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.
Parry BW, McCarthy MA, Anderson GA.Resting coccygeal blood pressure values were measured, indirectly, on 296 horses (97 Thoroughbreds, 97 Standardbreds and 102 hacks). Blood pressure was found to vary with the class of horse examined; on average Thoroughbreds had significantly higher values than Standardbreds and hacks, whereas blood pressures of the last two groups were not significantly different. There was no demonstrable effect of sex, height or heart rate on blood pressure, but temperature and age did influence the value recorded. Mean (+/- sd) (n = 296) coccygeal uncorrected values (systolic pressure/diastolic pressure) w...
Kleider N, Lees MJ.The investigation of a chronic, seasonal dermatitis of horses in southwestern British Columbia is described. Typically the history indicated an insidious onset, followed by a gradual progression in the severity of the signs each year. Lesions appeared during the warmer months of the year and tended to regress during the winter. The clinical signs consisted of areas of pruritus and excoriation, affecting predominantly the ventral midline, mane and tailhead. In all cases corticosteroid therapy relieved the pruritus and allowed the lesions to heal.The salient pathological findings were hyperkerat...
McIlwraith CW.This paper reviews the current status of diagnostic and surgical arthroscopy in the horse. Arthroscopy has been used as a diagnostic aid since 1974 and is useful for evaluation of abnormalities in synovial membrane and articular cartilage. Surgical arthroscopy is a more recent advance that has replaced conventional arthrotomy in 90 per cent of the author's cases. Clinical conditions currently being treated using arthroscopic techniques rather than arthrotomy include all chip fractures in the carpus, chip fractures of the first phalanx, chronic proliferative synovitis in the fetlock and osteoch...
Badoux DM.The ratio between the length of the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments and the distance between their femoral and tibial attachments in the canine and equine knee joint reveals that these structures form a Tchebychev mechanism for parallel motion.
Sławomirski J, Flieger S, Jastrzebski M, Boratyński Z.The studies carried out on 2 spinal cords of horses showed that cells of the medial motor nucleus (nucleus motorius medialis) are present in all neuromers of the lumbar and sacral segment of the spinal cord. It lies in the medial part of grey matter of the ventral column, neighbouring laterally and ventrally with cells of the lateral motor nucleus, whereas dorsally with cells of the nucleus of the ventral commissural horn. Along the nucleus numerous constrictions and intervals are found, which are connected with various numbers of nerve cells in particular cross-sections.
Holt PE, Pearson H.The presenting signs, treatment and postoperative progress of 13 horses with vesical and urethral calculi are reviewed. Single, discrete stones were present in 10 animals in which the results of treatment were generally good. In three horses with sabulous cystic deposits, urolithiasis was associated with bladder paralysis and the response to treatment was poor.
Hopfer SM, Van Kruiningen HJ, Daniels WH.Twelve horses were divided into three groups and given various doses of a mixed species strongyle inoculum, representing light, moderate, and heavy infections. Three weeks after the larval inoculations, three animals from each group were given larvicidal doses of thiabendazole (TBZ) (440 mg kg-1 on two consecutive days); one animal from each group served as a non-medicated control. Treatment was repeated three weeks later. One treated animal from each group was designated for long-term study; others were necropsied to study adult and larval parasite loads. Six of the twelve animals with strong...
Perryman LE, Wyatt CR.Equine lymphocytes incubated with Con A and isolated on discontinuous BSA density gradients suppressed mixed lymphocyte reactions in a cell dose- and Con A dose-dependent manner. Suppressor lymphocytes were radiosensitive, even after the initial Con A incubation phase was completed. Suppressor activity was consistently demonstrated using peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes from normal horses, but was absent in thymus cells and variably present in lymph node cells. Suppressor lymphocytes were present in horses with selective IgM deficiency, and within neoplastic lymph nodes from a horse wit...
Pomorski Z, Pinkiewicz E, Grzebuła S.In the studies attempts were to demonstrate the occurrence of immunological reactivity against antigens of the lens and tunica vascularis of the eye in periodical inflammation of eyes in horses. For this purpose antigens from the lens and tunica vascularis of the eye, prepared in our laboratory, were used in the experiments. The reactivity of horses with monthly symptoms of blindness against the above antigens was determined in vivo (skin tests and PCA) and in vitro (ID reaction). The results obtained mainly in skin tests account for its occurrence in some percentage of diseased animals, becau...
