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.
Lawson JM, Salem SE, Miller D, Kahler A, van den Boer WJ, Shilton CA, Sever T, Mouncey RR, Ward J, Hampshire DJ, Foote AK, Bryan JS, Juras R, Pynn OD....Chromosomal abnormalities are a common cause of human miscarriage but rarely reported in any other species. As a result, there are currently inadequate animal models available to study this condition. Horses present one potential model since mares receive intense gynecological care. This allowed us to investigate the prevalence of chromosomal copy number aberrations in 256 products of conception (POC) in a naturally occurring model of pregnancy loss (PL). Triploidy (three haploid sets of chromosomes) was the most common aberration, found in 42% of POCs following PL over the embryonic period. O...
Scholtz M, Guthrie AJ, Newton R, Schulman ML.Three bacteria extensively acknowledged as venereal pathogens with the potential to induce endometritis include Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM), specific strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and certain capsule types of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The United Kingdom's Horserace Betting Levy Board recommends pre-breeding screening for these bacteria in their International Codes of Practice and >20 000 samples are tested per annum in the United Kingdom alone. While the pathogenesis and regulatory importance of CEM are well established, an evaluation...
Woo PCY, Mheiri FA, Cavalleri J, Joseph S, Tang JYM, Joseph M, Tsang CC, Lau SKP, Wernery U.Epizootic lymphangitis (EL) is a highly prevalent and contagious infectious disease affecting horses in many parts of Ethiopia caused by Histoplasma capsulatum sensu lato ('var. farciminosum'). In this study, 12 suspected isolates of H. capsulatum sensu lato or yeasts unidentified by conventional biochemical tests isolated from Ethiopian horses with EL were characterised by ITS sequencing. Six of the 12 isolates were identified to be members of H. capsulatum sensu lato and the other six were Pichia kudriavzevii (synonym: Candida krusei) (n = 3), Trichosporon asahii (n = 1), Geotrichum silv...
Flores JG, Bueno VC, Bastos HBA, Rechsteiner SMDEF.Reproductive biotechniques in the equine species have advanced in the last decade and horse breeders have started to question the possibilities of interfering in the determination of foal sex. The aim of the present study was to verify whether the variables mares and stallion's age, side of the ovary containing the preovulatory follicle, preovulatory follicle diameter, time between breeding and ovulation, and ovulation inducing hormones influence the sex of the foal. A total of 259 reproductive cycles of 160 mares and 22 Thoroughbred stallions were used. Statistical analysis was performed usin...
Richards S, Palmer D, Cawley A, Wainscott M, Keledjian J.An improved screening workflow and a robust capillary flow LC-MS confirmatory method for the detection of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) has been implemented to increase the sensitivity of rHuEPO detection and to reduce the number of suspect samples committed to confirmatory testing. The influence of repeated dosing of epoetin-β on the detection window of rHuEPO in equine plasma was assessed using the optimised method. Samples were initially assessed using an economical R&D Human EPO Duo-Set ELISA Development System. Samples indicating a result greater than the batch baseline were ...
Vernemmen I, Buschmann E, Demeyere M, Verhaeghe LM, Van Steenkiste G, Decloedt A, van Loon G.Improved characterization of arrhythmias is based on minimally invasive catheterizations. However, these catheterizations have been poorly explored in horses because apart from 3-dimensional (3D) mapping systems, continuous guidance of the catheter's position with adequate detail is difficult using current imaging modalities. Objective: Position multiple electrophysiology catheters simultaneously at predetermined strategical positions in the heart using transthoracic echocardiographic guidance. Methods: Eight adult healthy horses. Methods: Observational study. Two electrophysiological studies ...
Pezo F, Contreras MJ, Zambrano F, Uribe P, Risopatron J, Andrade AFC, Yeste M, Sánchez R.In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in optimizing the protocols intended to sperm cryopreservation in domestic animals. These protocols include initial cooling, freezing, and thawing. While different attempts have been devised to improve sperm cryopreservation, the efficiency of this reproductive biotechnology is still far from being optimal. Furthermore, while much attention in improving cooling/freezing, less emphasis has been made in how thawing can be ameliorated. Despite this, the conditions through which, upon thawing, sperm return to physiological temperatures are much ...
