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.
Martineau M, Castagnet S, Kokabi E, Tricot A, Jaÿ M, Léon A, Tardy F.Bacteria belonging to the genus Mycoplasma are small-sized, have no cell walls and small genomes. They commonly cause respiratory disorders in their animal hosts. Three species have been found in the respiratory tract of horses worldwide, that is., Mycoplasma (M.) equirhinis, M. pulmonis and M. felis, but their role in clinical cases remains unclear. Objective: The aim of this study was to i) develop and validate tools to detect, isolate and identify different Mycoplasma spp. strains in clinical equine respiratory-tract specimens and ii) subsequently define the prevalence of the three species ...
Pezzanite LM, Griffenhagen GM, Bass L, Okudaira M, Larson B, Hendrickson DA.Liposomal local anaesthetic solutions may provide extended-duration analgesia postoperatively but have not been assessed following intra-peritoneal local infiltration in any species. Objective: To evaluate two doses of 1.33% liposomal bupivacaine (LB) versus 0.75% bupivacaine HCL (BHCl) for analgesia following laparoscopic ovariectomy in mares. Methods: Prospective cohort study. Methods: Fifteen healthy Quarter Horse mares (age 2-20 years) with normal bilateral ovarian palpation and appearance were enrolled. Horses were restrained in standing stocks and administered an α-2 agonist, butorpha...
Marr N, Zamboulis DE, Werling D, Felder AA, Dudhia J, Pitsillides AA, Thorpe CT. The interfascicular matrix (IFM; also known as the endotenon) is critical to the mechanical adaptations and response to load in energy-storing tendons, such as the human Achilles and equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT). We hypothesized that the IFM is a tendon progenitor cell niche housing an exclusive cell subpopulation. Immunolabelling of equine superficial digital flexor tendon was used to identify the interfascicular matrix niche, localising expression patterns of CD31 (endothelial cells), Desmin (smooth muscle cells and pericytes), CD146 (interfascicular matrix cells) and LA...
Townsend M, Fowler B, Aulakh GK, Singh B.Endotoxin-induced diseases cause significant mortality and morbidity in the horse, leading to enormous economic damage to the equine industry. Neutrophils play a critical role in initiating the immune response in the lung. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are programmed to recognize microbial structures unique to pathogens and mount an immune response. Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a PRR that is produced at sites of inflammation by many cell types upon stimulation by pro-inflammatory cytokines and agonists, such as endotoxins [also known as lipopolysaccharides (LPS)]. Pentraxin 3 recognizes and bi...
Golzari K, Kong Y, Reed SA, Posada-Quintero HF.The continuous monitoring of stress, pain, and discomfort is key to providing a good quality of life for horses. The available tools based on observation are subjective and do not allow continuous monitoring. Given the link between emotions and sympathetic autonomic arousal, heart rate and heart rate variability are widely used for the non-invasive assessment of stress and pain in humans and horses. However, recent advances in pain and stress monitoring are increasingly using electrodermal activity (EDA), as it is a more sensitive and specific measure of sympathetic arousal than heart rate var...
Kieson E, Goma AA, Radi M.Studies show that horses express favoritism through shared proximity and time and demonstrate unique affiliative behaviors such as allogrooming (mutual scratching) with favorite conspecifics. Allogrooming also occurs more frequently during stress and has been observed to occur more frequently in domestic herds than feral. The role of partner preference, lateralization, and duration of allogrooming as measures of social bonding has remained unclear. The present study looked at two socially stable herds of mares (n = 85, n = 115) to determine the frequency, duration, visual field of view and par...
Li J, Zhao Y, Mi J, Yi Z, Holyoak GR, Wu R, Wang Z, Zhu Y, Zeng S.Endometritis is a common disease in donkeys that causes economic losses to donkey farms and the common cause is bacterial infection. Uterine flush fluid proteomics has been used to study protein biomarkers associated with endometritis in mares. As a convenient diagnostic tool, serum proteomics has not been studied yet in equine species with endometritis. This study is aiming to evaluate the serum proteomics in jennies with and without endometritis and identify potential proteins as biomarker for endometritis diagnosis. Nine donkeys recruited into this study were diagnosed of bacterial (Escheri...
