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.
Lin ST, Foote AK, Bolas NM, Sargan DR, Murray RC.Information regarding the histopathology of the proximal phalanx (P1) sagittal groove in racehorses is limited. Twenty-nine cadaver limbs from nine Thoroughbred racehorses in racing/race-training underwent histological examination. Histological specimens of the third metacarpal/metatarsal (MC3/MT3) parasagittal grooves and P1 sagittal grooves were graded for histopathological findings in hyaline cartilage (HC), calcified cartilage (CC), and subchondral plate and trabecular bone (SCB/TB) regions. Histopathological grades were compared between (1) fissure and non-fissure locations observed in a ...
Pimenta J, Prada J, Pires I, Cotovio M.Sarcoids and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are the most concerning equine oncological diseases. Both tumors are challenging to manage due to their invasive behavior and high prevalence of recurrences. Furthermore, SCCs have a propensity to metastasize. Programed cell-death ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been one of the main therapeutic targets for immunotherapy in various human tumors. PD-L1 research in equine tumors is scarce and more efforts are necessary to understand the potential of this biomarker as a therapeutical target. Unassigned: Evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of PD-L1 in equin...
Discepolo DR, Gaare E, Handlos G, Perry EB.Cutaneous pH and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) are commonly utilized measures in dermatological research as they provide information concerning barrier function. The importance of dermal health has become more evident in recent years. Accordingly, the aim of this work was to identify natural fluctuations in the biophysical parameters of healthy equine skin. Cutaneous pH and TEWL was collected on nine mares at 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 6:00 PM daily for five days on the nose, withers, girth area, mid-back, and base of tail. Ambient temperature and humidity were measured at each collection. Stat...
Dyson S, Phillips K, Zheng S, Aleman M.There is controversy about the clinical relevance of congenital variants of the ventral laminae of the sixth (C6) and seventh (C7) cervical vertebrae and their relationship with other radiological abnormalities. Objective: To document the prevalence of congenital variants of C6 and C7 and that of other radiological abnormalities from C6 to the second thoracic vertebra (T2). Methods: Cross-sectional. Methods: The study included Warmblood horses ≥3 years of age undergoing clinical assessment at two referral institutions: 127 control horses and 96 cases (neurologic, neck pain or stiffness, or...
Pontaema T, Pongthaisong P, Kenchaiwong W, Chompoosan C, Lerdweeraphon W.Vasovagal tonus index (VVTI) serves as a straightforward assessment tool for autonomic function during both physiological and pathological conditions, including pregnancy, in horses. Obtaining VVTI through a modified base apex lead system could be a practical and comfortable solution. In this study, we assessed VVTI in horses with respect to training status and electrocardiographic measurements utilizing a novel modified base apex lead technique. Unassigned: A total of 12 Thai native crossbred horses and 12 Arabian horses, all free of cardiac abnormalities, were enrolled in the study. Animals ...
Nunes MM, Gurgel JRC, Munhoz ML, de Giuli V, Carneiro GF, Miragaya MH, Gallelli MF, Guimaraes JD.The aim of this study was to assess the effect of lyophilized freezing extenders, which can be stored at room temperature, on stallion post-thaw sperm total motility (TM). Ejaculates of 28 stallions were frozen with four different extenders: two commercial freezing extenders offered worldwide and two novel lyophilized extenders (STAR and MX3), and two different cryopreservation protocols (CP1 with an equilibration period of 20 min. and CP2 with an equilibration period of 60 min.). The TM was assessed after thaw. Mean TM did not show significant differences between cryopreservation protocols wi...
Sedgwick RL, ElBohy O, Daly JM.In this review, we explore how pseudotyped viruses (PVs) are being applied to the study of viruses affecting both humans and horses. For the purposes of this review, we define PVs as non-replicative viruses with the core of one virus and the surface protein(s) of another and encapsulating a reporter gene such as luciferase. These 'reporter' PVs enable receptor-mediated entry into host cells to be quantified, and thus can be applied to study the initial stages of viral replication. They can also be used to test antiviral activity of compounds and measure envelope protein-specific antibodies in ...