Elzahaby D, Mirra A, Levionnois OL, Spadavecchia C.Inhalational anaesthetic agents are routinely used in veterinary anaesthesia practices, yet their consumption contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact. We conducted a 55-day observational study at a veterinary teaching hospital in Switzerland, monitoring isoflurane and sevoflurane consumption across small, equine and farm animal clinics and analysed the resulting environmental impact. Results revealed that in total, 9.36 L of isoflurane and 1.27 L of sevoflurane were used to anaesthetise 409 animals across 1,489 h. Consumption rates varied among species...
Puccetti M, Pilati N, Beccati F, Denoix JM.To describe the clinical diagnosis, ultrasound findings, and outcome of 11 endurance horses with injuries to the serratus ventralis thoracis (SVT) or serratus ventralis cervicis (SVC) muscle. Methods: 11 endurance horses competing in medium- to high-level competitions and presenting with lameness caused by injuries to the SVT or SVC muscle, as confirmed by ultrasonography. Methods: Physical examinations revealed swelling caudal to the shoulder region associated with dorsocranial displacement of the scapula and edema of the ventral thorax for horses with SVT injuries. Swelling cranial to the sc...
Hobbs KJ, Cooper BL, Dembek K, Sheats MK.Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is fragmented extracellular DNA that is released from cells into various body fluids. Previously published data from adult horses supports cfDNA as a potential disease biomarker, but also shows that direct measurement in plasma is inaccurate due to matrix effect. It is currently unknown whether a similar matrix effect exists in foal plasma. Given this, the objectives of the current study were to investigate foal plasma for potential matrix effect during fluorescence measurement of cfDNA using a Qubit fluorometer, and to determine whether neat and/or extracted plasma cfDNA...
Ringo RS, Choonnasard A, Okabayashi T, Saito A. can establish persistent infections in animals such as equids, pigs, nonhuman primates, rodents, and possums. Some can even cause overt and severe diseases such as Equine Arteritis in horses and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome in pigs, leading to huge economic losses. have evolved viral proteins to antagonize the host cell's innate immune responses by inhibiting type I interferon (IFN) signaling, assisting viral evasion and persistent infection. So far, the role of the glycoprotein 5 (GP5) protein in IFN signaling inhibition remains unclear. Here, we investigated the inhibito...
Chiara M, Mariaelena C, Alessandro C, Davide B, Lavinia C, Paola MM, Barbara L, Chiara DP, Flagiello F, Pia PM.The advanced-PRF+ (A-PRF+) is a platelet concentrate, showing a higher concentration of growth factors, an increased number of cells and looser structure of the fibrin clot than leukocyte-PRF. A high variability in the size of PRF associated with patients, haematological features and centrifugation protocols was reported. The aims of this study were to evaluate the feasibility of A-PRF+ production in the field and the correlation between haematological parameters, macroscopic and microscopic features in equine A-PRF+. Samples from twenty Standardbred horses (3-7 years) were harvested with gla...
Laundon D, Proudley E, Basford PJ, Katsamenis OL, Chatelet DS, Cleal JK, Gostling NJ, Chavatte-Palmer P, Lewis RM.Placental structure is linked to function across morphological scales. In the placenta, changes to gross anatomy, such as surface area, volume, or blood vessel arrangement, are associated with suboptimal physiological outcomes. However, quantifying each of these metrics requires different laborious semi-quantitative methods. Here, we demonstrate how, with minimal sample preparation, whole-organ computed microtomography (microCT) can be used to calculate gross morphometry of the equine placenta and a range of additional metrics, including branching morphometry of placental vasculature, non-dest...
Jung H, Yoon M.Spermatogonial stem cells originate from gonocytes and undergo self-renewal and differentiation to generate mature spermatozoa via spermatogenesis in the seminiferous tubules of the testis in male mammals. Owing to the unique capacity of these cells, the spermatogonial stem cell transplantation technique, which enables the restoration of male fertility by transfer of germlines between donor and recipient males, has been developed. Thus, spermatogonial stem cell transplantation can be used as an important next-generation reproductive and breeding tool in livestock production. However, in large ...
Giontella A, Silvestrelli M, Cocciolone A, Pieramati C, Sarti FM.Morphological scoring is a common evaluation method for domestic animals. The National Association of Maremmano Breeders (ANAM) has provided a dataset containing the records of 600 horses, four metric measurements (cm) and 24 traits with a continuous evaluation scale, each one with 15 classes. Moreover, a body condition score (BCS) with five classes is included. In this study, factor analysis was conducted to create a small number of informative factors (3) obtained from these traits, and a new BLUP-AM-MT index was established. The New Estimated Breeding Value (NEBV1) of each horse was compute...
