FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 9000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Home / Equine Research Bank / Sci Rep / Salivary analysis to unveil the paradigma of stress of domes...
Scientific reports2024; 14(1); 11266; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-62172-2

Salivary analysis to unveil the paradigma of stress of domestic horses reared in the wild.

Abstract: Horse welfare is the product of multiple factors, including behavioral and physiological adjustments to cope with stressful situation regarding environment and housing condition. Collectively, it is supposed that a horse kept in the wild has a lower level of stress than other housing system, and the aim of the present study was to investigate the level of stress in domestic horses reared in the wild and then moved to human controlled housing, through saliva analysis. Twelve clinically healthy Catria (Italian local breed) mares, usually reared in the wild, were moved into collective paddocks for a folkloric event. Saliva samples were obtained before and after the change of housing condition to evaluate stress biomarkers including salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and butyrylcholinesterase (BChol). The mares were also scored using the Welfare Aggregation and Guidance (WAG) Tool to highlight the presence of abnormal behaviors. Despite the absence of differences in behavioral scores between wild and paddocks, salivary cortisol and BChol were found to be higher in the wild and lower when mares were moved to paddocks. The highest concentrations in stress biomarkers like salivary cortisol and BChol in the wild was unexpected, but the need for managing hierarchical relationships, and the exposure to feral animals, predators, and weather changes, might explain these findings. The overall results of the present study may provide further knowledge toward stress response in domesticated horses living in the wild moved to human controlled housing system.
© 2024. The Author(s).
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2024-05-17 PubMed ID: 38760454PubMed Central: PMC11101484DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62172-2Google 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.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article

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.

The research article investigates how the environment and housing conditions of horses can impact their stress levels. It was discovered that domestic horses, even when raised in the wild have higher stress levels than those in human-controlled environments, as measured through saliva analysis.

Introduction

  • The research focuses on horse welfare, specifically on how behavioral and physiological adjustments help horses deal with stress related to their environment and housing conditions.
  • The study investigated the level of stress in domestic horses that are reared in the wild and then moved to human-controlled housing, striving to ascertain whether their stress levels are elevated in the wild or in paddocks. Saliva analysis was used to evaluate stress biomarkers in these horses.

Methodology

  • Twelve healthy Catria mares, an Italian local breed usually reared in the wild, were moved to collective paddocks for a folkloric event.
  • Saliva samples were taken from the mares both before and after the change in housing condition. These samples were tested for stress biomarkers such as salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and butyrylcholinesterase (BChol).
  • The horses were also evaluated using the Welfare Aggregation and Guidance (WAG) Tool to identify any abnormal behaviors.

Results

  • Despite the absence of any noticeable differences in behavioral scores between the wild and paddock conditions, it was found that both salivary cortisol and BChol levels were higher in the wild and decreased when the mares were moved to paddocks.
  • This finding was unexpected as the initial assumption was that horses kept in the wild would have lower stress levels than those housed in other systems. However, the mares’ exposure to hierarchical relationships amongst themselves, feral animals, predators, and changes in weather in the wild may explain their heightened stress levels in that environment.
  • These findings provide valuable insight into stress response in domesticated horses that were living in the wild and then moved to a human-controlled housing system.

Cite This Article

APA
Bazzano M, Marchegiani A, La Gualana F, Petriti B, Spaterna A, Laus F. (2024). Salivary analysis to unveil the paradigma of stress of domestic horses reared in the wild. Sci Rep, 14(1), 11266. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62172-2

Publication

Scientific reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
NlmUniqueID: 101563288
Country: England
Language: English
Volume: 14
Issue: 1
Pages: 11266
PII: 11266

Researcher Affiliations

Bazzano, M
  • School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, 62024, Matelica, MC, Italy.
Marchegiani, A
  • School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, 62024, Matelica, MC, Italy. andrea.marchegiani@unicam.it.
La Gualana, F
  • Department of Translational and Precision Medicine, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, RM, Italy.
Petriti, B
  • Department of Translational and Precision Medicine, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, RM, Italy.
Spaterna, A
  • School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, 62024, Matelica, MC, Italy.
Laus, F
  • School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, 62024, Matelica, MC, Italy.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Horses
  • Saliva / metabolism
  • Saliva / chemistry
  • Hydrocortisone / metabolism
  • Hydrocortisone / analysis
  • Female
  • Animals, Wild / physiology
  • Biomarkers / metabolism
  • Butyrylcholinesterase / metabolism
  • Stress, Psychological / metabolism
  • Stress, Physiological
  • Animal Welfare
  • Housing, Animal
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • alpha-Amylases / metabolism
  • Animals, Domestic

