Veterinary science and horses encompass the study and application of medical, surgical, and therapeutic practices to maintain and improve the health and welfare of equines. This field addresses a wide range of topics, including disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as nutrition, reproduction, and behavior. Research in veterinary science for horses often involves understanding the pathophysiology of equine-specific diseases, developing advanced diagnostic techniques, and improving treatment protocols. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of veterinary science related to horses, providing insights into the latest advancements and methodologies in equine healthcare.
Ellis WA, O'Brien JJ, Cassells JA, Montgomery J.Thirteen strains of pathogenic leptospires were isolated from 12 of 91 horses; seven strains belonged to the Australis serogroup (serotype bratislava) with three, two and one strains belonging to the Icterohaemorrhagiae, Hebdomadis (serotype hardjo) and Autumnalis serogroups respectively. Using leptospires isolated from horses and others representing the known parasitic Leptospira serogroups, a sample of 650 mares' sera was tested for agglutinating antibodies. Antibodies were found in 89.1 per cent of sera. The predominant reaction was to serotype bratislava, strain S/1334/79, isolated in this...
Skarda RT, Muir WW.Six adult horses were used to compare the effects of segmental epidural analgesia (SEA) and segmental subarachnoid analgesia (SSA). A 17-gauge Huber point directional needle was used to place a catheter with stylet into the epidural space or the subarachnoid space at the lumbosacral intervertebral junction and to catheterize the thoracolumbar epidural or subarachnoid space. The position of the catheter was confirmed radiographically. A 2% solution of mepivacaine hydrochloride was used at average doses of 80 mg (4 ml) to produce SEA and 30 mg (1.5 ml) to produce SSA. Onset of analgesia in respo...
Rosef O, Gondrosen B, Kapperud G, Underdal B.A total of 1,262 domestic and wild mammals from Norway were surveyed for fecal carriage of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. Of the five species of domestic mammals examined, the highest isolation rate was recorded among swine (100.0%), followed by sheep (8.1%) and cows (0.8%). No strains were recovered from horses or goats. Among wild mammals, C. jejuni was isolated from 1 of 23 hares, and no isolated were obtained from three species of cervids and three species of rodents. Of the 133 Campylobacter strains isolated, 114 were classified as C. coli, 18 were C. jejuni biotype 1, and 1...
Paik WK, Farooqui J, Gupta A, Smith HT, Millett F.The present observations are the continuation of our earlier study on the physicochemical mechanism of protein-lysine methylation. In this paper the electrophoretic behaviour (pI values) of two chemically modified horse heart cytochromes c at lysine-72 with trifluoromethylphenylcarbamoyl (neutral group) or carboxydinitrophenyl (acidic group) is compared with the enzymatically methylated cytochrome c. The results indicate that although both chemically modified cytochromes c have lower pI values than the unmodified cytochrome c, the enzymatic methylation appears to be much more efficient in lowe...
Roser JF, Evans JW.Changes in serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and progesterone concentrations, number of luteal unoccupied LH receptors, receptor affinity constants, luteal weights and luteal progesterone concentrations were determined during the postovulatory period in the mare. The number of unoccupied LH receptors and receptor affinity was less during the early (Days 1-4) and late [Day 15 through 3rd day after start of corpus luteum (CL) regression] luteal phases than during the mid-luteal (Days 9-14) phase of the postovulatory period (P less than 0.01). The number of LH receptors per CL increased 21-fold (P l...
Tunnell JA, Sanders JO, Williams JD, Potter GD.Pedigrees of randomly selected Quarter Horses born in each of the years 1946, 1956, 1966 and 1976 and of winning halter, cutting and race horses born in the same years were evaluated and compared. Average inbreeding and inter se relationship levels and relationships of influential ancestors to the sample were calculated for each sample. The amount of Thoroughbred influence and the average generation interval were also determined for each random sample. The levels of inbreeding found in the random samples were low, ranging from 1.3% in 1956 to 2.6% in 1966; however, these levels were higher tha...