Duysens J, Graide H, Niesten A, Mouithys-Mickalad A, Deby-Dupont G, Franck T, Ceusters J, Serteyn D.Muscle-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (mdMSCs) hold great promise in regenerative medicine due to their immunomodulatory properties, multipotent differentiation capacity and ease of collection. However, traditional in vitro expansion methods use fetal bovine serum (FBS) and have numerous limitations including ethical concerns, batch-to-batch variability, immunogenicity, xenogenic contamination and regulatory compliance issues. This study investigates the use of 10% equine platelet lysate (ePL) obtained by plasmapheresis as a substitute for FBS in the culture of mdMSCs in innovative 2D and 3...
Lomnicka I, Dubey S, Waller P, Vora D, Dirikolu L.The screening of drugs in plasma and urine often requires initial extraction (such as liquid-liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction) before the samples are submitted to instrumental analyses. These extraction procedures are often laborious and time-consuming. In this manuscript, a high-throughput automated assay based on liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) suitable for use as an initial testing procedure covering multiple classes of compounds prohibited in horse racing is described. The assay requires a 600-μL plasma aliquot, which is subjected to solid pha...
Fedorka CE, Scoggin KE, El-Sheikh Ali H, Troedsson MHT.The interleukin (IL)-6 family of cytokines is grouped by a common receptor subunit (gp130), but functions in distinct but overlapping physiological activities, including regulation of acute phase reaction and the balance between effector and regulatory T cell populations-both of which play a role in successful pregnancy maturation. Methods: Here, we aim to assess the expression profiles of members of the IL-6 cytokine family throughout equine gestation. To do so, RNA Sequencing was performed on chorioallantois and endometrium of mares at 120, 180, 300, and 330 days of gestation (n = 4/stage), ...
Kabir A, Lamichhane B, Habib T, Adams A, El-Sheikh Ali H, Slovis NM, Troedsson MHT, Helmy YA.The equine industry holds substantial economic importance not only in the USA but worldwide. The occurrence of various infectious bacterial diseases in horses can lead to severe health issues, economic losses, and restrictions on horse movement and trade. Effective management and control of these diseases are therefore crucial for the growth and sustainability of the equine industry. While antibiotics constitute the primary treatment strategy for any bacterial infections in horses, developing resistance to clinically important antibiotics poses significant challenges to equine health and welfa...
Portaels J, Van Crombrugge E, Van Den Broeck W, Lagrou K, Laval K, Nauwynck H.Numerous Aspergillus fumigatus (Af) airborne spores are inhaled daily by humans and animals due to their ubiquitous presence. The interaction between the spores and the respiratory epithelium, as well as its impact on the epithelial barrier function, remains largely unknown. The epithelial barrier protects the respiratory epithelium against viral infections. However, it can be compromised by environmental contaminants such as pollen, thereby increasing susceptibility to respiratory viral infections, including alphaherpesvirus equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1). To determine whether Af spores di...
Jardat P, Menard-Peroy Z, Parias C, Reigner F, Calandreau L, Lansade L.Recently, horses and other domestic mammals have been shown to perceive and react to human emotional signals, with most studies focusing on joy and anger. In this study, we tested whether horses can learn to identify human joyful and sad expressions against other emotions. We used a touchscreen-based automated device that presented pairs of human portraits and distributed pellets when the horse touched the rewarded face. Six horses were trained to touch the sad face and 5 the joyful face. By the end of training, horses' performances at the group level were significantly higher than chance leve...
Stasiak K, Dunowska M, Rola J.Equine rhinitis A (ERAV) and B (ERBV) viruses are respiratory pathogens with worldwide distribution. The current study aimed to determine the frequency of infection of ERAV and ERBV among horses and foals at Polish national studs, and to determine genetic variability within the viruses obtained. Virus-specific quantitative RT-PCR assays targeting a 5' untranslated region were used to screen nasal swabs collected from 621 horses at 16 national horse studs from throughout Poland, including 553 healthy horses and 68 horses with respiratory disease. A partial DNA polymerase gene was amplified and ...