Ludwig EK, Hobbs KJ, McKinney-Aguirre CA, Gonzalez LM.Biomarkers are typically proteins, enzymes, or other molecular changes that are elevated or decreased in body fluids during the course of inflammation or disease. Biomarkers pose an extremely attractive tool for establishing diagnoses and prognoses of equine gastrointestinal colic, one of the most prevalent causes of morbidity and mortality in horses. This topic has received increasing attention because early diagnosis of some forms of severe colic, such as intestinal ischemia, would create opportunities for rapid interventions that would likely improve case outcomes. This review explores biom...
Dirikolu L, Waller P, Malveaux K, Lucas CH, Lomnicka I, Pourciau A, Bennadji H, Liu CC.The TCO (total carbon dioxide) test is performed on the blood of racehorses as a means of combatting the practice of administering alkalizing agents. This study evaluated serum TCO concentrations and factors influencing concentration of TCO in Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses. The normality of data were evaluated with a Shapiro-Wilk test. Mann-Whitney tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used against different effects. When a fixed effect was detected, Dunn's post-hoc comparisons were performed. The median pre-race serum TCO concentration (32.20 mmol/L (interquartile range (IQR): 30.80-33.50)) w...
Donato GG, Appino S, Bertero A, Poletto ML, Nebbia P, Robino P, Varello K, Bozzetta E, Vincenti L, Nervo T.Mares' subfertility represents a complex diagnostic and therapeutic challenge and both clinical and subclinical endometritis are considered major causes of impaired fertility. Thanks to its properties, ozone has a big potential as a treatment for equine endometritis. Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe the safety and the effects on endometrium and reproductive parameters of mares of a commercial ozone foam preparation (Riger Spray®). Twenty-four mares were treated during estrus: ozone group with an intrauterine instillation of ozone foam preparation (OG, n=16) and control group wi...
Salinas C, Barriga K, Albornoz A, Alarcon P, Quiroga J, Uberti B, Sarmiento J, Henriquez C, Ehrenfeld P, Burgos RA, Moran G.Neutrophils display an array of biological functions including the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), web-like structures specialized in trapping, neutralizing, killing and preventing microbial dissemination within the host. However, NETs contribute to a number of inflammatory pathologies, including severe equine asthma. Tamoxifen (TX) is a selective estrogen receptor modulator which belongs to the triphenylethyllenes group of molecules, and which is used as a treatment in all stages of estrogen-positive human breast cancer. Our previous results suggest that tamoxifen can modu...
DeNotta S, McFarlane D.The equine population in the United States and worldwide now includes a higher percentage of geriatric horses than ever previously recorded, and as methods to treat and manage elderly equids are developed and refined, this aging population will likely continue to expand. A better understanding of how horses age and the effect of age on immunity and disease susceptibility is needed to enable targeted preventative healthcare strategies for aged horses. This review article outlines the current state of knowledge regarding the effect of aging on immunity, vaccine responsiveness, and disease risk i...
Midon M, Yamada DI, Zangirolami Filho D, Simionato GC, Feringer Junior WH, Conde G, Hofmeister EH.This study evaluated the agreement between invasive blood pressure (IBP) values measured in three different arteries and by an oscillometric device (NIBP) with the ones from the transverse facial artery (FA). Six horses (424.2 ± 40.7 kg) were sedated with xylazine (0.6 mg/kg IV), induced with ketamine (2 mg/kg IV) and midazolam (0.1 mg/kg IV), and maintained with isoflurane (1.2 MAC) for 90 minutes in lateral recumbency. FA, auricular artery (AA), lateral digital artery (LDA), and metatarsal artery (MA) were catheterized, and a standard adult cuff was placed on the tail. IBP and NIBP values w...