Peters GJ, De Abreu RA, Oosterhof A, Veerkamp JH.Concentrations of purine and pyrimidine ribonucleotides were measured with HPLC in lymphocytes of man, horse, pig and sheep and in rat thymocytes. The ATP concentration was highest in lymphocytes of all species and about 850 pmol/10(6) cells in human and equine lymphocytes, higher in porcine and lower in ovine lymphocytes and rat thymocytes. The GTP concentration was comparable in human, equine and porcine lymphocytes, but lower in ovine lymphocytes. ATP concentration was also measured in lymphocytes of man, horse and pig with a luciferin-luciferase assay. During culturing with or without phyt...
Shideler RK, Voss JL, Aufderheide WM, Hessemann CP, Squires EL.Twenty mares were assigned to 1 of 4 groups: no altrenogest; altrenogest at 0.044 mg/kg BW; altrenogest at 0.132 mg/kg BW; or altrenogest at 0.220 mg/kg BW. Treatment was administered daily for 86 days. No signs of illness attributable to feeding altrenogest were observed during the trial. Treatment had no effect (P greater than .05) on the following parameters: WBC, differential WBC, platelet number, creatinine, LDH, CPK, total bilirubin, cholesterol, globulin, BSP, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. When comparing values over time with pretreatment means or among treatment groups, there wer...
Hathaway SC, Little TW, Stevens AE, Ellis WA, Morgan J.Eighteen isolates from the Australis serogroup from free-living and domestic animals were identified using the cross agglutination absorption test. Serovar muenchen was found only in England and Wales in wood mice, short tailed and bank voles, a grey squirrel and a pig. Serovar bratislava was found in hedgehogs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and also in a brown rat from Northern Ireland. Serovar bratislava was isolated from sheep in both England and Northern Ireland and from horses in Northern Ireland. The distribution of these serovars in relation to possible maintenance hosts is disc...
Dumasia MC, Houghton E, Bradley CV, Williams DH.The metabolism and urinary excretion of 1,2(n)-3H-1-dehydrotestosterone were studied in cross-bred gelded horses. Approximately 40% of the dose was excreted in 24 h. The steroid metabolites were extracted by Amberlite XAD-2 resin and fractionated into glucuronides and sulphoconjugates. Unchanged 1-dehydrotestosterone was the only component identified by gas chromatography mass spectrometry after solvolysis of the sulphoconjugates. Positive and negative ion fast atom bombardment mass spectra were obtained on the purified 1-dehydrotestosterone sulphoconjugate isolated from horse urine and on the...
Mattioli M, Galeati G, Seren E.Prostaglandin F-2 alpha (PGF-2 alpha) receptors of bovine and equine corpora lutea (C.L.) were studied. From both the equilibrium binding data and the dissociation kinetics behaviour, two affinity classes of receptors are evident in the mare, with apparent dissociation constants (Kd) of 1,5 x 10(-9) M and 3.5 x 10(-8) M. Bovine PGF-2 alpha receptors present a homogeneous population of binding sites with Kd = 1 x 10(-8) M. Both bovine and equine C.L. receptors bind PGF-2 alpha in a specific manner; only 13, 14-dihydro-PGF-2 alpha considerably cross-reacts with these receptors. Since in the mare...
McGuire TC, Perryman LE, Davis WC.Nine monoclonal antibodies which reacted with equine immunoglobulin (Ig)M and not other equine Ig and serum proteins were prepared. Cells producing antibodies (C 1.9) which precipitated with IgM and bound to staphylococcal protein A were triple-cloned (C 1.9/3.2) and the antibodies further characterized. Monoclonal antibody C 1.9/3.2 reacted with an IgM determinant present on serum IgM from horses of several breeds. Studies with 125I-labeled IgM revealed the presence of this determinant on all IgM molecules. The monoclonal antibody enabled quantitation of IgM in presuckling foal and adult hors...