Sala-Ayala L, Pytel AT, Stychno K, Cuervo-Arango J.Ovum pick-up (OPU) by transvaginal ultrasound guided follicle aspiration in mares is a common assisted reproductive technique used for oocyte recovery and in vitro production of horse embryos. There has been relatively little research into the factors influencing oocyte recovery in OPU from live mares. The objective of this study was to compare oocyte recovery and morphology of ultrasound-guided follicle puncture and aspiration in live mares and in postmortem excised ovaries, in order to validate an experimental model for research purposes of the efficiency of OPU in mares. Data from OPU perfo...
Rajabimashhadi Z, Gallo N, Russo F, Ghiyami S, Mele C, Giordano ME, Lionetto MG, Salvatore L, Lionetto F.In recent years, significant academic and commercial interest has focused on collagen derived from horse tendons, with potential applications across diverse sectors such as medicine, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Nano collagen, with its enhanced wound penetration, improved cell contact, and heightened cellular regeneration and repair capabilities due to its high surface area, holds promise for a wide range of applications. In this study, we present a novel method for producing nano collagen from the equine tendon. Our approach is characterized by its speed, affordability, simplicity and envi...
Giercuszkiewicz-Hecold B, Kulka M, Czopowicz M, Szarska E, Strzelec K, Grzeczka A, Graczyk S, Wiśniewska M, Jędrzejkowska Z, Rumińska A, Marycz K....This study aimed to evaluate the oral supplementation of astaxanthin (ATX) on inflammatory markers in 3-year-old Arabian racehorses. Despite the recognized antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of ATX observed in vitro in rodent models and in human athletes, the effects in equine subjects remain unknown. This study involved a controlled trial with 14 horses receiving either ATX (six horses) or a placebo (eight horses), monitored over four months of race training. Inflammatory cytokines: TNFα, IFNγ, IL-6, IL-10, and prostaglandin E (PGE), were measured monthly to assess the impact of A...
Cardona GC, Dahlgren LA, Byron CR, McKenzie HC, Werre SR, Bogers SH.The aim of the present study was to determine if a three-dimensional (3D)-printed instrument technique would improve lavage removal of plastic beads (guttural pouch [GP] chondroid mimics) through a dorsal pharyngeal recess (DPR) fenestration. We hypothesized that using a 3D-printed instrument placed through the DPR fenestration would remove more beads, reduce lavage time and incur less soft tissue damage than using a lavage tube control or instrument placement through the salpingopharyngeal ostium (SPO). Methods: Experimental cadaveric study. Methods: A total of 30 cadaveric equine heads. Meth...
Streng K, Hakze-van der Honing RW, Graham H, van Oort S, de Best PA, Abourashed A, van der Poel WHM.Zoonotic arboviruses (arthropod-borne) of the Orthoflavivirus genus, such as West Nile virus (WNV), Usutu virus (USUV) and Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), are emerging in Northwestern Europe and pose a threat to both human and animal health. In the Netherlands, passive symptomatic surveillance (notification of clinical cases) in horses is one of the main pillars for the early detection of WNV. For such passive surveillance to work properly, horse owners and veterinarians need to recognize symptoms and report suspected cases to the authorities. Currently, little is known about the seropre...
Schirone R, Corte GM, Ehlers JP, Herre C, Schmedding M, Merle R, Pachtmann J, Bahramsoltani M.Students often struggle with interpreting traditional textbook images and translating them to anatomical structures. This study aimed to compare the impact of 3D scans versus 2D images on students' learning outcomes when learning anatomical structures on skulls from horses and pigs. Furthermore, the correlation between spatial ability and learning outcomes using 3D scans or 2D images was examined. Second-year veterinary medicine students either used 3D scans or 2D images, annotated with arrows or numbers as learning material. Students' anatomical knowledge was tested before and after the learn...
Maeda M, Abe M, Aoshima K, Kobayashi A, Fukushi H, Kimura T.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) causes respiratory diseases, abortion, and encephalomyelitis in horses. The EHV-1 immediate-early (IE) protein, essential for viral replication, is transactivated by the binding of a multiprotein complex including the open reading frame 12 (ORF12) and some host factors to the IE promoter region. Promoter-associated non-coding RNAs (pancRNAs), which are transcribed from bidirectional promoters, regulate the transcription of neighboring genes in mammals and pathogens. In this study, we identified a novel pancRNA transcribed from across the areas of the 5'-untranslate...