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

References

This article includes 45 references
  1. Contreras-Aguilar MD. Changes in saliva analytes correlate with horses’ behavioural reactions to an acute stressor: A pilot study.. Animals 2019;9:993.
    doi: 10.3390/ani9110993pmc: PMC6912570pubmed: 31752194google scholar: lookup
  2. Contreras-Aguilar MD. Effect of food contamination and collection material in the measurement of biomarkers in saliva of horses.. Res. Vet. Sci. 2020;129:90–95.
    doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2020.01.006pubmed: 31954319google scholar: lookup
  3. Hellhammer DH, Wüst S, Kudielka BM. Salivary cortisol as a biomarker in stress research.. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2009;34:163–171.
    doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.10.026pubmed: 19095358google scholar: lookup
  4. Pearlmutter P. Sweat and saliva cortisol response to stress and nutrition factors.. Sci. Rep. 2020;10:1–11.
    doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75871-3pmc: PMC7643128pubmed: 33149196google scholar: lookup
  5. Chojnowska S, Ptaszyńska-Sarosiek I, Kępka A, Knaś M, Waszkiewicz N. Salivary biomarkers of stress, anxiety and depression.. J. Clin. Med. 2021;10:1–11.
    doi: 10.3390/jcm10030517pmc: PMC7867141pubmed: 33535653google scholar: lookup
  6. Bazzano M. Exercise induced changes in salivary and serum metabolome in trained standardbred, assessed by 1H-NMR.. Metabolites 2020;10:1–14.
    doi: 10.3390/metabo10070298pmc: PMC7407172pubmed: 32708237google scholar: lookup
  7. Noushad S. Physiological biomarkers of chronic stress: A systematic review.. Int. J. Health Sci. (Qassim) 2021;15:46.
    pmc: PMC8434839pubmed: 34548863
  8. Aurich J. Effects of season, age, sex, and housing on salivary cortisol concentrations in horses.. Domest. Anim. Endocrinol. 2015;52:11–16.
    doi: 10.1016/j.domaniend.2015.01.003pubmed: 25700267google scholar: lookup
  9. Contreras-Aguilar MD, Cerón JJ, Muñoz A, Ayala I. Changes in saliva biomarkers during a standardized increasing intensity field exercise test in endurance horses.. Animal 2021;15:100236.
    doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2021.100236pubmed: 34030029google scholar: lookup
  10. Contreras-Aguilar MD. Changes in salivary analytes of horses due to circadian rhythm and season: A pilot study.. Animals 2020;10:1–8.
    doi: 10.3390/ani10091486pmc: PMC7552333pubmed: 32846911google scholar: lookup
  11. Fuentes-Rubio M. Measurements of salivary alpha-amylase in horse: Comparison of 2 different assays.. J. Vet. Behav. 2015;10:122–127.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jveb.2014.12.008google scholar: lookup
  12. López-Arjona M. Changes in oxytocin concentrations in saliva of pigs after a transport and during lairage at slaughterhouse.. Res. Vet. Sci. 2020;133:26–30.
    doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2020.08.015pubmed: 32919235google scholar: lookup
  13. Brimijoin S, Tye S. Favorable impact on stress-related behaviors by modulating plasma butyrylcholinesterase.. Cell. Mol. Neurobiol. 2018;38:7–12.
    doi: 10.1007/s10571-017-0523-zpmc: PMC5775978pubmed: 28712092google scholar: lookup
  14. Boyd L. The behaviour of Przewalski's horses and its importance to their management.. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 1991;29:301–318.
    doi: 10.1016/0168-1591(91)90256-Wgoogle scholar: lookup
  15. Keiper RR. Social structure.. Vet. Clin. North Am. Equine Pract. 1986;2:465–484.
    doi: 10.1016/S0749-0739(17)30701-0pubmed: 3492240google scholar: lookup
  16. Kádár R. Incidence of compulsive behavior (stereotypies/abnormal repetitive behaviors) in populations of sport and race horses in Hungary.. J. Vet. Behav. 2023;61:37–49.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jveb.2023.01.003google scholar: lookup
  17. Christensen JW, Zharkikh T, Ladewig J, Yasinetskaya N. Social behaviour in stallion groups (Equus przewalskii and Equus caballus) kept under natural and domestic conditions.. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 2002;76:11–20.
    doi: 10.1016/S0168-1591(01)00208-8google scholar: lookup
  18. King SS, Jones KL, Schwarm M, Oberhaus EL. Daily horse behavior patterns depend on management.. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 2013;33:365–366.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2013.03.105google scholar: lookup
  19. Yngvesson J. Health and body conditions of riding school horses housed in groups or kept in conventional tie-stall/box housing.. Animals 2019;9:73.
    doi: 10.3390/ani9030073pmc: PMC6466050pubmed: 30813613google scholar: lookup
  20. Hartmann E, Søndergaard E, Keeling LJ. Keeping horses in groups: A review.. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 2012;136:77–87.
    doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2011.10.004google scholar: lookup
  21. Ruet A. Effects of a temporary period on pasture on the welfare state of horses housed in individual boxes.. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 2020;228:105027.
    doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2020.105027google scholar: lookup