Mazan MR, Simotas C, Coons T, Barrow B, Bedenice D, Minuto J, Wendell K, Deveney EF.Pulmonary function testing is critical to the diagnosis of equine asthma (EA), an important cause of respiratory disease in the horse, but its clinical use has remained elusive, unfortunately, due to the complexity of reference methods, esophageal balloon/pneumotachography (EBP), and forced oscillatory mechanics (FOM), so we sought a noninvasive, portable method for use in horses through rapid interruption of airflow for equilibration of alveolar pressure with proximal airway pressure, termed flow interruption (FI). Resistance (RINT) was computed as the relationship between the change in press...
Baudisch N, Singer E, Jensen KC, Eichler F, Meyer HJ, Lischer C, Ehrle A.Surgical treatment options for horses with overriding dorsal spinous processes include interspinous ligament desmotomy and partial spinous process ostectomy. The impact of spinal surgery on the three-dimensional biomechanics of the equine thoracolumbar spine and the epaxial musculature is unclear. Objective: To investigate the influence of interspinous ligament desmotomy and cranial wedge ostectomy on the biomechanics of the equine thoracolumbar spine and the paraspinal Musculi multifidi. Methods: Ex-vivo experiments. Methods: Twelve equine thoracolumbar spine specimens were mounted in a custo...
Bishop RC, Migliorisi A, Holmes JR, Kemper AM, Band M, Austin S, Aldridge B, Wilkins PA.Understanding normal microbial populations within areas of the respiratory tract is essential, as variable regional conditions create different niches for microbial flora, and proliferation of commensal microbes likely contributes to clinical respiratory disease. The objective was to describe microbial population variability between respiratory tract locations in healthy horses. Samples were collected from four healthy adult horses by nasopharyngeal lavage (NPL), transtracheal aspirate (TTA), and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of six distinct regions within the lung. Full-length 16S ribosomal DN...
Oliveira MC, de Lima MT, Trindade PHE, Luna SPL.To evaluate if students without training assess pain similarly to an expert, and to compare indications for analgesic intervention based on student opinions versus scale scoring. Methods: Prospective, blind, randomized, cross-sectional study. Methods: Video recordings of a bull, horse, cat, pig and sheep. Methods: First-year veterinary medicine students assessed one video of a horse (n = 44) and one video of a bull (n = 39). Third-year veterinary medicine students assessed one video of a cat (n = 23) and one video of a pig (n = 21). Fourth-year animal science students (n = 16) assessed on...
Carey KJ, Smith I, Barr J, Caruso S, Au GG, Hartley CA, Bailey KE, Perriam W, Broder CC, Gilkerson JR.Hendra virus (HeV) is lethal to horses and a zoonotic threat to humans in Australia, causing severe neurological and/or respiratory disease with high mortality. An equine vaccine has been available since 2012. Foals acquire antibodies from their dams by ingesting colostrum after parturition, therefore it is assumed that foals of mares vaccinated against HeV will have passive HeV antibodies circulating during the first several months of life until they are actively vaccinated. However, no studies have yet examined passive or active immunity against HeV in foals. Here, we investigated anti-HeV a...
Lindinger H, Wehrend A.In horses, parturition is characterized by the fact that any delays may rapidly result in the death of the foal. Therefore, birth monitoring and the rapid detection of dystocia are of great importance. For this purpose, the differentiation between behavior associated with physiological parturition and activities related to difficult parturition is important. The aim of this publication is to present the physiological behavior of mares during parturition on the basis of a literature review. The behavior of mares in the opening phase of parturition is highly individual. In general, it is charact...
Ho HSM, Farrington AF, Bond AJ, Ho ENM, Wong WT.Estra-4,9-diene-3,17-dione (dienedione) is an anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) available on the market as a dietary supplement for bodybuilding. It is prohibited in both human and equine sports due to its potential performance-enhancing effect. With the rare presence of the 4,9-diene configuration in endogenous steroids, dienedione has been considered as a synthetic AAS. Nevertheless, the reoccurring detection of dienedione in entire male horse urine samples led to the investigation of its possible endogenous nature in horses, and its endogenous nature in entire male horses has been recently ...