Usimaki A, Ciamillo SA, Barot D, Linardi RL, Engiles JB, Ortved KF.Autologous protein solution (APS) has been shown to decrease lameness in horses with osteoarthritis (OA). Synovitis is an early driver of OA, providing an opportunity to intervene in the progression of disease via intra-articular (IA) therapeutics. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a single IA APS injection in horses with interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced synovitis. We hypothesised that APS would decrease joint swelling and lameness, improve synovial fluid parameters and improve joint pathology scores in horses compared with untreated controls. Methods: Ra...
Vance SJ, McDonald RE, Cooper A, Smith BO, Kennedy MW.Latherin is a highly surface-active allergen protein found in the sweat and saliva of horses and other equids. Its surfactant activity is intrinsic to the protein in its native form, and is manifest without associated lipids or glycosylation. Latherin probably functions as a wetting agent in evaporative cooling in horses, but it may also assist in mastication of fibrous food as well as inhibition of microbial biofilms. It is a member of the PLUNC family of proteins abundant in the oral cavity and saliva of mammals, one of which has also been shown to be a surfactant and capable of disrupting m...
Skedros JG, Su SC, Bloebaum RD.Artiodactyl and perissodactyl calcanei have been recently introduced as models for examining bone for mechanically mediated adaptation. We have reported substantial regional variations in cortical bone microstructure and mineral content within the same cross-section of mule deer calcanei. In part, these variations may be adaptations accommodating the customary presence of predominantly tension, compression, and shear strain modes in mutually exclusive cortical locations. Calcanei from skeletally mature horses, elk, and sheep were examined in order to corroborate these previous findings. From e...
Gérard N, Loiseau S, Duchamp G, Seguin F.Follicular development and ovulatory processes in mammals involve local biochemical changes as a result of substantial modifications in cellular metabolism, the most well known of which is steroid variation. In the present study, the intrafollicular variation of several other components was studied using proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR). This approach made it possible to demonstrate that the intrafollicular biochemical content changes during follicular growth and maturation. Follicular fluid was aspirated by ovarian puncture of the dominant follicle at various physiological stages ...
Geary TG, Sangster NC, Thompson DP.Research in anthelmintic pharmacology faces a grim future. The parent field of veterinary parasitology has seemingly been devalued by governments, universities and the animal industry in general. Primarily due to the success of the macrocyclic lactone anthelmintics in cattle, problems caused by helminth infections are widely perceived to be unimportant. The market for anthelmintics in other host species that are plagued by resistance, such as sheep and horses, is thought to be too small to sustain a discovery program in the animal health pharmaceutical industry. These attitudes are both alarmi...
Chevrier A, Kouao AS, Picard G, Hurtig MB, Buschmann MD.Microfracture repair tissue in young adult humans and in rabbit trochlea is frequently of higher quality than in corresponding ovine or horse models or in the rabbit medial femoral condyle (MFC). This may be related to differences in subchondral properties since repair is initiated from the bone. We tested the hypothesis that subchondral bone from rabbit trochlea and the human MFC are structurally similar. Trochlea and MFC samples from rabbit, sheep, and horse were micro-CT scanned and histoprocessed. Samples were also collected from normal and lesional areas of human MFC. The subchondral bone...
Hatanaka H, Iourin O, Rao Z, Fry E, Kingsman A, Stuart DI.The Gag polyprotein is key to the budding of retroviruses from host cells and is cleaved upon virion maturation, the N-terminal membrane-binding domain forming the matrix protein (MA). The 2.8-A resolution crystal structure of MA of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), a lentivirus, reveals that, despite showing no sequence similarity, more than half of the molecule can be superimposed on the MAs of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). However, unlike the structures formed by HIV-1 and SIV MAs, the oligomerization state observed is not trimeric...
Young R, Taylor JE, Kurioka A, Becker M, Louis EJ, Rudenko G.African trypanosomes (including Trypanosoma brucei) are unicellular parasites which multiply in the mammalian bloodstream. T. brucei has about twenty telomeric bloodstream form Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) expression sites (BESs), of which one is expressed at a time in a mutually exclusive fashion. BESs are polycistronic transcription units, containing a variety of families of expression site associated genes (ESAGs) in addition to the telomeric VSG. These polymorphic ESAG families are thought to play a role in parasite-host adaptation, and it has been proposed that ESAG diversity might ...
