically, neoplastic cells were organized in acini and contained abundant (case 1) or sparse (horse 2) intracytoplasmic zymogen granules. Immunohistochemically, both tumours expressed amylase and pan-cytokeratin, but not insulin or neuron-specific enolase. In case 2, a lo...
Mack JK, Remler HP, Senckenberg E, Kienzle E.Two groups of Warmblood foals from the Bavarian federal stud participated in the study beginning from the age of approximately 6 months. The foals were offered a late 1st cut of haylage, oats and foal starter feed. For 2 months after weaning, group 'R' (15 foals) received an amount of oats to provide a total digestible energy supply meeting the recommendations of the German Society of Nutrition Physiology (GfE), whereas the other group 'A' (16 foals) was offered a higher amount of oats (surplus of approximately 1.3 kg/animal/day). Concentrates were fed individually twice daily; total daily ...
Thomas KC, Hamilton NA, North KN, Houweling PJ.The sarcomeric α-actinins, encoded by the genes ACTN2 and ACTN3, are major structural components of the Z-line and have high sequence similarity. α-Actinin-2 is present in all skeletal muscle fibres, while α-actinin-3 has developed specialized expression in only type 2 (fast, glycolytic) fibres. A common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the human ACTN3 gene (R577X) has been found to influence muscle performance in elite athletes and the normal population. For this reason, equine ACTN3 (eACTN3) is considered to be a possible candidate that may influence horse performance. In this stud...
Peregrine AS, Molento MB, Kaplan RM, Nielsen MK.Parascaris equorum and cyathostomins are currently considered the most important parasites of horses and have traditionally been controlled with anthelmintics belonging to three drug classes: benzimidazoles, the tetrahydropyrimidine pyrantel, and macrocyclic lactones. Unfortunately, resistance to benzimidazoles, and to a lesser extent pyrantel, is widespread in cyathostomins around the world. Furthermore, resistance to macrocyclic lactones appears to be in the early stages of development in cyathostomins in multiple locations. In contrast, P. equorum populations have remained susceptible to th...
McMichael M, Goggs R, Smith S, Wagg C, Warman S, Wiinberg B.To systematically examine the evidence on system comparability between the thromboelastography and the rotational thromboelastometry viscoelastic point-of-care instruments and to identify knowledge gaps. Methods: Standardized, systematic evaluation of the literature, categorization of relevant articles according to level of evidence and quality, and development of consensus on conclusions for application of the concepts to clinical practice. Methods: Academic and referral veterinary medical centers. Results: Medline via PubMed, CAB abstracts, and Google Scholar were searched. A total of 8 rele...
Gambini A, Jarazo J, Karlanian F, De Stéfano A, Salamone DF.The current limitations for obtaining ovaries from slaughterhouses and the low efficiency of in vivo follicular aspiration necessitate a complete understanding of the variables that affect oocyte developmental competence in the equine. For this reason, we assessed the effect on equine oocyte meiotic competence and the subsequent in vitro cloned embryo development of 1) the time interval between ovary collection and the onset of oocyte in vitro maturation (collection-maturation interval time) and 2) the pregnancy status of the donor mares. To define the collection-maturation interval time, coll...
Todhunter KH, Cawdell-Smith AJ, Bryden WL, Perkins NR, Begg AP.Pregnant mares were experimentally exposed to whole caterpillar or exoskeleton of the Processionary caterpillar (Ochrogaster lunifer) via gavage. Tissues were collected from resulting abortions and near or full-term pregnancies consisting of 13 aborted fetuses, 3 fetuses from treated euthanized mares, membranes of 5 foals, and organs from 3 foals. Three control membranes and 1 control fetus and membranes were examined. Caterpillar setal fragments were present in the allantochorion of the 3 fetuses from the euthanized mares and 11 of 12 aborted fetuses (92%) embedded in the chorion (villi or st...