Ludewig E, Rowan C, Schieder K, Frank B.The aim of this review is to describe the steps of constructing exposure tables for use of digital detector systems (DRx) in equine practice. Introductory, selected underlying technical aspects of digital radiography are illustrated. Unlike screen-film radiography (SFR), DRx have a uniform signal response of the detector over a large dose range. This enables generation of diagnostic images from exposures that were previously nondiagnostic on SFR, thus reducing retakes. However, with decreasing detector entrance dose, image noise increasingly hampers the image quality. Conversely, unlike the bl...
Zhang K, Ju Z, Zhang Y, Wang C, Mubalake S, Hu D, Zhang D, Li K, Chu H.The genus Gasterophilus (Diptera, Gastrophilidae) is an obligate parasite of the equine family that causes widespread myiasis in desert steppe. Based on four common naturally excreted Gasterophilus larvae collected systematically in the Karamaili Ungulate Nature Reserve from March to September 2021, this paper studies the population dynamics and ontogenetic laws of horse flies, and discuss the coexistence pattern and population dynamics prediction of horse flies. The results showed that the Gasterophilus larvae had obvious concentrated development period, and the time of population peaks was d...
Uchida M, Addai-Arhin S, Ishibashi H, Hirano M, Fukushima S, Ishibashi Y, Tominaga N, Arizono K.Equine estrogens (EQs) are steroidal hormones isolated from the urine of pregnant mares and are used in the formulation of human medications. This study initially investigated the embryonic developmental toxicity of equilin (Eq) and equilenin (Eqn) in medaka (Oryzias latipes). Malformations were observed in embryos exposed to nominal concentrations of 1 and 10 mg/L of Eq and Eqn. Delayed hatching was observed at 1 mg/L of Eq. To further investigate the molecular mechanism of developmental toxicity caused by Eq and Eqn, transcriptome and bioinformatics analyses were performed. Among 2016 and ...
Muko R, Sunouchi T, Urayama S, Toishi Y, Kusano K, Sato H, Muranaka M, Shin T, Oikawa MA, Ojima Y, Ali M, Nomura Y, Matsuda H, Tanaka A.Histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) is abundant plasma protein with various effects on angiogenesis, coagulation, and immune responses. Previously, we identified the base and amino acid sequences of equine HRG (eHRG) and revealed that eHRG regulates neutrophil functions. In this study, we first conducted a large-scale gene analysis with DNA samples extracted from 1700 Thoroughbred horses and identified unique insertion/deletion polymorphisms in the histidine-rich region (HRR) of eHRG. Here we report two types of polymorphisms (deletion type 1 [D1] and deletion type 2 [D2]) containing either a 45...
Bone reportsJanuary 5, 2023
Volume 18 101653 doi: 10.1016/j.bonr.2023.101653
Grissom SK, Semevolos SA, Duesterdieck-Zellmer K.The objective of this study is to better understand the pathogenesis of early equine osteochondrosis (OC) by identifying differences in gene and protein expression of extracellular matrix components and regulators in normal and diseased cartilage and bone, focusing on the osteochondral junction and cells surrounding the cartilage canals. We expected to find an upregulation of matrix metalloproteinases and a decrease in extracellular matrix constituent expression along the osteochondral junction and cells surrounding the cartilage canals in OC samples. Paraffin-embedded osteochondral samples (6...
Kolding SA, Sørensen JN, Kramer J, McCracken MJ, Reed SK, Keegan KG.Some horses increase in forelimb lameness, measured as vertical head height asymmetry, or differences in maximums and minimums of head heights (HDmax, HDmin), after a palmar digital nerve (PDN) block. The prevalence of this finding, or what it means clinically, has not been reported in peer-reviewed literature. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of increasing head height asymmetry after a PDN block and determine if this is associated with cause of forelimb lameness. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Head height asymmetry, normalised to expected vertical head displacement, from in...