Steiner CC, Ryder OA.Prdm9 (Meisetz) is the first speciation gene discovered in vertebrates conferring reproductive isolation. This locus encodes a meiosis-specific histone H3 methyltransferase that specifies meiotic recombination hotspots during gametogenesis. Allelic differences in Prdm9, characterized for a variable number of zinc finger (ZF) domains, have been associated with hybrid sterility in male house mice via spermatogenic failure at the pachytene stage. The mule, a classic example of hybrid sterility in mammals also exhibits a similar spermatogenesis breakdown, making Prdm9 an interesting candidate to e...
Balasuriya UB, Lee PY, Tiwari A, Skillman A, Nam B, Chambers TM, Tsai YL, Ma LJ, Yang PC, Chang HF, Wang HT.Equine influenza (EI) is an acute, highly contagious viral respiratory disease of equids. Currently, equine influenza virus (EIV) subtype H3N8 continues to be the most important respiratory pathogen of horses in many countries around the world. The need to achieve a rapid diagnosis and to implement effective quarantine and movement restrictions is critical in controlling the spread of EIV. In this study, a novel, inexpensive and user-friendly assay based on an insulated isothermal RT-PCR (iiRT-PCR) method on the POCKIT™, a field-deployable device, was described and validated for point-of-nee...
Kuzmina TA, Kharchenko VA, Starovir AI, Dvojnos GM.Communities of intestinal helminths in horses are commonly studied post mortem. The study objectives were here to examine the species composition of the strongylid community in brood horses in Ukraine after deworming with an aversectin drug Univerm. The site distribution of the strongylid species was analysed according to dynamics of their expulsion in faeces. Forty-four horses of different ages from Poltavska oblast (22 horses), Kyivska oblast (17 horses) and Sumska oblast (5 horses) of Ukraine were included in the study. Horses were treated with Univerm anthelmintic (0.2% aversectin) at a do...
Paillot R, Darby AC, Robinson C, Wright NL, Steward KF, Anderson E, Webb K, Holden MT, Efstratiou A, Broughton K, Jolley KA, Priestnall SL....The acquisition of superantigen-encoding genes by Streptococcus pyogenes has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality in humans, and the gain of four superantigens by Streptococcus equi is linked to the evolution of this host-restricted pathogen from an ancestral strain of the opportunistic pathogen Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus. A recent study determined that the culture supernatants of several S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus strains possessed mitogenic activity but lacked known superantigen-encoding genes. Here, we report the identification and activities of three novel ...
Kim MC, Lee SW, Ryu DY, Cui FJ, Bhak J, Kim Y.The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) as a post-transcriptional gene regulator has been elucidated in a broad range of organisms including domestic animals. Characterization of miRNAs in normal tissues is an important step to investigate the functions of miRNAs in various physiological and pathological conditions. Using Illumina Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, we identified a total of 292 known and 329 novel miRNAs in normal horse tissues including skeletal muscle, colon and liver. Distinct sets of miRNAs were differentially expressed in a tissue-specific manner. The miRNA genes were dis...
Sutton GA, Paltiel O, Soffer M, Turner D.Two behaviour-based scales for evaluating abdominal pain in horses (Equine Acute Abdominal Pain Scales, EAAPS-1 and -2) and a numerical rating scale (NRS) were compared for reliability and validity. Forty-one equine veterinarians randomly assigned into three groups were each presented a different set of 28 moving picture films randomly chosen among 36 films of horses with colic and four controls. One randomly chosen film was embedded twice within each set. The first (n=15) and the second (n=16) groups scored pain with the EAAPS-1 and EAPPS-2, respectively, while the third (n=10) used the NRS. ...
Bahuon C, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Bournez L, Leblond A, Beck C, Hars J, Leparc-Goffart I, L'Ambert G, Paty MC, Cavalerie L, Daix C, Tritz P, Durand B....West Nile virus (WNV) infection is a non-contagious disease mainly transmitted by the bites of infected mosquitoes from the genus Culex. The virus is maintained in a mosquito-bird-mosquito cycle, and can accidentally be transmitted to mammalian hosts. Among mammalian hosts, equines and humans are the most sensitive to WNV infection and can develop severe meningoencephalitis. As WNV infections are zoonotic and can be severe in humans and equines, West Nile fever is considered to be a public and animal health concern. After a silent period of almost ten years, WNV re-emerged in France at the per...