De Schauwer C, Goossens K, Piepers S, Hoogewijs MK, Govaere JL, Smits K, Meyer E, Van Soom A, Van de Walle GR.Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been extensively studied for their promising capabilities in regenerative medicine. Although bone marrow is the best-known source for isolating equine MSCs, non-invasive alternative sources such as umbilical cord blood (UCB), umbilical cord matrix (UCM), and peripheral blood (PB) have also been reported. Methods: Equine MSCs from three non-invasive alternative sources were isolated from six individual mares (PB) and their foals (UCB and UCM) at parturition. To minimize inter-horse variability, the samples from the three sources were matched within the same...
Ledbetter EC, Irby NL, Schaefer DM.To describe in vivo corneal confocal microscopy of horses with microscopic corneal foreign bodies and to correlate findings with clinical, cytological, and histopathologic evaluations of clinical cases and foreign body morphologies observed in vitro with the confocal microscope. Methods: Five horses with microscopic corneal foreign bodies. Methods: Sedated and anesthetized horses were examined with a modified Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II and Rostock Cornea Module. Confocal microscopy images were compared with images from cytologic and histopathologic corneal samples. To establish microscopic...
Bosshard S, Gerber V.It is often assumed that horses with mild respiratory clinical signs, such as mucous nasal discharge and occasional coughing, have an increased risk of developing recurrent airway obstruction (RAO). Objective: Compared to horses without any clinical signs of respiratory disease, those with occasional coughing, mucous nasal discharge, or both have an increased risk of developing signs of RAO (frequent coughing, increased breathing effort, exercise intolerance, or a combination of these) as characterized by the Horse Owner Assessed Respiratory Signs Index (HOARSI 1-4). Methods: Two half-sibling ...
Oosterlinck M, Royaux E, Back W, Pille F.Thus far, pressure-plate analysis has been limited to measurements on a hard surface, whereas equine athletes routinely perform on a deformable substrate. Objective: To explore pressure-plate analysis on arena footing. Methods: Nonrandomised crossover study using noninvasive techniques. Methods: Five sound, unshod ponies were walked and trotted over a pressure plate in 2 different conditions. In the first session, the plate was covered with only a 5 mm rubber mat, and in the second session, with an additional 50 mm layer of sand and synthetic fibres. Limb loading and timing variables (peak...
Mohanty N, Gulati BR, Kumar R, Gera S, Kumar P, Somasundaram RK, Kumar S.Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from umbilical cord blood (UCB) in equines have not been well characterized with respect to the expression of pluripotency and mesenchymal markers and for tenogenic differentiation potential in vitro. The plastic adherent fibroblast-like cells isolated from 13 out of 20 UCB samples could proliferate till passage 20. The cells expressed pluripotency markers (OCT4, NANOG, and SOX2) and MSC surface markers (CD90, CD73, and CD105) by RT-PCR, but did not express CD34, CD45, and CD14. On immunocytochemistry, the isolated cells showed expression of CD90 and CD73...
Co C, Vickaryous MK, Koch TG.Ongoing research is aimed at increasing cartilage tissue yield and quality from multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) for the purpose of treating cartilage damage in horses. Low oxygen culture has been shown to enhance chondrogenesis, and novel membrane culture has been proposed to increase tissue yield and homogeneity. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the effect of reduced oxygen and membrane culture during in vitro chondrogenesis of equine cord blood (CB) MSC. Methods: CB-MSC (n = 5 foals) were expanded at 21% oxygen prior to 3-week differentiation in membrane or...
Dadaci M, Gundeslioğlu AO, Ince B, Altuntas Z.Total or subtotal amputation of the external ear related to horse bite is an uncommon situation. In our case, we report successful microsurgical revascularization of almost totally amputated ear of a 75-year-old male patient caused by a horse bite.
van Loon JP, Jonckheer-Sheehy VS, Back W, van Weeren PR, Hellebrekers LJ.Recognition and management of equine pain have been studied extensively in recent decades and this has led to significant advances. However, there is still room for improvement in the ability to identify and treat pain in horses that have undergone emergency gastrointestinal surgery. This study assessed the validity and clinical application of the composite pain scale (CPS) in horses after emergency gastrointestinal surgery. Composite pain scores were determined every 4h over 3 days following emergency gastrointestinal surgery in 48 horses. Inter-observer reliability was determined and another...