Westermarck E, Lindberg LA, Sandholm M.A sensitive gel-diffusion assay for determination of phospholipase A was developed. PLA standards, serum, faecal and pancreas homogenate samples with PLA-activity were allowed to diffuse from wells into agar-gels containing lecithin-membranes. The turbidity cleared radially upon PLA-activity. The diameters of the cleared zones showed a linear relationship with the log of the enzyme concentration. Serum samples resulted in some turbidity within the cleared zones. This interference originating from serum lipoproteins could be abolished by hydrophobic absorption. The gel-diffusion method was comp...
Johansson IM, Schubert B.Flunixin is determined in equine plasma by liquid chromatography on LiChrosorb RP-18 with 70% methanol in phosphate buffer pH 3.1 as the eluent, with detection at 284 nm. Plasma is deproteinized with methanol and the supernatant is then injected directly into the system. With a short pre-column (5 x 3 mm i.d.), which is replaced after 25-40 injections of sample, 420 plasma samples could be analysed on one analytical column. The detection limit in plasma is 0.30 micromol/l (89 ng/ml) and the method can be used in pharmacokinetic studies.
Magnuson NS, Perryman LE, Decker DM, Magnuson JA.2'-Deoxyadenosine and 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine (ARA) are apparent suicide inhibitors for equine S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase. In initial velocity studies of the synthetic reaction converting adenosine and homocysteine to S-adenosylhomocysteine, adenine, adenosine 5'-triphosphate, and 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine were found to be competitive inhibitors with Kis of 3.8 microM, 1.1 mM, and 30 microM, respectively. In contrast, linear mixed inhibition was observed for 2'-deoxyadenosine, indicating that 2'-deoxyadenosine must bind in more than one fashion to the enzyme.
Klei TR, Torbert BJ, Chapman MR, Turk MA.A controlled test method was used to evaluate the efficacy of injectable micelle and oral paste formulations of ivermectin (22,23-dihydroavermectin B1) against 8-week-old Strongylus vulgaris larvae in experimentally infected pony foals. The dosage level of the drug in both formulations tested was 0.2 mg/kg. Ponies were euthanatized and necropsied 5 weeks after treatment. Based on the recovery of live vs dead S vulgaris from mesenteric arteries, both formulations were greater than 99% effective. Increased weight gains and marked reductions in the severity of arterial lesions were observed in tr...
Metenier L, Grosclaude J, Meriaux JC.The chief application of blood typing in domestic animals is in the verification of parentage. However, the acquisition of good standardized reagents in sufficient quantity remains an obstacle for the development of this work. The production of monoclonal antibodies directed against blood group determinants offers an attractive means of improving both the quality and quantity of serological reagents, and could facilitate the definition of new specificities. Fusions between a mouse myeloma line and splenocytes from mice immunized with horse red cells have resulted in four hybridomas producing a...
Dewey EA, Maylin GA.The metabolism of propionylpromazine in the horse was studied. Although propionylpromazine is not currently approved or recommended for use in horses, it has been used illegally to alter their performance. Propionylpromazine hydrochloride was administered intramuscularly at clinical and subclinical doses. Three metabolites were detected in urine. The major metabolite was identified as 2-(1-hydroxypropyl) promazine sulfoxide. The detection of this metabolite in routine drug testing has been described.
Hilbert BJ, Rowley G, Antonas KN.A method previously described was used to determine the hyaluronic acid concentration in synovia from normal and arthritic horse joints. The concentration of hyaluronic acid in the synovia from arthritic joints was found to be significantly lower than the concentration in fluid from normal joints.
Frost ML, Colton SW, Wertz PW, Downing DT.The C34, C36, and C38 dienoic omega-lactones were isolated from sebum of the horse (Equus caballus) and the double bond positions were determined by stepwise chemical dissection and analysis of the fragments. The structures found could be formed by delta 9-desaturation at the C18-stage of fatty acid biosynthesis followed by a second delta 9-desaturation when the chains reached C24, C26, C28, C30, or C32 and then addition of one to seven 2-carbon units. These findings provide insight into the dimensions and organization of the endoplasmic reticulum in cells of the sebaceous glands.