Li W, Plante JA, Lin C, Basu H, Plung JS, Fan X, Boeckers JM, Oros J, Buck TK, Anekal PV, Hanson WA, Varnum H, Wells A, Mann CJ, Tjang LV, Yang P....Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) that frequently caused major outbreaks of encephalitis in humans and horses in the early twentieth century, but the frequency of outbreaks has since decreased markedly, and strains of this alphavirus isolated in the past two decades are less virulent in mammals than strains isolated in the 1930s and 1940s. The basis for this phenotypic change in WEEV strains and coincident decrease in epizootic activity (known as viral submergence) is unclear, as is the possibility of re-emergence of highly virulent strains. Here...
Mayhew IG, Brown CM, Stowe HD, Trapp AL, Derksen FJ, Clement SF.Two horse farms, on which there was a high incidence of proven and suspected equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM), were studied. Symmetric ataxia and paresis, along with laryngeal adductor, cervicofacial, local cervical, and cutaneous trunci hyporeflexia, characterized the syndrome. Serum vitamin E concentration reflected a deficient state in affected and unaffected horses on both farms when compared with selected reference groups and with published values. A high incidence of the disease was evident in offspring of two particular sires on one farm. Vitamin E supplementation resulted ...
Vandenplas ML, Moore JN, Barton MH, Roussel AJ, Cohen ND.To determine concentrations of 2 acute-phase proteins (serum amyloid A [SAA] and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein [LBP]) in serum samples obtained from horses with colic and identify relationships among these acute-phase proteins and clinical data. Methods: 765 horses with naturally developing gastrointestinal tract diseases characterized by colic (ie, clinical signs indicative of abdominal pain) and 79 healthy control horses; all horses were examined at 2 university teaching hospitals. Methods: Serum concentrations of SAA and LBP were determined by immunoturbidometric and dot-blot assays, r...
Lester HE, Spanton J, Stratford CH, Bartley DJ, Morgan ER, Hodgkinson JE, Coumbe K, Mair T, Swan B, Lemon G, Cookson R, Matthews JB.Cyathostomins are considered to be the most important group of helminths to affect equids due to their high prevalence, potential pathogenicity and ability to develop anthelmintic resistance. Their control relies almost exclusively on frequent anthelmintic use. Currently, fenbendazole (FBZ), pyrantel embonate (PYR), ivermectin (IVM) and moxidectin (MOX) are licensed for use in horses in the UK. With no new anthelmintics likely to be licensed in the near future, it is essential that investigations into the efficacy of current anthelmintics in different locations are performed to help inform con...
Walther B, Klein KS, Barton AK, Semmler T, Huber C, Merle R, Tedin K, Mitrach F, Lübke-Becker A, Gehlen H.Continuing introduction of multi-drug resistant, zoonotic pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in horse clinics challenges the biosafety of employees and animal patients. This study was aimed to determine the occurrence of mobile genetic elements facilitating survival in the early stages of invasive infection in different host species, including humans and horses, in MRSA carried by equine patients admitted to a large horse clinic. A total of 341 equine patients were investigated for carriage of MRSA by hygiene screening directly at hospital admission. MRSA were...
Ginther OJ.Gray-scale ultrasonic imaging (UI) was introduced in 1980 and initially was used to examine clinically the reproductive tract of mares. By 1983 in mares and 1984 in heifers/cows, UI had become a tool for basic research. In each species, transrectal gray-scale UI has been used extensively to characterize follicle dynamics and investigate the gonadotropic control and hormonal role of the follicles. However, the use of transrectal UI has also disclosed and characterized many other aspects of reproduction in each species, including (1) endometrial echotexture as a biological indicator of circulati...
Conze P, van Schie HT, van Weeren R, Staszyk C, Conrad S, Skutella T, Hopster K, Rohn K, Stadler P, Geburek F.To investigate whether autologous adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) treatment of tendon lesions increases neovascularization during tendon healing. Methods: A standardized surgical model was used to create lesions in both front limb superficial digital flexor tendons (SDFTs) of nine horses. Either AT-MSCs or control substance was injected intralesionally 2 weeks post-surgery. Color Doppler ultrasonography of SDFTs was performed at regular intervals. Horses were euthanized 22 weeks post-treatment and SDFTs were harvested for histology. Results: The color Doppler ultrasonog...
Hung GC, Chilton NB, Beveridge I, Gasser RB.In this study, molecular data sets were used to address the controversies relating to the systematics of strongyloid nematodes of equids utilising morphological data sets. DNA sequences of the first and second internal transcribed spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2) of ribosomal DNA were determined for 30 species of equine strongyles and the systematic relationships reconstructed using phenetic and phylogenetic tree-building methods. The molecular data provided support for the hypothesis that the genera with large subglobular buccal capsules are ancestral to those with small cylindrical buccal capsules,...