Dohmen PM, da Costa F, Lopes SV, Vilani R, Bloch O, Konertz W.In the past, successful use of decellularized xenogenic tissue was shown in the pulmonary circulation. This study, however, evaluates a newly developed decellularized equine pericardial patch under high pressure circumstances. Methods: Seven decellularized equine pericardial scaffolds were implanted into the descending aorta of the juvenile sheep. The implanted patches were oversized to evaluate the durability of the decellularized tissue under high surface tension (Law of Laplace). After 4 months of implantation, all decellularized patches were inspected by gross examination, light microscopy...
Bertuglia A, Bullone M, Rossotto F, Gasparini M.There is a substantial paucity of studies concerning musculoskeletal injuries in harness Standardbred racehorses. Specifically, little is known about the epidemiology of exercise-related musculoskeletal injuries. Most studies on this subject involve Thoroughbred racehorses, whose biomechanics and racing speed differ from Standardbred, making comparisons difficult. Here, a population of Standardbred racehorses trained at the same racecourse was studied over four years and a classification system for exercise-related musculoskeletal injuries was designed. The incidence rates of musculoskeletal i...
Niemelä T, Virén T, Liukkonen J, Argüelles D, te Moller NC, Puhakka PH, Jurvelin JS, Tulamo RM, Töyräs J.Arthroscopy is widely used in various equine joints for diagnostic and surgical purposes. However, accuracy of defining the extent of cartilage lesions and reproducibility in grading of lesions are not optimal. Therefore, there is a need for new, more quantitative arthroscopic methods. Arthroscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging is a promising tool introduced for quantitative detection of cartilage degeneration and scoring of the severity of chondral lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter-investigator agreement and inter-method agreement in grading cartilage lesio...
Singha H, Goyal SK, Malik P, Singh RK.Thermostabilizing effect of heavy water (D2O) or deuterium oxide has been demonstrated previously on several enzymes and vaccines like oral poliovirus vaccine and influenza virus vaccine. In view of the above observations, effect of heavy water on in situ thermostabilization of recombinant p26 protein on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for serodiagnosis of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) infection was investigated in the present study. The carbonate-bicarbonate coating buffer was prepared in 60% and 80% D2O for coating the p26 protein in 96-well ELISA plate and thermal stabilit...
Wolf D, Hermosilla C, Taubert A.Whilst anthelminthic resistance of small strongyles is well documented, anthelmintic failures against infections with Oxyuris equi have scarcely been published so far. We describe two cases of equine oxyurosis and the anthelminthic failure of macrocyclic lactones (moxidectin, ivermectin) resulting in persistent O. equi infections with continuous egg shedding. The horses were kept in two different herds in the federal state of Hessia, Germany. Herd A kept two geldings: an 8-year-old Welsh-Cob-Mix and a 7-year-old Haflinger. Herd B was composed of four animals: 2 Connemara-mares, 31 and 19 years...
Olaciregui M, Gil L, Montón A, Luño V, Jerez RA, Martí JI.Any event that makes semen collection or mating impossible, such as death, castration, or injury, may terminate a stallion's breeding career. Fortunately, stallion sperm which are capable of fertilization can be harvested from the epididymis, and frozen for future use. However, the fertility of frozen-thawed epididymal sperm has been found to be lower than that of ejaculated sperm. Therefore, this study aimed to optimize the fertility of frozen epididymal stallion sperm by investigating the effects of different cryoprotectants and freezing protocols on sperm quality. Dimethylformamide was test...
Mukaratirwa S, Munjere IF, Takawira M, Chingwena G.Gastrodiscosis outbreaks due to Gastrodiscus aegyptiacus were recorded in horses in the vicinity of Harare, Zimbabwe, in the absence of Bulinus forskalii, B. senegalensis and Cleopatra sp. which are considered to be the only intermediate host snails. This suggested the possibility of other snail species acting as intermediate hosts in the life cycle of the trematode. A study was carried out to determine the susceptibility of 7 freshwater snail species to infection with G. aegyptiacus. First generation (F-1) of 5 freshwater pulmonate snail species, Bulinus tropicus, Bulinus globosus, Biomphalar...