Uhrin A, Pazour J, Křivohlávek M.A saddle-horn injury of the pelvis can be considered a separate category of injuries. They occur during horse riding, when a horse rider hits the horn of the saddle and suffers from anteroposterior compression of the pelvic ring. The hits can cause symphyseolysis or even sacroiliac joint injury, and thus also pelvic ring instability. So far, just a few articles have been published dealing with horse saddle-related injuries. Our report describes a rare case of abnormal haemorrhage in vascular anastomosis called corona mortis. The discussion part is then about appropriate treatment of such injur...
Gysens L, Depuydt E, Patruno M, Haspeslagh M, Spaas JH, Martens A.Sarcoids are the most common equine skin tumours Although they do not metastasize, they can be locally aggressive and cause significant clinical symptoms in affected horses. Despite being common, very little is known about the host immune response and the biological mechanisms underlying persistence and recurrence of equine sarcoids. The latter reflects the need for further research in this field. This in-vitro study used sarcoid explants from horses with naturally occurring sarcoids (n = 12) to evaluate the induction of a humoral immune response directed against equine sarcoid-derived bovin...
Bannai H, Kambayashi Y, Nemoto M, Ohta M, Tsujimura K.The immune response and protective efficacy of a modified equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) vaccine administered by two different routes were tested in horses. Horses that received intramuscular (IM) priming and an intranasal (IN) booster with a 28-day interval (IM-IN group [n = 6]), IN priming and IM booster (IN-IM group [n = 5]), or no vaccination (control group [n = 6]) were challenged with EHV-1 strain 10-I-224 28 days after the second vaccination. Both vaccinated groups had significantly higher serum virus-neutralizing titers than the control group, with increased levels of ser...
Halvarsson P, Tydén E.Gastrointestinal nematode parasites are of major concern for horses, where Strongylus vulgaris is considered the most pathogenic among the Strongylus species. Diagnosis of S. vulgaris infections can be determined with next generation sequencing techniques, which are inherently dependent on reference sequences. The best marker for parasitic nematodes is internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and we provide the first complete ITS2 sequences from five morphologically identified S. vulgaris and additional sequences from two S. edentatus. These sequences have high similarity to already published part...
Song Y, Day CM, Afinjuomo F, Tan JE, Page SW, Garg S.While the global market for veterinary products has been expanding rapidly, there is still a lack of specialist knowledge of equine pharmaceutics. In many cases, the basic structure of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and integumentary system of the horse shares similarities with those of humans. Generally, the dosage form developed for humans can be repurposed to deliver equine medications; however, due to physiological variation, the therapeutic outcomes can be unpredictable. This is an area that requires more research, as there is a clear deficiency in literature precedence on drug delivery...
Johnson SA, Frisbie DD, Griffenhagen GM, King MR.Blood flow restriction (BFR) has become a key rehabilitative tool for human orthopaedic conditions. With modernised technology and evolution of clinical application, patient-specific delivery of occlusion percentages is now considered the standard of care in human patients due to improved therapeutic outcomes and minimised safety risks. Safety validation and limb occlusion pressure (LOP) data for horses, however, are lacking. Objective: (1) To determine if BFR exposure resulted in forelimb biomechanical gait dysfunction as safety validation and (2) to investigate inter-horse and inter-limb LOP...
Harding C, Viljanto M, Habershon-Butcher J, Taylor P, Scarth J.YK-11 is a steroidal selective androgen receptor modulator, a compound class prohibited in both equine racing and human sports because of their potentially performance enhancing properties. YK-11 is easily accessible via internet-based supplement vendors making this compound a possible candidate for doping; however, its phases I and II metabolism has not yet been reported in the horse. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vivo metabolites of YK-11 in urine and plasma following oral administration with three daily doses of 50 mg to two Thoroughbred horses. In vitro incubations ...