Behroozi M, Graïc JM, Gerussi T.Diffusion-weighted Imaging (DWI) is an effective and state-of-the-art neuroimaging method that non-invasively reveals the microstructure and connectivity of tissues. Recently, novel applications of the DWI technique in studying large brains through imaging enabled researchers to gain insights into the complex neural architecture in different species such as those of (e.g., horses and rhinos), (e.g., bovids, swines, and cetaceans), and (e.g., felids, canids, and pinnipeds). Classical tract-tracing methods are usually considered unsuitable for ethical and practical reasons, in large animals...
Luis-Calero M, Ortiz-Rodríguez JM, Fernández-Hernández P, Muñoz-García CC, Pericuesta E, Gutiérrez-Adán A, Marinaro F, Embade N, Conde R....In vitro embryo production is a highly demanded reproductive technology in horses, which requires the recovery (in vivo or post-mortem) and in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes. Oocytes subjected to IVM exhibit poor developmental competence compared to their in vivo counterparts, being this related to a suboptimal composition of commercial maturation media. The objective of this work was to study the effect of different concentrations of secretome obtained from equine preovulatory follicular fluid (FF) on cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) during IVM. COCs retrieved in vivo by ovum pick up (OPU) ...
Höglund N, Rossi H, Javela HM, Oikari S, Nieminen P, Mustonen AM, Airas N, Kärjä V, Mykkänen A.Equine asthma (EA) is a chronic lower airway inflammation that leads to structural and functional changes. Hyaluronic acid (HA) has crucial functions in the extracellular matrix homeostasis and inflammatory mediator activity. HA concentration in the lungs increases in several human airway diseases. However, its associations with naturally occurring EA and airway remodelling have not been previously studied. Our aim was to investigate the association of equine neutrophilic airway inflammation (NAI) severity, airway remodelling, and HA concentration in horses with naturally occurring EA. We hypo...
Means K, Hayden L, Kramer J, McCracken MJ, Reed SK, Wilson DA, Keegan KG.Compensatory vertical head and pelvis movement asymmetry may occur in trotting horses with a primary cause of lameness in one end of the body due to the weight shifting between limbs, leading to apparent combined forelimb and hindlimb lameness (CFHL). Little is known about CFHL patterns observed with body-mounted inertial sensors (BMIS) and regardless of their underlying mechanisms, compensatory and secondary lameness may complicate the definitive identification of the primary causes of lameness. Objective: Determine associations between vertical pelvic movement asymmetry and location of prima...
Dos Santos Rosse N, Reis ECC.The resistivity index (RI) evaluates haemodynamic based on arterial resistance. Alterations in renal blood flow are important for the early detection of kidney damage, as perfusion might be one of the first affected aspects. Objective: To retrieve published studies on equine renal RI to develop a standardised method of renal ultrasonographic examination and to evaluate the current reference range for the renal RI in horses. Methods: Systematic review. Methods: An electronic search in Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases was performed in February 2023 using the terms 'RI'...
Wong ASY, Yuen BP, Wong COL, Kong FK, So YM, Kwok WH, Brooks L, Wan TSM, Ho EN.Bisphosphonates and myo-inositol trispyrophosphate (ITPP) are two classes of difficult-to-detect polar drugs that are prohibited under the rules of racing. ITPP is a drug capable of increasing the amount of oxygen in hypoxic tissues, and studies have shown that administration of ITPP increases the maximal exercise capacity in mice. The properties of ITPP make it an ideal candidate as a doping agent to enhance performance in racehorses. In recent years, ITPP had indeed been detected in racehorses and confiscated items. As for bisphosphonates, it is especially critical to control their use as si...
Tippen SP, Metzger CE, Sacks SA, Allen MR, Mitchell CF, McNulty MA.Bisphosphonates are widely used in equine athletes to reduce lameness associated with skeletal disorders. Widespread off-label use has led to concern regarding potential negative effects on bone healing, but little evidence exists to support or refute this. Objective: To investigate the influence of clinically relevant doses of tiludronate on bone remodelling and bone healing. Methods: Randomised, controlled in vivo experiments. Methods: Each horse had a single tuber coxae biopsied (Day 0), then were divided into a treatment (IV tiludronate) or control (IV saline) group. Treatments were admini...