Di Francesco P, Cajon P, Desterke C, Perron Lepage MF, Lataillade JJ, Kadri T, Lepage OM.To assess the clinical value and safety of the application of allogeneic equine oral mucosa mesenchymal stromal cells (OM-MSCs) to wounds. Animals. 8 healthy adult horses without front limb skin lesions or musculoskeletal disease. Procedures. Stem cells were isolated from the oral mucosa of a donor horse. Horses were subjected to the creation of eight full-thickness cutaneous wounds, two on each distal forelimb (FL) and two on both sides of the thorax (TH). Each wound was subjected to one out of four treatments: no medication (T1), hyaluronic acid- (HA-) gel containing OM-MSC (T2), HA-gel cont...
Ranner W, Gerhards H, Klee W.There is a regularly high proportion of x-ray findings indicating a pathological deterioration of the equine vertebral column which do not correlate with the clinical symptoms. Therefore, palpation remains one of the most important clinical examination methods to determine whether or not a horse is suffering from back pain. The aim of this study was to check the validity of palpation results of horses with an assumed back problem. The palpation results of 167 horses were evaluated in retrospect: If the palpation proceeds under following conditions, positive palpation results agree with an prim...
Platt H.A series of 10 haemorrhagic polyps of the equine nasal cavity is described. The lesions show haematoma formation, abundant haemosiderin in macrophages and giant cells, and organising fibrous tissue. In one case, angiomatoid lesions were observed in the mucous membrane of the paranasal sinuses and it is suggested that some haemorrhagic nasal polyps may originate from pre-existing haemangiomatous areas in the respiratory mucosa.
Jasiński T, Zdrojkowski Ł, Kautz E, Juszczuk-Kubiak E, Ferreira-Dias G, Domino M.Endometritis is an important issue decreasing mares' fertility. In the case of endometritis, both inflammatory cells infiltration and proinflammatory molecules production are regulated by various cellular and gene regulatory mechanisms, including the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-dependent pathway. NF-κB-signalling pathway has been recently studied in the equine endometrium in the context of endometrosis. Thus, this study aimed to determine gene transcription of NF-κB subunits (RelA; NF-κB1; NF-κB2), proinflammatory molecules (MCP-1; IL-6) and hyaluronan synthases (HAS 1; HAS 2; HAS 3) in en...
Jennings MW, Boime I, Daphna-Iken D, Jablonka-Shariff A, Conley AJ, Colgin M, Bidstrup LA, Meyers-Brown GA, Famula TR, Roser JF.The efficacy of a recently engineered single chain recombinant equine follicle stimulating hormone (reFSH) was investigated in estrous cycling mares whose gonadotropins and follicular activity had been suppressed by concurrent treatment with progesterone and estradiol (P&E). Time of estrus was synchronized in 15 estrous cycling mares during the breeding season with prostaglandins F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)). The day after ovulation, mares were treated once daily with P&E for 14 days. Mares received a second injection of PGF(2alpha) on day 6 of the synchronized estrous cycle to induce luteolysis. O...
Young LE, Blissitt KJ, Bartram DH, Clutton RE, Molony V, Jones RS.In order to determine if transoesophageal Doppler echocardiography could be used to estimate cardiac output in anaesthetized horses, we have compared the technique with estimations of cardiac output by thermodilution in eight healthy adult thoroughbreds. Measurements of aortic blood flow velocity were made by high pulse repetition frequency (HPRF) and continuous wave (CW) Doppler echocardiography from a 3.5-MHz transoesophageal probe. Cardiac output was increased during the study by administration of dobutamine, providing a range of cardiac output measurements by thermodilution from 15.0 to 64...
Fredricson I, Drevemo S, Dalin G, Hjertén G, Björne K, Rynde R, Franzen G.A treadmill for equine locomotion analysis is described and its potential considered for locomotive research and clinical investigation. The treadmill comprised an endless belt driven by a hydraulic motor at various speeds up to 14 m/sec and the direction of belt movement was reversible. The carrying side of the belt ran over a steel-concrete table which acted as a flat support. The belt itself consisted of a steel base on to which was glued a rubber belt and the surface was covered with a layer of coir matting which permitted some forward sliding of the landing hooves simulating the condition...