Aparicio IM, Rojo-Domínguez P, Castillejo-Rufo A, Peña FJ, Tapia JA.Despite its importance in somatic cells and during spermatogenesis, little is known about the role that autophagy may play in ejaculated spermatozoa. Our aim was to investigate whether the molecular components of autophagy, such as microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3), are activated in stallion spermatozoa during the capacitation and acrosome reaction and if this activation could modulate these biological processes. To analyze the autophagy turnover, LC3I and LC3II proteins were assessed by western blotting, and the ratio between both proteins (LC3II/LC3I) was calculated. In so...
Balena V, Pradhan SS, Bera BC, Anand T, Sansanwal R, Khetmalis R, Madhwal A, Bernela M, Supriya K, Pavulraj S, Tripathi BN, Virmani N.Equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) infection causes significant health problems in equines. The EHV-1 infection leads to abortion storm in mares, respiratory disease and myeloencephalopathy. Despite the wide use of vaccines, the outbreaks of EHV-1 infections keep occurring globally, suggesting the need for the development of improved vaccines. Gene deletion attenuated mutant viruses could be a good candidate for the development of modified live vaccines. Here, we report the generation of mutant EHV-1 by deleting virulence (glycoprotein E & internal repeat 6; IR6) and immune evasive (pUL43 &a...
Mattei D, Fenn MS, Caraguel C, Vinardell T.The characterization of the blood groups, antibody profiles, and its distribution pattern among different horse breeds and geographic locations, can be very useful in life-threatening situations where a blood transfusion is needed, and compatibility tests are not readily available. This study estimated the distribution of blood types and antibody profiles in Straight Egyptian Arabian horses from Qatar. A total of 20 Straight Egyptian Arabian horses, from multiple origins and genetic background were included. Venous blood from each horse was typed and screened for anti-red blood cell (RBC) hemo...
Mendoza FJ, Pérez-Écija A, Kappmeyer LS, Suarez CE, Bastos RG.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a global tick-borne disease of equids caused by the intraerythrocytic apicomplexan parasites and , and the more recently discovered . These parasites can be transmitted by several tick species, including , , and , but iatrogenic and vertical transmission are also common. Clinical signs of EP include poor performance, fever, icterus, abortions, among others, and peracute or acute forms of infection are associated with high mortality in non-endemic areas. EP is a reportable disease and represents an important barrier for the international trade of horses and other e...
Archer BG, Crawford TB, McGuire TC, Frazier ME.Equine infectious anemia (EIAV) is shown to have an associated RNA-instructed DNA polymerase similar in its cofactor requirements and reaction conditions to the RNA tumor virus DNA polymerases. Demonstrating this DNA polymerase activity requires a critical concentration of a nonionic detergent, all four deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, and a divalent metal ion. The reaction is sensitive to RNase, and a substantial fraction of the FNA synthesized is complementary to viral RNA. The detection of a complex of tritium-labeled polymerase product DNA-template RNA, which sedimented at 60S to 70S, pr...
Knottenbelt DC, Kelly DF.OBJECTIVE: Diagnosis and management of periorbital sarcoids in horses is a significant clinical challenge for the practicing veterinary surgeon and pathologist. The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of various types of sarcoids to different therapeutic methods. Animals studied Medical records of 445 clinical patients. Procedures This paper retrospectively examines the clinical and histological features of periorbital sarcoids and the treatment of 445 cases. Treatment by surgical excision, cryosurgery, Bacillus-Calmette-Gaérin (BCG) immunomodulation, topical cytotoxic appli...
Perumal AN, Gunawardene YI, Dassanayake RS.Setaria digitata is a filarial parasite that causes fatal cerebrospinal nematodiasis in goats, sheep and horses, resulting in substantial economic losses in animal husbandry in the tropics. Due to its close resemblance to Wuchereria bancrofti, this nematode is also frequently used as a model organism to study human lymphatic filariasis. This review highlights numerous insights into the morphological, histological, biochemical, immunological and genetic aspects of S. digitata that have broadened our understanding towards the control and eradication of filarial diseases.