Brooks J, Maeda T, Ringhofer M, Yamamoto S.The oxytocinergic system has been suggested to make up an important part of the endocrine basis of group cohesion. However, controlled studies in open-group settings have not been performed. We here investigated the impact of exogenous intranasal oxytocin on the group-level social organization of 5 groups of horses ( = 58; 12 mares and 46 geldings) through GPS tracking and social network analysis. We find oxytocin flattened social differentiation across levels. Most strikingly, oxytocin did not simply reinforce existing bonds but selectively shifted social preferences toward homogenization -...
Luick ML, Khouzam NA, Pérez-Nogués M.To establish racing prognosis in Thoroughbred yearlings with proximal sagittal ridge osteochondral lesions and compare them to dorsoproximal and palmar/plantar first phalanx osteochondral lesions. Methods: A total of 47 horses had proximal sagittal ridge lesions, 34 had palmar/plantar first phalanx lesions, and 115 had dorsoproximal first phalanx lesions. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Medical records of Thoroughbred yearling racing prospects treated arthroscopically for fetlock osteochondral lesions were reviewed. Data were collected from a public database, including the ability...
Brandon AM, Williams JM, Davis JL, Martin EG, Capper AM, Crabtree NE.To determine the pharmacokinetics (PK) of metoclopramide administered via intravenous continuous rate infusion (IV CRI) and subcutaneous (SC) bolus and evaluate for gastrointestinal motility and adverse side effects. Methods: Experimental study; randomized, crossover design. Methods: Six healthy adult horses. Methods: Each horse received metoclopramide via IV CRI (0.04 mg/kg/h for 24 h) and SC bolus (0.08 mg/kg once), with ≥1 week washout period between. Plasma was analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS. Compartmental modeling was used to determine PK parameters for each treatment; nonparametric sup...
Vishwanath K, McClure SR, Bonassar LJ.Intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) are the cornerstone of osteoarthritis (OA) treatments. However, the mechanism of action and efficacy of HA viscosupplementation are debated. As such, there has been recent interest in developing synthetic viscosupplements. Recently, a synthetic 4 wt% polyacrylamide (pAAm) hydrogel was shown to effectively lubricate and bind to the surface of cartilage in vitro. However, its ability to localize to cartilage and alter the tribological properties of the tissue in a live articulating large animal joint is not known. The goal of this study was to...
Abreu MC, Conrad NL, Gonçalves VS, Leite FPL.Probiotic microorganisms can stimulate an immune response and increase the efficiency of vaccines. For example, Bacillus toyonensis is a nonpathogenic, Gram-positive bacterium that has been used as a probiotic in animal supplementation. It induces immunomodulatory effects and increases the vaccine response in several species. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of B. toyonensis supplementation on the modulation of the immune response in horses vaccinated with recombinant Clostridium tetani toxin. Twenty horses were vaccinated twice, with an interval of 21 days between doses, and equally di...
Öhrmalm J, Cholleti H, Theelke AK, Berg M, Gröndahl G.Equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is a ubiquitous and significant viral pathogen in horses worldwide, causing a range of conditions, including fever, respiratory disease, abortion in pregnant mares and the severe neurological disease called equine herpes myeloencephalopathy (EHM). Despite that EHV-1 is a notifiable animal disease in Sweden, there is limited knowledge about the circulating strains. This study aimed to analyze the genetic diversity of EHV-1 strains in equine samples from different Swedish outbreaks by partial genome sequencing. Genotyping based on three selected open reading fram...