Hellings IR, Ekman S, Hultenby K, Dolvik NI, Olstad K.Cartilage canals have been shown to contain discontinuous blood vessels that enable circulating bacteria to bind to cartilage matrix, leading to vascular occlusion and associated pathological changes in pigs and chickens. It is also inconsistently reported that cartilage canals are surrounded by a cellular or acellular wall that may influence whether bacterial binding can occur. It is not known whether equine cartilage canals contain discontinuous endothelium or are surrounded by a wall. This study aimed to examine whether there were discontinuities in the endothelium of cartilage canal vessel...
Vitale V, Sgorbini M, Cuteri V, Preziuso S, Attili AR, Bonelli F.The distinction between lower respiratory tract infections caused by Rhodococcus equi and those caused by other pathogens is difficult. The aim of this retrospective study was to describe cytological findings in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of foals with pneumonia caused by R. equi or other bacteria. Nineteen foals aged from 3 weeks to 6 months with evidence of respiratory disease between 2015 and 2016 were selected from the database of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital "Mario Modenato" of the University of Pisa. Eight foals of 19 (42.1%) had R. equi pneumonia, whereas 11 of 19 (57.9...
Open life sciencesSeptember 26, 2022
Volume 17, Issue 1 1269-1281 doi: 10.1515/biol-2022-0487
Pan J, Purev C, Zhao H, Zhang Z, Wang F, Wendoule N, Qi G, Liu Y, Zhou H.The Mongolian horses have excellent endurance and stress resistance to adapt to the cold and harsh plateau conditions. Intraspecific genetic diversity is mainly embodied in various genetic advantages of different branches of the Mongolian horse. Since people pay progressive attention to the athletic performance of horse, we expect to guide the exercise-oriented breeding of horses through genomics research. We obtained the clean data of 630,535,376,400 bp through the entire genome second-generation sequencing for the whole blood of four Abaga horses and ten Wushen horses. Based on the data an...
Gerber V, Kaiser-Thom S, Oesch S.Equine pastern dermatitis (EPD) is a nonspecific cutaneous reaction pattern on the distal extremities, typically in the palmar/plantar area of the pastern. Although EPD is commonly seen in equine practice and can be a debilitating condition, peer-reviewed original studies on many aspects of this multifactorial syndrome are still scarce. This narrative review aims to give an overview of the clinical presentation (forms of EPD and clinical scores and differential diagnoses), risk factors, and therapeutic approaches. The emphasis is on intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors as most of the original ...
Brown PJ, Clayton HM.The pathological changes associated with the migration through the liver of P. equorum larvae were investigated. Twenty pony foals were killed at intervals of 2 to 185 days after a single infection with 160 or 8000 P. equorum eggs and 4 pony foals were killed at intervals of 94 to 144 days after twice weekly infections of 50 eggs from birth. At post-mortem examination the macroscopic changes included the development of focal haemorrhages and small, white diffuse or nodular lesions.
Microscopic lesions were found mainly around the portal triads and consisted of infiltration by cells, including...
Santosuosso E, Leguillette R, Vinardell T, Filho S, Massie S, McCrae P, Johnson S, Rolian C, David F.Swimming is used for rehabilitation and conditioning purposes in equine sports medicine. We described the swimming kinematics of the equine forelimbs in Part 1. The aim of Part 2 is to assess stifle, tarsus, and hind fetlock joints kinematics in swimming horses. The objectives were 1- to calculate and compare joint angles during swimming against passive mobilizations (PM), 2- to determine joints angular velocities during a swimming stride cycle. Methods: Eleven elite endurance horses were used to swim in a 100-meter straight pool. Underwater (swimming) and overground PM videos were recorded fr...