Morita H, Shiratori C, Murakami M, Takami H, Toh H, Kato Y, Nakajima F, Takagi M, Akita H, Masaoka T, Hattori M.Four bacterial strains, designated ST18(T), HM244, HM250 and DI49, were isolated from the fresh faeces of four thoroughbred horses in Japan. Cells were Gram-positive, strictly anaerobic, catalase-negative, non-spore-forming, non-motile rods that occurred in chains. They were placed in the same subcluster based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, phenotypic characteristics and levels of DNA-DNA relatedness. Their DNA G+C content ranged from 36 to 38 mol%. Lactobacillus catenaformis, Lactobacillus vitulinus and Catenibacterium mitsuokai belong to cluster XVII of the Clostridium subphylum. Strain...
Goodwin WA, Keates HL, Pasloske K, Pearson M, Sauer B, Ranasinghe MG.To determine the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the neurosteroidal anaesthetic, alfaxalone, in horses after a single intravenous (IV) injection of alfaxalone, following premedication with acepromazine, xylazine and guaiphenesin. Methods: Prospective experimental study. Methods: Ten (five male and five female), adult, healthy, Standardbred horses. Methods: Horses were premedicated with acepromazine (0.03 mg kg(-1) IV). Twenty minutes later they received xylazine (1 mg kg(-1) IV), then after 5 minutes, guaiphenesin (35 mg kg(-1) IV) followed immediately by IV induction of anaesthesia w...
VAN UDEN N, DO SOUSA LC, FARINHA M.From the caeca of 252 horses, 503 sheep, 250 goats and 250 swine, 486 yeast isolates belonging to 28 species and 1 variety were obtained. The distribution of the yeasts of any species and for Candida albicans respectively was: horses, 52·4%, 4·4%; sheep, 6·8%, 4·2%; goats, 6·4%, 08%; swine, 88·8%, 9·2%. The suitability of the sheep and goats as hosts for yeasts of any species seems very limited.
The most frequent occurrences for single species were: Candida slooffii in swine (48·4%), Trichosporon cutaneum in horses (21·8%) and Saccharomyces tellustris (Candida bovina) in swine (14%...
Reed SR, Jackson BF, Mc Ilwraith CW, Wright IM, Pilsworth R, Knapp S, Wood JL, Price JS, Verheyen KL.No large scale epidemiological studies have previously quantified the occurrence of carpal, metacarpo- and metatarsophalangeal (MCP/MTP) joint injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses. Objective: To develop an objective classification system for carpal and MCP/MTP joint injuries and estimate the incidence of these injuries in young Thoroughbreds in flat race training. Methods: In a prospective cohort study, data on daily exercise and veterinary-diagnosed carpal and MCP/MTP joint injuries were collected from Thoroughbreds monitored since starting training as yearlings, for up to 2 years. Cases were ...
Bishop RP, Kappmeyer LS, Onzere CK, Odongo DO, Githaka N, Sears KP, Knowles DP, Fry LM.Equine theileriosis, a tick-transmitted disease caused by the hemoprotozoan parasites Theileria equi and Theileria haneyi, affects equids throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is a significant regulatory concern in non-endemic countries, where testing for equine theileriosis is required prior to horse import to prevent parasite entry. Within endemic areas, infection causes significant morbidity and mortality, leading to economic losses. No vaccine for equine theileriosis is available, and current drug treatment protocols are inconsistent and associated with significant s...
Stowe HD, Herdt TH.Assessment of the selenium status of livestock is an important aspect of production medicine, but variations in reported values between laboratories and between methods may be > 30%. Reliable interpretations require considerable experience with an assay and an extensive database from field and research case samples of a variety of species. The Michigan State University Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory (MSU-ADHL) has offered Se analyses by acid-digestion and fluorometric detection since 1982. This laboratory expects serum Se values (nanograms per milliliter) of livestock to increase graduall...
