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Estimates of genetic parameters of distal limb fracture and superficial digital flexor tendon injury in UK Thoroughbred racehorses.
Abstract: A retrospective cohort study of distal limb fracture and superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) injury in Thoroughbred racehorses was conducted using health records generated by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) between 2000 and 2010. After excluding records of horses that had both flat and jump racing starts, repeated records were reduced to a single binary record per horse (n = 66,507, 2982 sires), and the heritability of each condition was estimated using residual maximum likelihood (REML) with animal logistic regression models. Similarly, the heritability of each condition was estimated for the flat racing and jump racing populations separately. Bivariate mixed models were used to generate estimates of genetic correlations between SDFT injury and distal limb fracture. The heritability of distal limb fracture ranged from 0.21 to 0.37. The heritability of SDFT injury ranged from 0.31 to 0.34. SDFT injury and distal limb fracture were positively genetically correlated. These findings suggest that reductions in the risk of the conditions studied could be attempted using targeted breeding strategies.
Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Publication Date: 2014-03-26 PubMed ID: 24679457DOI: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.03.005Google Scholar: Lookup The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
Summary
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The research involved an analysis of the genetic parameters associated with two common injuries in UK Thoroughbred racehorses – the distal limb fracture and the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) injury, with a suggestion that focused breeding strategies could reduce the risk of these conditions.
Methodology
The researchers carried out a retrospective cohort study analysing health data of Thoroughbred racehorses collected by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) from 2000 to 2010. Key points about the methodology are:
- Excluded data of horses that had both flat and jump racing starts, to avoid variations in injury risks across racing disciplines.
- Reduced repeated records to a single binary record for each horse, resulting in a total sample of exactly 66,507 horses from 2982 sires.
- Heritability refers to the proportion of observed variation in a particular trait that can be attributed to inherited genetic factors. The heritability of each condition – distal limb fracture and SDFT injury – was calculated using a statistical estimation process called residual maximum likelihood (REML) with animal logistic regression models.
Results
Once the cohort was established, the study calculated the heritability for each injury condition, both for flat and jump racing horses. The results indicated:
- The heritability of distal limb fracture varied from 0.21 to 0.37 indicating that this injury trait has a substantial genetic component.
- Similar findings were true for superficial digital flexor tendon injury, where the heritability ranged from 0.31 to 0.34.
- Positive genetic correlation was found between SDFT injury and distal limb fracture suggesting that these injuries often occur together and may share common genetic factors.
Implications and Recommendations
The study concluded that both distal limb fractures and SDFT injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses have a notable genetic influence. Main implications and recommendations include:
- Breeding strategies could potentially be modified to reduce the risk of these conditions through selective breeding.
- This finding opens a pathway to targeted genetic research useful in improving the health and safety of racehorses.
- Further research is recommended to explore in detail the specific genetic markers or traits that contribute towards these injuries.
Cite This Article
APA
Welsh CE, Lewis TW, Blott SC, Mellor DJ, Stirk AJ, Parkin TD.
(2014).
Estimates of genetic parameters of distal limb fracture and superficial digital flexor tendon injury in UK Thoroughbred racehorses.
Vet J, 200(2), 253-256.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.03.005 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, 464 Bearsden Road, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK. Electronic address: c.walls.1@research.gla.ac.uk.
- Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, Newmarket CB8 7UU, UK.
- Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, Newmarket CB8 7UU, UK.
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, 464 Bearsden Road, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK.
- Equine Science and Welfare Department, British Horseracing Authority, London, WC1V 6LS, UK.
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, 464 Bearsden Road, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Fractures, Bone / etiology
- Fractures, Bone / genetics
- Fractures, Bone / veterinary
- Horses / genetics
- Horses / injuries
- Retrospective Studies
- Sports
- Tendon Injuries / etiology
- Tendon Injuries / genetics
- Tendon Injuries / veterinary
- United Kingdom
Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Bellone RR, Ocampo NR, Hughes SS, Le V, Arthur R, Finno CJ, Penedo MCT. Warmblood fragile foal syndrome type 1 mutation (PLOD1 c.2032G>A) is not associated with catastrophic breakdown and has a low allele frequency in the Thoroughbred breed. Equine Vet J 2020 May;52(3):411-414.
- Baird A, Lindsay T, Everett A, Iyemere V, Paterson YZ, McClellan A, Henson FMD, Guest DJ. Osteoblast differentiation of equine induced pluripotent stem cells. Biol Open 2018 May 10;7(5).
- Adams DJ, Ackert-Bicknell CL. Genetic regulation of bone strength: a review of animal model studies. Bonekey Rep 2015;4:714.
- Palomino Lago E, Ross AKC, McClellan A, Guest DJ. Identification of a global gene expression signature associated with the genetic risk of catastrophic fracture in iPSC-derived osteoblasts from Thoroughbred horses. Anim Genet 2025 Feb;56(1):e13504.
- Palomino Lago E, Baird A, Blott SC, McPhail RE, Ross AC, Durward-Akhurst SA, Guest DJ. A Functional Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism Upstream of the Collagen Type III Gene Is Associated with Catastrophic Fracture Risk in Thoroughbred Horses. Animals (Basel) 2023 Dec 28;14(1).
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