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Home / Equine Research Bank / PLoS One / Marginal ancestral contributions to atrial fibrillation in t...
PloS one2018; 13(5); e0197137; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197137

Marginal ancestral contributions to atrial fibrillation in the Standardbred racehorse: Comparison of cases and controls.

Abstract: Admissions of Standardbred racehorses (Std) to the Ontario Veterinary College Teaching Hospital (OVCTH) for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) began to increase in the early 1990s. The arrhythmia has been shown to have a modest heritability (h2 ≃ 0.15), with some stallions appearing as sires or sires of mares used in breeding (broodmares) of affected horses more frequently than others. The objective of this study was to determine the marginal genetic contributions of ancestors to cohorts of Std affected with AF and their contemporary control groups, and whether these ancestors contribute significantly more to the affected cohorts than to controls. All Std admitted to OVCTH for treatment of AF that were born between 1993 and 2007 comprised the affected case group (n = 168). Five randomly selected racing contemporaries for each Std admitted, assumed to not suffer from the arrhythmia, comprised the control group (n = 840). Three-year overlapping cohorts were created for case and control horses, determined according to year of birth, for a total of 26 cohorts. Marginal genetic contributions of ancestors to each cohort were determined and differences analyzed for statistical significance using a two-tailed paired t-test, with P ≤ 0.05 considered significant. The marginal contributions of 26 ancestors were significant, with 11 contributing significantly more to affected cohorts than the corresponding controls, and 15 contributing significantly more to controls than the corresponding affected cohorts. One stallion and one broodmare were very highly significant to affected cohorts at P ≤ 0.001, and nine stallions and three broodmares were very highly significant to control cohorts at P ≤ 0.001. Therefore, a number of stallions have statistically significant contributions to the genetics of Std affected with AF, while many others have statistically significant contributions to healthy Std. The arrhythmia appears to be particularly prevalent in the descendants of one sire family.
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Publication Date: 2018-05-15 PubMed ID: 29763439PubMed Central: PMC5953485DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197137Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Comparative Study
  • Journal Article
  • Research Support
  • Non-U.S. Gov't

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research aimed to understand the inheritance patterns of atrial fibrillation in Standardbred racehorses, revealing that certain ancestors showed more significant genetic contributions to horses with the condition than to those without it.

Introduction

  • The study examined Standardbred (Std) racehorses, which started showing an increased number of atrial fibrillation (AF) cases from the early 1990s, treated at the Ontario Veterinary College Teaching Hospital (OVCTH).
  • AF is a form of irregular heartbeat, known to have a small heritability factor, with some pedigree stallions appearing more frequently as forebears of affected horses.
  • The focus of the research was to identify any differences in the marginal genetic contributions from ancestors between cohorts of horses affected with AF and their control group contemporaries.

Methodology

  • The case group was made up of all Standardbred racehorses admitted to OVCTH for AF treatment, born between 1993 and 2007, totaling 168 horses.
  • The control group, presumed not to have the arrhythmia, consisted of five randomly selected racing contemporaries for each admitted horse, amounting to 840 horses.
  • The researchers then divided both groups into overlapping three-year cohorts according to year of birth, resulting in 26 cohorts in total.
  • They calculated the marginal genetic contributions from ancestors to each of these cohorts and compared differences using a statistical test.

Results

  • They found the marginal contributions of 26 ancestors to be significant.
  • Eleven of these ancestors contributed more significantly to the groups suffering from AF than to their healthy counterparts, suggesting a pattern of inheritance for the condition.
  • In contrast, 15 ancestors contributed more to the control than to the affected groups.
  • One stallion and one broodmare showed very high statistical significance to the affected cohorts, while nine stallions and three broodmares were highly significant contributors to the control groups.

Conclusion

  • In conclusion, the results indicate that several stallions carry and subsequently pass on genetic traits contributing to the prevalence of AF in Std racehorses, whereas others seem to contribute mainly to healthy Std lineages.
  • Particular attention was given to the fact that AF seemed notably prevalent in the descendants from one specific Sire family, warranting further investigation.

Cite This Article

APA
Kraus M, Physick-Sheard P, Brito LF, Sargolzaei M, Schenkel FS. (2018). Marginal ancestral contributions to atrial fibrillation in the Standardbred racehorse: Comparison of cases and controls. PLoS One, 13(5), e0197137. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197137

Publication

PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
NlmUniqueID: 101285081
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 13
Issue: 5
Pages: e0197137

Researcher Affiliations

Kraus, Megan
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Physick-Sheard, Peter
  • Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Brito, Luiz F
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Sargolzaei, Mehdi
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
  • The Semex Alliance, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Schenkel, Flávio S
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Atrial Fibrillation / genetics
  • Atrial Fibrillation / physiopathology
  • Atrial Fibrillation / therapy
  • Atrial Fibrillation / veterinary
  • Female
  • Horse Diseases / genetics
  • Horse Diseases / physiopathology
  • Horse Diseases / therapy
  • Horses / genetics
  • Male

Conflict of Interest Statement

Competing Interests: We have the following interests. Mehdi Sargolzaei is employed by The Semex Alliance. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

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Citations

This article has been cited 4 times.
  1. Natterson-Horowitz B, Wright K, Van Steenkiste G, Decloedt A, Gagnon AL, Cai X, Mazmanian A. Arrhythmias across the tree of life: comparative insights for human electrophysiology. Front Cardiovasc Med 2025;12:1652591.
    doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1652591pubmed: 41567384google scholar: lookup
  2. Kjeldsen ST, Nissen SD, Buhl R, Hopster-Iversen C. Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation in Horses: Pathophysiology, Diagnostics and Clinical Aspects. Animals (Basel) 2022 Mar 10;12(6).
    doi: 10.3390/ani12060698pubmed: 35327097google scholar: lookup
  3. Esdaile E, Avila F, Bellone RR. Analysis of Genetic Diversity in the American Standardbred Horse Utilizing Short Tandem Repeats and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. J Hered 2022 Jul 9;113(3):238-247.
    doi: 10.1093/jhered/esab070pubmed: 34893836google scholar: lookup
  4. Nath LC, Elliott AD, Weir J, Curl P, Rosanowski SM, Franklin S. Incidence, recurrence, and outcome of postrace atrial fibrillation in Thoroughbred horses. J Vet Intern Med 2021 Mar;35(2):1111-1120.
    doi: 10.1111/jvim.16063pubmed: 33604980google scholar: lookup
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