Whetter L, Archambault D, Perry S, Gazit A, Coggins L, Yaniv A, Clabough D, Dahlberg J, Fuller F, Tronick S.A full-length molecular clone of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) was isolated from a persistently infected canine fetal thymus cell line (Cf2Th). Upon transfection of equine dermis cells, the clone, designated CL22, yielded infectious EIAV particles (CL22-V) that replicated in vitro in both Cf2Th cells and an equine dermis cell strain. Horses infected with CL22-V developed an antibody response to viral proteins and possessed viral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, as determined by polymerase chain reaction assays. In addition, horses infected with CL22-V became persistently infe...
Purohit RC, McCoy MD.To evaluate the use of thermography in equine medicine, a three-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, six horses were examined thermographically, before and after exercise, to determine a normal thermal pattern. In the second phase, nine horses with acute and chronic inflammatory processes were examined thermographically. In the third phase, thermography was used to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs on chemically induced inflammatory reactions. All normal horses tested had similar infrared emission patterns. There was a high degree of symmetry between right and lef...
Brinsko SP, Crockett EC, Squires EL.The objective of this study was to determine if centrifugation and partial removal of seminal plasma would improve spermatozoal motility in semen from stallions whose whole ejaculates have poor tolerance to cooling and storage. Stallions were divided into two groups (n = 5/group) based on the ability of their extended semen to maintain spermatozoal motility after cooling and storage. Group 1 stallions ("good coolers") produced semen in which progressive spermatozoal motility after 24 h of cooling and storage was reduced by < or = 30% of progressive motility prior to storage. Group 2 stallions ...
Scott EY, Mansour T, Bellone RR, Brown CT, Mienaltowski MJ, Penedo MC, Ross PJ, Valberg SJ, Murray JD, Finno CJ.Efforts to resolve the transcribed sequences in the equine genome have focused on protein-coding RNA. The transcription of the intergenic regions, although detected via total RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), has yet to be characterized in the horse. The most recent equine transcriptome based on RNA-seq from several tissues was a prime opportunity to obtain a concurrent long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) database. This lncRNA database has a breadth of eight tissues and a depth of over 20 million reads for select tissues, providing the deepest and most expansive equine lncRNA database. Utilizing the intergen...
Lee KE, Kim JG, Lee H, Kim BS.This study aimed to investigate whether breed, sex, and age affected temperament differently (more or less neophobic) in mature horses during a novel object test. The study included Jeju crossbred (n = 12, age = 9.42 ± 4.57 y), Thoroughbred (n = 15, age = 10.73 ± 3.09 y), and Warmblood horses (n = 12, age = 13.08 ± 3.55 y) with the females (n = 22, age = 11.36 ± 4.24 y) and geldings (n = 17, age = 10.65 ± 3.66 y). Jeju crossbreds (Jeju horse × Thoroughbred) are valuable considering their popular usage in Korea, but limited studies have explored temperament of Jeju crossbred horses. A tra...
Raekallio M, Taylor PM, Bennett RC.Twenty-five horses undergoing arthroscopic surgery were studied to develop a scheme for assessing pain in horses while investigating the effects of phenylbutazone (PBZ) analgesia. Fifteen of the 25 horses received PBZ 4 mg/kg intravenously (IV) before surgery and 2 mg/kg (IV) every 12 hours thereafter until 60 hours; the remaining 10 (placebo group) were given a corresponding volume of saline. In both groups, venous blood samples were collected for catecholamine, beta-endorphin, and cortisol assays before premedication and up to 72 hours after surgery. Postoperative pain was evaluated by measu...
Hasegaw T, Sato F, Ishida N, Fukushima Y, Mukoyama H.A quick method for sex determination of horses was developed. Simultaneous amplification of the equine sex-determining region of the Y chromosome gene (SRY) and amelogenin gene (AMEL) accomplished the determination of the presence of both the Y chromosome and SRY gene. In agarose gel electrophoresis, a normal stallion showed 1 SRY band and 3 AMEL (AMELX, AMELY, and AMELX/AMELY heteroduplex) bands, and a normal mare showed a single AMELX band. In XY-mares, 3 AMEL bands were detected as in a normal stallion, but no SRY band. The present method enables a quick diagnosis for XY-mare prior to cytog...