Pfeil L, Zetner K.A mare with rectal prolaps was operated at Vienna University. The prolaps was corrected by mucosal resection only. The remaining vital layers of the corresponding intestinal section were saved. The advantage of a special tissue saving operating technique in the rectal area is seen in avoiding postoperative complications.
Dipeolu OO, Adeyefa CA.Ticks of the species Amblyomma variegatum (Fabr.), Boophilus decoloratus (Koch), Boophilus geigyi Aeschl. et Morel, and Hyalomma rufipes Koch were detached from cattle, sheep and horses and the influence of these various hosts on the biology of ticks was investigated. No A. variegatum was found in horses. The parameters studied were preoviposition and oviposition periods, ovipositional capacity, eclosion period, hatching patterns, egg sizes and temperature effect. Although the preoviposition and eclosion periods were similar in each tick species irrespective of the host from which the adults w...
Osterhoff DR, Groenewald J.By using isoelectric focusing in thin agarose slab gels 1049 Thoroughbred, 82 Nooitgedachter, 45 Percheron and 244 horses of other breeds were examined. The numbers of other Equidae tested were 107 donkeys, 50 mules, 4 common zebras (Equus burchelli boehmi) and 8 mountain zebras (Equus zebra hartmannae). Phenotypic data are presented for all tested animals and gene frequencies are calculated for the horses.
Udén P, Van Soest PJ.Fiber fermentation using the in situ bag technique was studied in a hay-fed cow. Entry of fine particles into bags of varying pore size, the effect of sample size, rumen contractions, bag porosity and rumen contraction (bags suspended in vitro or in situ) and obstruction of liquid flow through the bag cloth were investigated (Exp. 1). In Exp. 2 fiber degradation in vitro and in situ with 5- and 37-micron pore size bags was measured utilizing six fistulated heifers (four large: 610 kg and two small: 243 kg), two sheep and two goats (30 kg), three ponies (130 kg) and four rabbits (3.2 kg). Degra...
Evans KS, Carpenter SL, Sevoian M.The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antigen-positive and agar-gel immunodiffusion test (AGID)-negative horses do not have infective equine infectious anemia (EIA) virus. The ELISA testing of horse leukocyte culture (HLC) supernatants did detect EIA virus in a HLC that was infected with the Wyoming strain of EIA virus and in HLC derived from horses in febrile, acute, or subacute stages of EIA infection. In supernatants of HLC derived from chronic and inapparent carrier horses, EIA virus was not detected with ELISA. Direct fluorescent antibody tests detected EIA virus in HLC infected w...
López-Rivero JL, Diz AM, Monterde JG, Agüera E.The results from a recent study by Bruce and Schurg (1990) indicate that the gluteus medius (Gm) of the horse is a complex muscle subdivided by an internal tendinous sheet into two regions (dorsal and ventral) which may subserve different functions. In the present study, both regions were found to contain a similar proportion of histochemically-determined muscle fibre types. Fibre type composition did not generally vary over the length of the muscle at the same relative depth. In contrast, there was a significant tendency for the percentage of type I fibres to increase gradually in accordance ...
Zaleska M, Anusz K, Winnicka A, Kita J.Twelve horses, all of them 10 years old, were vaccinated intramuscularly on 0 and 28 days of the experiment with inactivated vaccine containing only antigens of A-equi-2/Miami/63. Another three unvaccinated horses, each at the age of 10 years, were the negative control group. One, ten-year-old horse was vaccinated with commercial inactivated vaccine containing both antigens of A-equi-2/Miami/63 as well as A-equi-1/Praha/56 as positive control. Three horses were challenged intranasally with homotypic strain of Miami/63, while six other were challenged with heterotypic strains--three with Suffol...
Whitton RC, McCarthy PH, Rose RJ.To describe in detail the structure of the medial palmar intercarpal ligament (MPICL), the lateral palmar intercarpal ligament (LPICL), and a dorsomedial intercarpal ligament (DMICL) of the equine midcarpal joint. Methods: Dissections of equine midcarpal joints. ANIMALS AND SAMPLE POPULATION: Ten carpal joints from eight thoroughbred horses. Methods: Detailed dissections of the midcarpal joint were performed, with particular attention paid to the MPICL, the LPICL, and the DMICL. The attachments and dimensions of these structures were recorded, as well as their behavior during joint movement. R...