Colbath AC, Dow SW, McIlwraith CW, Goodrich LR.Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used for treatment of musculoskeletal diseases in horses, but there is ongoing debate regarding the relative safety and efficacy of allogeneic MSCs, compared with autologous equine MSCs. This review summarises the currently available published data regarding the therapeutic use of autologous and allogeneic MSCs in horses. Arguments that have been advanced against the use of allogeneic MSCs include higher risk of immunological reactions and shorter cell survival times following injection. Arguments favouring the use of allogeneic MSCs include the ability...
Monthoux C, de Brot S, Jackson M, Bleul U, Walter J.Skin malformations that resembled manifestations of Ehlers-Danlos-Syndrome were described in a variety of domestic animals during the last century as cutis hyperelastica, hyperelastosis cutis, dermatosparaxis, dermal/collagen dysplasia, dermal/cutaneous asthenia or Ehlers-Danlos-like syndrome/s. In 2007, the mutation responsible for Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia (HERDA) in Quarter Horses was discovered. Several case reports are available for similar malformations in other breeds than Quarter Horses (Draught Horses, Arabians, and Thoroughbreds) including four case reports for Warmb...
Chapman GE, Sherlock K, Hesson JC, Blagrove MSC, Lycett GJ, Archer D, Solomon T, Baylis M.There has been no evidence of transmission of mosquito-borne arboviruses of equine or human health concern to date in the UK. However, in recent years there have been a number of outbreaks of viral diseases spread by vectors in Europe. These events, in conjunction with increasing rates of globalisation and climate change, have led to concern over the future risk of mosquito-borne viral disease outbreaks in northern Europe and have highlighted the importance of being prepared for potential disease outbreaks. Here we assess several UK mosquito species for their potential to transmit arboviruses ...
Dias de Castro LL, Abrahão CLH, Buzatti A, Molento MB, Bastianetto E, Rodrigues DS, Lopes LB, Silva MX, de Freitas MG, Conde MH, Borges FA.The aim of this study was to compare two fecal egg count (FEC) techniques; McMaster (McM) and Mini-FLOTAC (mF), for the detection of cattle and horse gastrointestinal nematode eggs, in different locations. Experiment 1: feces were collected from 16 cattle and FEC was performed individually, using mF with the sensitivity of 5 eggs per gram of feces (EPG) and McM with a sensitivity of 50 EPG at Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária de Minas Gerais - EPAMIG and the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases of the University of Parana - LDP/UFPR. Experiment 2: Fecal samples from 30 horses were analyzed with mF...
Edington N, Welch HM, Griffiths L.Equid herpesviruses 1 or 4 (EHV-1 or -4) were isolated by cocultivation from 60% of 40 horses examined at slaughter. The lymph nodes draining the respiratory tract were the most common source of virus. EHV-1 or EHV-4 was never isolated from the trigeminal ganglia (SLG). The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detected virus in 87.5% of bronchial lymph nodes and a similar level in the trigeminal ganglia that were examined. By both assays approximately one third of the positive animals harboured both viruses. Equid herpesvirus 2 (EHV-2) was isolated from all but one of the horses and from > 75% o...
Tahon L, Baselgia S, Gerber V, Doherr MG, Straub R, Robinson NE, Marti E.Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) is a common condition in stabled horses characterised by small airway inflammation, airway neutrophilia and obstruction following exposure of susceptible horses to mouldy hay and straw and is thus regarded as a hypersensitivity reaction to mould spores. However, the role of IgE-mediated reactions in RAO remains unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate with a serological IgE ELISA test (Allercept), an in vitro sulfidoleukotriene (sLT) release assay (CAST) and with intradermal testing (IDT) whether serum IgE and IgE-mediated reactions against various mo...
Martens A, De Moor A, Ducatelle R.The purpose of this study was to examine if bovine papilloma virus (BPV) DNA can be detected in superficial swabs or scrapings from equine sarcoids. Samples were obtained from 92 sarcoids and 20 non-sarcoidal control lesions. The polymerase chain reaction technique was used with a first primer set to check whether DNA extraction was successful, and with a second primer set specific for BPV-DNA. DNA isolation was successful in 88% of the swabs and 93% of the scrapings. All control lesions were negative for BPV-DNA.