Slocombe JO, McCraw BM.Twelve pony foals were reared worm-free and inoculated with Strongylus vulgaris. On day 7 after inoculation, 6 ponies were given ivermectin IM at a dose of 200 micrograms/kg of body weight and on day 28 were necropsied. Ivermectin was effective in eliminating early 4th-stage S vulgaris larvae and reducing clinical signs associated with acute arteritis. After administrative ivermectin was effective against early 4th-stage Strongylus vulgaris larvae in ponies when administered at 100, 300, or 800 micrograms/kg of body weight. The purpose of the present study was to report on a more extensive tri...
Thane K, Bedenice D, Pacheco A.To determine the extent of intraoperator (between duplicate samples) and interoperator (between different operators) variability in equine thromboelastography (TEG). Methods: Kaolin-activated TEG was performed in duplicate by operator-pair A/B or A/C (2 groups of 10 horses) using discrete setups, within 30-45 minutes of vacuum-assisted blood collection. Recorded TEG variables included clot initiation time (R), clot formation time (K), rate of clot formation (α), clot strength (MA), and viscoelastic/shear strength (G). Operators independently determined the clinical coagulation status for each...
Hunter RP.Inflammation is a process consisting of a complex of cytological and chemical reactions which occur in and around affected blood vessels and adjacent tissues in response to an injury caused by a physical, chemical or biological insult. Much work has been performed in the past several years investigating inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS, EC 1.14.13.39) and nitric oxide in inflammation. This has resulted in a rapid increase in knowledge about iNOS and nitric oxide. Nitric oxide formation from inducible NOS is regulated by numerous inflammatory mediators, often with contradictory effects, dep...
Traub-Dargatz JL, Dargatz DA.The medical records of 68 horses treated with IV fluids for 24 hours or more were reviewed to determine the risk of vein thrombosis and to determine which factors were associated with the occurrence of vein thrombosis in these horses. Three factors were positively associated with vein thrombosis including use of locally produced fluids and presence of fever and diarrhea. Two factors, having general anesthesia or having surgery, were negatively associated with vein thrombosis. One continuous variable, duration of treatment, was positively associated with vein thrombosis. Factors not associated ...
Ishii JB, Arenal A, Felix A, Yoshitani U, Beech R, Molento MB.Anthelmintic resistance is a serious problem for the control of equine gastrointestinal nematodes. In the present survey, 173 third stage larvae of cyathostomins were investigated from three different locations for the presence of the resistant genotype at codon 167 of the beta-tubulin gene, as this is the most prevalent mutation. The larvae from the state of Parana (n=67), Sao Paulo (n=54) and Santa Catarina (n=52), showed 61.2; 31.5 and 38.5% of the heterozygous resistant genotype - TTC/TAC, respectively. An unpublished mutation at codon 172 that results in a serine (S) to threonine (T) subs...
Manso Filho HC, McKeever KH, Gordon ME, Costa HE, Lagakos WS, Watford M.Glutamine is the most abundant free alpha-AA in the mammalian body, and large amounts of glutamine are extracted by both the fetus during pregnancy and the mammary gland during lactation. The work presented here addressed the hypothesis that there would be major changes in glutamine metabolism in the mare during the transition period, the time between late gestation, parturition, and early lactation. Eight foals were born to Standardbred mares provided with energy and protein at 10% above NRC recommendations, and foals remained with mares for 6 mo. During lactation, lean body mass decreased by...
Mizobe F, Nomura M, Ueno T, Yamada K.This study focused on 8 Thoroughbred racehorses showing bone marrow oedema-type signal in the proximal sagittal groove of the proximal phalanx, with the aim of understanding its clinical significance. Standing magnetic resonance imaging played an important role in assessing osseous abnormalities that were not radiographically identifiable. Further, a histopathological result from one of the cases showed there was oedema surrounding adipose tissues with increase in density of trabecular scaffolding. This may indicate presence of osseous injury within the area of decreased elasticity due to subc...