Dunlop CI, Hodgson DS, Chapman PL, Grandy JL, Waldron RD.The purpose of this study was to compare the thermodilution technique for estimation of cardiac output with the indocyanine green dye dilution technique at flows between 10 and 39 L/min in halothane-anesthetized horses. The estimation of area of dye dilution cardiac output curves was made by using the fore-'n-aft (FA) triangle method. This shorthand technique was compared with logarithmic exponential extrapolation and summation (extrapolated area), using 64 cardiac output curves. Then, 256 simultaneous thermodilution measurements were compared with dye dilution measurements calculated by use o...
Evans JW, Stanfield J, Hoffman LS, Slaussen C.Testes were obtained from 70 colts and stallions and were pooled according to age (4 months to 23 years) to determine the relationship of age to LH/hCG receptor kinetics. The receptor concentration (Rt) increased from 0.069 x 10(-11) M/mg crude membrane fraction (CMF) for the 4-14-month pools to 0.464 x 10(-11) M for the 2-3-year-old pools. A 10-fold increase in testicular size also occurred, and so the total number of receptors per testis was significantly increased. A further increase to 1.237 x 10(-11) M/mg CMF was observed for stallions older than 5 years. No differences in binding affinit...
Arantes JA, Borges AS, Zakia LS, Surette MG, Weese JS, Costa MC, Arroyo LG.Iron is an essential element for all living organisms, including bacteria, as several virulence factors and replication components are influenced by iron concentration. The objective of this study was to determine whether the composition and diversity of the fecal microbiota of adult horses are affected by supplemental dietary iron. Ten clinically healthy horses were randomly divided into a control and an iron-supplemented group ( = 5). The treated group was supplemented with oral ferrous sulphate monohydrate (720 ppm of iron), whereas the control group received 320 ppm of iron daily for 15 d....
Skrabalak DS, Cuddy KK, Henion JD.Micro-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (micro-LC-MS) was utilized to quantitatively determine betamethasone and its major unconjugated metabolite, 6 beta-hydroxybetamethasone, in equine plasma and urine. The advantage of micro-LC-MS over conventional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in corticosteroid determination is illustrated and the reliable, steadfast nature of micro-LC-MS is demonstrated through example.
Kotzé SH, Soley JT.Spirally arranged bundles of sub-endothelial smooth muscle enfold the small to medium-sized submucosal veins in the equine ileocecal junction. The muscle bundles, accompanied by the endothelial lining, bulge into the lumen of the vessels, partly occluding the latter. Transmission electron microscopy of the muscle cells reveals features consistent with vascular smooth muscle ultrastructure. It is proposed that the throttling effect of the muscle bundles causes engorgement of the submucosal venous plexus, which then assists in the closing of the ileocecal orifice.
Pfeiffer CJ, Murray MJ, Fainter L.The granular columnar epithelial cell of the equine dorsal large colon has been studied by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis. Particular attention was focused on nuclear bodies commonly observed as central clusters of spherical, electron-dense inclusions within the nucleus. Ultrastructural morphology as well as X-ray microanalysis spectra reveal great similarity between colonic nuclear bodies and the numerous small granules of the apical cytoplasm in these epithelial cells. X-ray spectra of these cells were distinct from those of goblet cell mucous granules and mast cell...
Caporali EH, Kuykendall T, Stewart MC.To fully sequence and characterize equine aggrecan and confirm conservation of major aggrecanase, calpain and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) cleavage sites. Methods: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and rapid amplification of cDNA ends were used to generate clones that encompassed the complete equine aggrecan sequence. Clones were sequenced and compared with the equine genome database to determine intron-exon boundaries. Results: The aggrecan gene spans over 61 kb on chromosome 1 and is encoded by 17 exons. Two major variants of aggrecan were cloned; one containing 8187 bp (2728...
Pietra M, Guglielmini C, Forni M, Cinotti S.The viscosity of the mucus, its DNA concentration and the size range of the DNA were determined on tracheobronchial samples from 11 horses with lower airway diseases before and after incubation with recombinant human deoxyribonuclease (rhDNase). The horses were divided into two groups on the basis of the cytology of the samples: group A (five horses) with more than 60 per cent neutrophils and group B (six horses) with fewer than 50 per cent neutrophils. The mean mucus viscosity and DNA concentration in the preincubation samples were significantly higher in group A than in group B, and there wa...
