Polarisation of equine pregnancy outcome associated with a maternal MHC class I allele: Preliminary evidence.
Abstract: Identification of risk factors which are associated with severe clinical signs can assist in the management of disease outbreaks and indicate future research areas. Pregnancy loss during late gestation in the mare compromises welfare, reduces fecundity and has financial implications for horse owners. This retrospective study focussed on the identification of risk factors associated with pregnancy loss among 46 Thoroughbred mares on a single British stud farm, with some but not all losses involving equid herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection. In a sub-group of 30 mares, association between pregnancy loss and the presence of five common Thoroughbred horse haplotypes of the equine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) was assessed. This involved development of sequence specific, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reactions and in several mares, measurement of cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity. Of the 46 mares, 10 suffered late gestation pregnancy loss or neonatal foal death, five of which were EHV-1 positive. Maternal factors including age, parity, number of EHV-1 specific vaccinations and the number of days between final vaccination and foaling or abortion were not significantly associated with pregnancy loss. In contrast, a statistically significant association between the presence of the MHC class I B2 allele and pregnancy loss was identified, regardless of the fetus/foal's EHV-1 status (p=0.002). In conclusion, this study demonstrated a significantly positive association between pregnancy loss in Thoroughbred mares and a specific MHC class I allele in the mother. This association requires independent validation and further investigation of the mechanism by which the mare's genetic background contributes to pregnancy outcome.
Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2016-04-06 PubMed ID: 27139027DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2016.04.004Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with pregnancy loss in horses, focusing on the role of equine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). It was found that the presence of a specific MHC class I allele (B2) in the mare was significantly associated with late gestation pregnancy loss or neonatal foal death, regardless of the equid herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) status of the fetus/foal.
Objective and Methodology
- This research aimed to discover risk factors associated with late gestation pregnancy loss or neonatal foal death in mares, particularly the role of equine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC).
- The study was retrospective and focused on 46 Thoroughbred mares from a single British stud farm.
- A subgroup of 30 mares was specifically examined for the association between pregnancy loss and the presence of five common Thoroughbred horse haplotypes of the MHC.
- To achieve this, the study involved the development of sequence-specific, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions and, in several mares, measured cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity.
Results and Findings
- Of the 46 mares in the study, 10 experienced late gestation pregnancy loss or neonatal foal death, with five of these being EHV-1 positive.
- The age, parity, number of EHV-1 specific vaccinations, and the number of days between final vaccination and foaling or abortion in the mare were found not to be significantly associated with pregnancy loss.
- In contrast, the presence of the MHC class I B2 allele in the mare was significantly associated with pregnancy loss, regardless of the EHV-1 status of the fetus or foal.
Conclusion
- The study concludes that the presence of a specific MHC class I allele (B2) in the mare is a significant risk factor for pregnancy loss or neonatal foal death.
- The researchers suggest that this association requires further research for independent validation and a more in-depth investigation into the mechanism by which the mare’s genetic makeup influences the outcome of pregnancy.
Cite This Article
APA
Kydd JH, Case R, Winton C, MacRae S, Sharp E, Ricketts SL, Rash N, Newton JR.
(2016).
Polarisation of equine pregnancy outcome associated with a maternal MHC class I allele: Preliminary evidence.
Vet Microbiol, 188, 34-40.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2016.04.004 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK. Electronic address: julia.kydd@nottingham.ac.uk.
- Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7UU, UK. Electronic address: rlcase@btinternet.com.
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK. Electronic address: clare@clarealison.com.
- Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7UU, UK. Electronic address: shonamacrae@hotmail.com.
- Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7UU, UK. Electronic address: emma@sharpspad.plus.com.
- Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7UU, UK. Electronic address: sally.ricketts@aht.org.uk.
- Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7UU, UK. Electronic address: nicola.rash@aht.org.uk.
- Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7UU, UK. Electronic address: richard.newton@aht.org.uk.
MeSH Terms
- Abortion, Veterinary / genetics
- Alleles
- Animals
- Female
- Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / genetics
- Horse Diseases / genetics
- Horses / genetics
- Humans
- Perinatal Death
- Pregnancy
- Retrospective Studies
- T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / metabolism
Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Vasoya D, Tzelos T, Benedictus L, Karagianni AE, Pirie S, Marr C, Oddsdóttir C, Fintl C, Connelley T. High-Resolution Genotyping of Expressed Equine MHC Reveals a Highly Complex MHC Structure.. Genes (Basel) 2023 Jul 10;14(7).
- Cooper CJ, Arroyo LG, Pearl DL, Hewson J, Lillie BN. Survey of the equine broodmare industry, abortion, and equine herpesvirus-1 vaccination in Ontario.. Can Vet J 2021 Feb;62(2):124-132.
- Jaworska J, Ropka-Molik K, Wocławek-Potocka I, Siemieniuch M. Inter- and intrabreed diversity of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in primitive and draft horse breeds.. PLoS One 2020;15(2):e0228658.
- Brown LJ, Brown G, Kydd J, Stout TAE, Schulman ML. Failure to detect equid herpesvirus types 1 and 4 DNA in placentae and healthy new-born Thoroughbred foals.. J S Afr Vet Assoc 2019 May 30;90(0):e1-e5.
- Sadeghi R, Moradi-Shahrbabak M, Miraei Ashtiani SR, Miller DC, Antczak DF. MHC haplotype diversity in Persian Arabian horses determined using polymorphic microsatellites.. Immunogenetics 2018 May;70(5):305-315.
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