Science (New York, N.Y.)June 24, 1983
Volume 220, Issue 4604 1403-1404 doi: 10.1126/science.220.4604.1403
Berger J.The identities, sexes, and reproductive status of groups of wild horses (Equus caballus) living in the Great Basin Desert of North America were known prior to their deaths on ridgelines. Another group of very young horses died on a quagmire. Snow accumulation or drought was apparently responsible for the mass deaths. These data have implications for reconstructing some aspects of the social structure of fossil mammals on the basis of skewed sex or age ratios in bone assemblages.
Bauer JE, Ransone WD.Alterations in the fatty acid distribution of total lipid extracts and 4 of the major lipid subclasses of serum in ponies fasted overnight and for 4 and 7 days were determined. Although increases in 16:0, 16:1, and 18:3 omega 3 were observed, decreased amounts of 18:0 and 18:2 omega 6 combined to cause no significant change in the saturated to unsaturated fatty acid ratio in the total extracts. Phospholipid became somewhat preferentially enriched in saturated fatty acids due to a decrease in 18:1, although this response was variable. The free fatty acid and triglyceride fractions both showed i...
Kharakhonycheva NV, Likhtenshteĭn GI, Shkileva EA, Adamenkova MD.The possible use of EPR spectroscopy (spin labelling) for the study of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase with a silochrome adsorbent is discussed. The rotatory diffusion of nitroxyl labels chemically linked to the enzyme was studied with reference to the time of the enzyme incubation with the adsorbent and the degree of its accumulation on the adsorbent surface. The mobility of nitroxyl radicals attached to the protein globules was shown to increase with time. It was concluded that the conformation of the enzyme molecules changes during their interaction with the adsorbent.
Gabal MA, Hassan FK, Siad AA, Karim KA.A detailed clinical and mycological study of horse infections with Histoplasma farciminosum was conducted for the first time in the Middle East. The disease seems to prevail in endemic form in the region. In all of the cases studied the infection involved only the cutaneous lymphatics and skin tissue with extension to the regional draining lymph glands. The disease seems to impose serious economic impact in the infected areas. Full description and thorough characterization of both the mycelial form and the yeast phase of the causative fungus were made.
Braverman Y, Ungar-Waron H, Frith K, Adler H, Danieli Y, Baker KP, Quinn PJ.A survey of sweet itch in horses in Israel based on a questionnaire to owners reported that 158 of 723 horses (21.8 per cent) had sweet itch lesions. The results indicated that the likelihood of a horse acquiring sweet itch decreased with increasing altitude but no definite association with rainfall zones was evident. Variation in the density of the horse population, however, obscured these observations. In the population surveyed, stallions were more sensitive than mares and pale horses appeared to be less sensitive than dark ones, but the sample size of this latter group was much smaller. In...
Donné-Op den Kelder GM, de Haas GH, Egmond MR.At alkaline pH porcine pancreatic phospholipase A2 is known to bind two Ca2+ ions per protein molecule. One Ca2+ ion is strongly bound to the active site and is essential for enzyme activity. A second Ca2+ ion binds more weakly to the protein and improves the affinity of the enzyme for lipid-water interfaces severalfold at high pH values. A group having a pK around 6 controls enzyme binding to lipid-water interfaces in the absence of Ca2+. By use of proton titration techniques this group is now identified to be a carboxylate having an abnormally high pK. Its pK shifts to a value around 4.5 in ...
Bruyninckx WJ, Blancquaert AM.Horse mononuclear cells were separated from whole blood using neutral density gradient centrifugation on Isopaque-Ficoll. The resulting cell suspension was comparable in composition with similarly prepared human and bovine mononuclear cell preparations. The relative concentration of monocytes was increased by the use of a gradient with density lower than that originally proposed by Böyum (Böyum, A. 1968. Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Investig. 21 supple. 97:77-89). Contamination by neutrophils was limited either by using a gradient medium of lower density or by replacing Isopaque-Ficoll by Percoll-0....