Goto I, Kamada M, Inaba M, Maede Y.A protein A-hemolytic plaque assay was applied to detect immunoglobulin (Ig)-producing cells in horse peripheral blood, using pokeweed mitogen as a B lymphocyte activator. A maximum number of Ig-secreting cells was obtained when horse peripheral blood lymphocytes were cultured in a medium containing horse serum. The number of Ig-secreting cells in young horses (2 years old) was lower than that in adult horses (6 to 23 years old). In addition, the plaque formation was unchanged from blood samples kept at 4 degrees C for 24 hours, while blood samples kept for 72 hours did not yield plaques. Thes...
Nunamaker DM, Nash RA.To report development, configuration, application, and results of a tapered-sleeve transcortical pin external skeletal fixation device (TSP ESFD) for use on fractures of the distal aspect of the equine limb. Methods: Optimization analysis of a TSP ESFD was carried out with mechanical testing and review of clinical case outcomes. Methods: Cadaveric adult third metacarpal bones (MC3) for mechanical testing; horses (n=7) with severely comminuted proximal (6; P1) or second (1) phalanx fractures. Methods: Mechanical testing of methods for attachment of TSP to the sidebars were tested as well as opt...
Shirer HW, Orr JA, Loker JL.To determine if CO2-sensitive airway receptors are important in the control of breathing, CO2 was preferentially loaded into the respiratory airways in conscious ponies. The technique involved adding small amounts of 100% CO2 to either the latter one-third or latter two-thirds of the inspiratory air in an attempt to raise CO2 concentrations in the airway dead space independent of the arterial blood. Arterial blood gas tensions (PCO2 and PO2) and pH, as well as respiratory output (minute volume, tidal volume, and respiratory rate), were measured in a series of 20 experiments on 5 awake ponies. ...
Bell BT, Baker GJ, Abbott LC, Foreman JH, Kneller SK.The vascular anatomy of the ethmoidal area in six normal horses and two normal ponies was studied using vascular-corrosion casts. The major arterial supply to the ethmoidal area stems from an intracranial source. The internal and external ethmoidal arteries anastomose on the rostral intracranial surface of the cribriform plate to form the arterial ethmoidal rete which arborizes and passes through the perforations of the cribriform plate to supply the ethmoid labyrinth. A minor arterial supply to the ventral portion of the ethmoid labyrinth stems from a small caudal nasal branch of the sphenopa...
Işık R.Lactoferrin (LTF), also called lactotransferrin, is an iron-binding protein and member of transferrin family, whereas β-LG is an important milk protein and belongs to the ligand-binding protein family of lipocalins and binds retinol. Beta-lactoglobulin (β-LG) is a major whey protein and it is a member of lipocalins family. β-LG is also known as a major allergen reason of cow milk protein allergy. Yet, no information has been reported about β-LG and LTF genes in donkeys. In this study, the genetic variation of β-LG and LTF genes were analyzed via DNA sequencing in 77 donkeys, which were in...
Hinchcliff KW, McGuirk SM, MacWilliams PS.Pharmacokinetics of phenolsulfonphthalein (PSP) in horse and pony mares was determined after injection of 1 mg/kg of body weight, IV. A plasma PSP concentration vs time curve was described adequately in horses and ponies by an open, 2-compartment model. There were significant differences in the elimination phase parameters, apparent volume of distribution at steady state, and apparent volume of distribution of horses and ponies. The harmonic mean elimination half-life of PSP in horses was significantly longer (P less than 0.001) than that in the ponies (16.4 and 10.0 minutes, respectively). Th...
Gaskin JM, Neal FC, Rubin HL.Precipitin lines not associated with equine infectious anemia (EIA) were observed in routine agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) testing for the infection. The serums which produced these lines were obtained from horses which had been given multiple vaccinations with commercially available cell culture-origin equine virus vaccines as part of a comprehensive herd health program. The lines formed against cell culture-derived, but not spleen-derived EIA viral antigens. Investigation revealed that bovine serum proteins in the vaccines induced precipitating antibodies which reacted with bovine serum pr...