Deby-Dupont G, Grülke S, Caudron I, Mathy-Hartert M, Benbarek H, Deby C, Lamy M, Serteyn D.The strangulated intestinal pathologies of horses are accompanied by a local activation of the neutrophils, that can be revealed by measuring the tissular enzymatic activity of the granulocytic enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO). To estimate the possible spreading of this neutrophil activation to the systemic circulation, we designed a radioimmunoassay (RIA) for equine neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MPO) (EC 1.11.1.7) using a specific rabbit antiserum. MPO was labeled with 1 mCi 125I by a technique of self-labeling in the presence of 10(-4) M hydrogen peroxide. The RIA was performed by incubation of 10...
Sebastian M, Giles R, Roberts J, Poonacha K, Harrison L, Donahue J, Benirschke K.Funisitis, inflammation of the umbilical cord, is well recognized in human placentas. This report describes a case of funisitis associated with leptospiral infection in the placenta of a Thoroughbred foal born prematurely. The umbilical cord had diffuse superficial yellow discoloration along its entire length. Microscopic evaluation showed an exudate of neutrophils admixed with fibrin on the surface. Warthin-Starry staining showed spirochetes in the Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord. A locally extensive, severe placentitis not involving the star and allantoic cystic hyperplasia were the ot...
Rossier Y, Divers TJ, Sweeney RW.The urinary GGT/urinary creatinine (uGGT/uCR) ratio was measured on Days 1, 3 and 10 in 4 adult, healthy horses; in 6 adult, healthy horses treated with gentamicin at recommended dosages and 9 adult horses treated for pleuropneumonia with gentamicin at recommended dosages. Plasma creatinine and gentamicin trough concentrations were measured on the same days. The uGGT/uCr ratio was higher in the normal horses (mean +/- s.d. 22.85 +/- 13.69) than previously reported normal values (10.5 +/- 6.8) (Adams and McClure 1985). Analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to compare the ratio in ...
Hamir AN, Tornquist SJ, Gerros TC, Topper MJ, Dubey JP.Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) was clinically diagnosed in a 20-year-old horse with severe ataxia. The cerebrospinal fluid was positive for Sarcocystis neurona antibodies by western blot. The horse was administered corticosteroids to facilitate in vitro culture of S. neurona from its spinal cord following necropsy. Microscopic lesions of EPM were present in the brain and in the spinal cord, including multifocal inflammatory cellular infiltrates and several large groups of protozoa. Immunohistochemical, and light and electron microscopic examinations revealed that the protozoa were Ne...
Lindholm A, Ronéus B, Lindblad G, Jones B.The biological turnover of hyaluronan (sodium hyaluronate) of different molecular weights (0.6 x 10(6) and 2.5 x 10(6) Daltons) was studied in the synovial fluid of the middle carpal and metacarpophalangeal joints of 6 clinically healthy Standardbred horses. The hyaluronan was radioactively labelled with 14C. The biological half-life (t1/2) was calculated from repeated synovial samples after injection of the labelled hyaluronan. The mean t1/2 in the metacarpophalangeal joints was 9.7 h for low molecular weight hyaluronan and 8.9 h for high molecular weight hyaluronan and in the middle carpal j...
Faleiros RR, Nuovo GJ, Flechtner AD, Belknap JK.There is increasing evidence of involvement of inflammatory cells in acute laminitis. Objective: To immunolocalise monocytes/macrophages and B and T lymphocytes in the laminar tissue of normal horses and those with black walnut extract (BWE)-induced laminitis. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used in archived laminar tissue samples from 20 horses divided equally into 4 groups: control animals (CON), and those administered BWE at 1.5 h (1.5H DTP group), at the onset of leucopenia (3H DTP group) and at the onset of lameness (LAM group). Antibodies against CD3, CD20 and CD163 were used to recogn...
Stewart F, Allen WR, Moor RM.Specific radioreceptor assays for FSH and LH, which employ tissue receptors from rat testis and highly purified human FSH (LER 1575-C) and LH (Hartree IRC-2, 24/6/69) as standards, have been developed to determine the FSH-like and LH-like activities in pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG). Measurements of FSH and LH concentrations in the serum of six pregnant Pony mares showed that the ratio of these two activities did not vary significantly between mares and remained constant between days 40 and 80 of gestation with a value of 1-45 +/- 0-04 (S.E.M.). The FSH:LH ratio of PMSG produced by cu...