Reinemeyer CR.Since 2002, selected populations of Parascaris equorum in several countries have been reported to survive treatment with macrocyclic lactone (M/L) anthelmintics. Clinical treatment failures are characterized by negligible fecal egg count reduction, but M/L resistance has been confirmed in ascarids by controlled efficacy testing. Resistance was selected by current parasite control practices for foals, which often include exclusive and excessively frequent use of M/L dewormers, thereby minimizing refugia within the host and in the environment. Chemical control of M/L-resistant isolates can be ac...
Peña FJ, Plaza Davila M, Ball BA, Squires EL, Martin Muñoz P, Ortega Ferrusola C, Balao da Silva C.The traditional assessment of stallion sperm comprises evaluation of sperm motility and membrane integrity and identification of abnormal morphology of the spermatozoa. More recently, the progressive introduction of flow cytometry is increasing the number of tests available. However, compared with other sperm structures and functions, the evaluation of mitochondria has received less attention in stallion andrology. Recent research indicates that sperm mitochondria are key structures in sperm function suffering major changes during biotechnological procedures such as cryopreservation. In this p...
Racklyeft DJ, Love DN.To investigate associations between the bacteriology and aspects of history, clinical presentation, outcome and pathology of lower respiratory tract disease of 34 horses. Methods: Detailed aerobic and anaerobic bacteriological investigations were performed on clinical specimens from horses with pneumonia, lung abscessation and necrotic pneumonia with or without pleurisy in an attempt to identify those bacteria that might contribute to the initiation and progression of infection. Results: Bacteria were cultured from 33 of the 34 horses. In ten cases, only aerobic/facultatively anaerobic isolate...
Sarkar S, Chelvarajan L, Go YY, Cook F, Artiushin S, Mondal S, Anderson K, Eberth J, Timoney PJ, Kalbfleisch TS, Bailey E, Balasuriya UB.Previous studies in our laboratory have identified equine CXCL16 (EqCXCL16) to be a candidate molecule and possible cell entry receptor for equine arteritis virus (EAV). In horses, the CXCL16 gene is located on equine chromosome 11 (ECA11) and encodes a glycosylated, type I transmembrane protein with 247 amino acids. Stable transfection of HEK-293T cells with plasmid DNA carrying EqCXCL16 (HEK-EqCXCL16 cells) increased the proportion of the cell population permissive to EAV infection from <3% to almost 100%. The increase in permissiveness was blocked either by transfection of HEK-EqCXCL16 cell...
Madani H, Casal J, Alba A, Allepuz A, Cêtre-Sossah C, Hafsi L, Kount-Chareb H, Bouayed-Chaouach N, Saadaoui H, Napp S.Antibodies against bluetongue virus were detected in cattle, sheep, goats, and camels in Algeria in 2008. Antibodies against epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus were detected in cattle, but antibodies against African horse sickness virus were not detected in horses and mules. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease in northern Africa poses a major risk for the European Union.
Tucker RL, Farrell E.Horses are frequently presented with clinical conditions warranting diagnostic imaging of the head. Unfortunately, evaluation of the equine head can be difficult using conventional radiography. The anatomic complexity and superimposition of the osseous, dental, and soft tissue structures complicate radiographic interpretation and diagnoses. Multiple radiographic projections may be necessary to image specific regions, and side-to-side comparison is often essential.
Dyson S, Nagy A, Murray R.Eight sports horses with unilateral (4) or bilateral (3) forelimb or unilateral hindlimb (1) lameness had subtle radiologic abnormalities of the subchondral bone of the sagittal groove of the proximal phalanx associated with moderate or intense increased radiopharmaceutical uptake. High-field or low-field magnetic resonance (MR) imaging confirmed the presence of a fissure fracture or subchondral and trabecular bone trauma. Seven of eight lesions were located approximately midway between the dorsal and palmar cortices of the proximal phalanx; the eighth was sited more dorsally. Two horses under...