Katzman SA, Cissell D, Leale D, Perez-Nogues M, Hall MD, Bloom G, Hamamoto-Hardman B, Wu CY, Haudenschild AK, Liu GY, Yik JHN, Haudenschild DR.To establish the pharmacokinetics of the cyclin-dependent kinase-9 inhibitor flavopiridol in equine middle carpal joints, using an extended-release poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microparticle formulation. Methods: 4 healthy horses without evidence of forelimb lameness. Methods: A 6-week longitudinal pharmacokinetic study was conducted in 2 phases (6 weeks each) in 4 healthy horses. The PLGA microparticles containing 122 μg flavopiridol in 3 mL saline were administered by intra-articular injection into 1 middle carpal joint, with empty PLGA microparticles injected into the contralateral ...
Grob AJ, Delarocque J, Feige K, Warnken T.In insulin dysregulation, hyperinsulinemia (HI) can be accompanied by peripheral insulin resistance (IR) in horses, which can be diagnosed with an insulin-tolerance test (ITT). The administration of 0.1 IU/kg body weight of recombinant regular human insulin (RHI) should elicit a 50 % reduction of the initial blood glucose concentration at 30 min after insulin administration in insulin sensitive horses. Compared to RHI, porcine zinc insulin (PZI) is veterinary-approved and therefore easier accessible for many practitioners. The aim of this study was to compare the insulin and glucose dynami...
Casado-Santos A, González-Cubero E, González-Fernández ML, González-Rodríguez Y, García-Rodríguez MB, Villar-Suárez V.Corneal ulcers are a common and potentially vision-threatening condition in horses that can be challenging to treat with conventional therapies alone. This case report describes the successful treatment of a non-healing corneal ulcer in a 28-year-old Hispano-Bretón mare using the secretome derived from adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs). Despite initial treatment with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and surgical debridement, the corneal ulcer failed to heal properly, exhibiting persistent epithelial defects and stromal complications. As an alternative regenerative appr...
Textor J.Autologous biologic therapies such as platelet-rich plasma and autologous conditioned serum are in widespread clinical use to treat musculoskeletal pathology in horses. These substances exert a therapeutic effect through the provision of either anabolic or anti-catabolic factors, or a combination of both. This article discusses the history, experimental and clinical literature, and currently accepted preparation and usage strategies for both platelet-rich plasma and autologous conditioned serum.
Brinsko SP, Varner DD, Love CC, Blanchard TL, Day BC, Wilson ME.Eight stallions were used in 2 x 2 crossover study to determine if feeding a nutriceutical rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) would improve semen quality. Stallions were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (n = 4 per group). Stallions were fed their normal diet (control) or their normal diet top-dressed with 250 g of a DHA-enriched nutriceutical. Feeding trials lasted for 14 week, after which a 14-week washout period was allowed and the treatment groups were reversed for another 14 week feeding trial. Feeding the nutriceutical resulted in a three-fold increase in semen DHA levels ...
Martin G, Plowright R, Chen C, Kault D, Selleck P, Skerratt LF.Hendra virus (HeV) is lethal to humans and horses, and little is known about its epidemiology. Biosecurity restrictions impede advances, particularly on understanding pathways of transmission. Quantifying the environmental survival of HeV can be used for making decisions and to infer transmission pathways. We estimated HeV survival with a Weibull distribution and calculated parameters from data generated in laboratory experiments. HeV survival rates based on air temperatures 24 h after excretion ranged from 2 to 10 % in summer and from 12 to 33 % in winter. Simulated survival across the distri...
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...
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. ...
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 ...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
Clutton RE.Opioid analgesics have been the foundation of human pain management for centuries, and their value in animals has increased since it was proposed that it is the veterinarian's duty to alleviate pain whenever it may occur. Compared with other domesticated species, the horse has benefitted less from the increased understanding of opioid pharmacology in animals, because early literature was overlooked and later work, which examined adverse side effects rather than analgesia, concluded that analgesic and excitatory doses were irreconcilably close. More recent studies have indicated a widening role...
Venter M, Human S, van Niekerk S, Williams J, van Eeden C, Freeman F.In 2010, lineage 1 West Nile virus was detected in South Africa in the brain of a pregnant mare that succumbed to neurologic disease and in her aborted fetus, suggesting an association with abortion in horses. All West Nile virus strains previously detected in horses and humans in South Africa were lineage 2.
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...