Chay S, Woods WE, Rowse K, Nugent TE, Blake JW, Tobin T.Studies were undertaken to determine blood levels of furosemide in horses after 0.5- and 1.0-mg/kg doses administered iv. Analyses indicated that the pharmacokinetic parameters were dose independent and best described by a three-compartment open model. The alpha-, beta-, and gamma-phase half-lives of 5.6, 22.3, and 158.5 min, respectively, were observed after the 0.5-mg/kg dose. Similarly, the respective half-lives after the 1.0-mg/kg dose were 5.8, 24.1, and 177.2 min. After a 0.5-mg/kg dose of furosemide, population frequency distributions were evaluated at 1 hr and 4 hr post-drug administra...
Kawamura S, Hirayama K, Mitsuoka T.Two chromogenic Limulus amebocyte lysate systems were evaluated for the measurement of endotoxic activity in feces of normal horses. Fecal extracts had neither non-specific nor inhibitory effect on the test reaction, and the two systems with different specificity showed equivalent results. Endotoxic activities in feces of healthy horses averaged 5.7 +/- 2.8 microns/g wet weight. Correlation between the endotoxin levels and the fecal microbial flora could not be determined.
Bauer B, Blank J, Heile C, Schein E, Clausen PH.A fence of black mosquito netting of 100 cm height, pre-treated with 80 mg/m2 of deltamethrin and UV-protected, was used to shelter horses from nuisance and biting insects on pasture in northern Brandenburg. The netting material was attached to the surrounding poles of the existing fences at a height of 15 cm above ground. Three trial groups were selected grazing in spatially separated areas with comparable densities of insect populations. One paddock was completely fenced apart from a wall of 170 cm height and 70 m length. The second pasture had only partial protection with 126 m (13.4%) of f...
Ambros'eva ED, Khokhriakova ZhA, Glazko VI.The genetic structures of Orlov's and Russian trotters for 16 biochemical systems have been comparatively analyzed. Polymorphism of 6 systems of these horse groups is revealed. The main genetic differentiation between Orlov's and Russian trotters is observed on the transferrin and phosphoglucomutase loci.
Balssa F, Fischer M, Bonnaire Y.5α-Estrane-3β,17α-diol is the major metabolite of nandrolone in horse urine. The presence of 5α-estrane-3β,17α-diol in female and gelding urines is prohibited by Racing Rules and its natural presence in male urine led regulation authorities to establish a concentration threshold of 45 ng/mL. This paper describes a rapid, simple and stereoselective synthesis of 5α-estrane-3β,17α-diol, providing horseracing laboratories with an essential reference material for their antidoping performance.
Wilkins CA, Bergh N.An examination of the sera of 329 horses for L. pneumophila antibodies revealed a much lower exposure rate than that reported in the United States of America. Further serological investigations of persons closely associated with a sero-positive horse indicated that the horse could not be considered to be a source of infection but that both humans and animals were probably exposed to a common source of infection. The results showed that 192/329 (58.4%) of the sera tested negative, 114/329 (34.7%) had end-point titres of 1/2, 22/329 (6.7%) end-points of 1/16 and one an end point of 1/256 (0.3%)....
Hartung K, Münzer B.Radiography of horses in veterinary practice is done normally with quite simple equipment. Thereby radiation protection is easily neglected. In this investigation sources of mistakes are demonstrated. The possible exposure of staff is evaluated by dose measuring over a long period of time. It can be stated that following the most simple radiation protection there will never be a significant exposure of staff.
Browne C, Medlock JM.Last summer saw an unusually high number of cases of West Nile fever in horses and people in south and south-east Europe, but it is too early to tell if this was a one-off increase or a sign of things to come. Here, , , and discuss the various West Nile fever surveillance and control mechanisms in place in the UK.
Hodges AA, Harrison AG, Wathes CM.The heights of 89 horses were measured at the withers before and after half a furlong of trotting exercise. The mean (+/- sd) height increase after exercise was 1.75 +/- 0.86 cm and the horses returned to their resting height within seven minutes. There was no linear relationship between gain in height and pre-exercise height.