  22. Pawluski J. Low plasma cortisol and fecal cortisol metabolite measures as indicators of compromised welfare in domestic horses (Equus caballus). PLoS One 2017;12:e0182257.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182257pmc: PMC5590897pubmed: 28886020google scholar: lookup
  23. Dickens MJ, Romero LM. A consensus endocrine profile for chronically stressed wild animals does not exist.. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 2013;191:177–189.
    doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.06.014pubmed: 23816765google scholar: lookup
  24. Michaud K, Matheson K, Kelly O, Anisman H. Impact of stressors in a natural context on release of cortisol in healthy adult humans: A meta-analysis.. Stress 2008;11:177–197.
    doi: 10.1080/10253890701727874pubmed: 18465466google scholar: lookup
  25. Miller GE, Chen E, Zhou ES. If it goes up, must it come down? Chronic stress and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in humans.. Psychol. Bull. 2007;133:25–45.
    doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.25pubmed: 17201569google scholar: lookup
  26. Mormède P. Exploration of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal function as a tool to evaluate animal welfare.. Physiol. Behav. 2007;92:317–339.
    doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.12.003pubmed: 17234221google scholar: lookup
  27. Hanis F, Lim E, Chung T, Kamalludin MH, Idrus Z. Discovering the relationship between dietary nutrients and cortisol and ghrelin hormones in horses exhibiting oral stereotypic behaviors: A review.. J. Vet. Behav. 2020.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jveb.2020.05.012google scholar: lookup
  28. McGreevy PD, French NP, Nicol CJ. The prevalence of abnormal behaviours in dressage, eventing and endurance horses in relation to stabling.. Vet. Rec. 1995;137:36–37.
    doi: 10.1136/vr.137.2.36pubmed: 8525580google scholar: lookup
  29. Giannetto C, Delmar Cerutti R, Mastromonaco G, Zoo T, Snoj T. Stress in wildlife: Comparison of the stress response among domestic, captive, and free-ranging animals.. Front. Vet. Sci. 2023.
    doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1167016pmc: PMC10150102pubmed: 37138925google scholar: lookup
  30. van Veen JF. Elevated alpha-amylase but not cortisol in generalized social anxiety disorder.. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2008;33:1313–1321.
    doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.07.004pubmed: 18757137google scholar: lookup
  31. Vineetha R, Pai KM, Vengal M, Gopalakrishna K, Narayanakurup D. Usefulness of salivary alpha amylase as a biomarker of chronic stress and stress related oral mucosal changes—A pilot study.. J. Clin. Exp. Dent. 2014;6:e132.
    doi: 10.4317/jced.51355pmc: PMC4002342pubmed: 24790712google scholar: lookup
  32. Contreras-Aguilar M. Changes in saliva analytes in equine acute abdominal disease: a sialochemistry approach.. BMC Vet. Res. 2019;15:1–9.
    doi: 10.1186/s12917-019-1933-6pmc: PMC6554884pubmed: 31170977google scholar: lookup
  33. Geula C, Darvesh S. Butyrylcholinesterase, cholinergic neurotransmission and the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.. Drugs Today (Barc) 2004;40:711–721.
    doi: 10.1358/dot.2004.40.8.850473pubmed: 15510242google scholar: lookup
  34. Alexander SL, Irvine CHG. The effect of social stress on adrenal axis activity in horses: The importance of monitoring corticosteroid-binding globulin capacity.. J. Endocrinol. 1998;157:425–432.
    doi: 10.1677/joe.0.1570425pubmed: 9691975google scholar: lookup
  35. Elsaesser F, Klobasa F, Ellendorff F. ACTH stimulationstest und bestimmung von cortisol im blut und speichel zur bewertung des trainingszustands/der kondition beim warmblutpferd.. Dtsch. Tierarztl. Wochenschr. 2001;108:31–36.
    pubmed: 11232423
  36. Sikorska U, Maśko M, Ciesielska A, Zdrojkowski Ł, Domino M. Role of Cortisol in Horse’s Welfare and Health.. Agriculture 2023;13:2219.
    doi: 10.3390/agriculture13122219google scholar: lookup
  37. Holtby AR. Variation in salivary cortisol responses in yearling Thoroughbred racehorses during their first year of training.. PLoS One 2023;18:e0284102.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284102pmc: PMC10079128pubmed: 37023093google scholar: lookup
  38. Cooper JJ, Albentosa MJ. Behavioural adaptation in the domestic horse: Potential role of apparently abnormal responses including stereotypic behaviour.. Livest. Prod. Sci. 2005;92:177–182.
    doi: 10.1016/j.livprodsci.2004.11.017google scholar: lookup
  39. Budzyńska M. Stress reactivity and coping in horse adaptation to environment.. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 2014;34:935–941.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2014.05.010google scholar: lookup
  40. Park S-K. The effect of living conditions on stress and behavior of horses.. J. Anim. Sci. Technol. 2013;55:325–330.
    doi: 10.5187/JAST.2013.55.4.325google scholar: lookup
  41. Nuñez CMV, Adelman JS, Smith J, Gesquiere LR, Rubenstein DI. Linking social environment and stress physiology in feral mares (Equus caballus): Group transfers elevate fecal cortisol levels.. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 2014;196:26–33.
    doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.11.012pubmed: 24275609google scholar: lookup
  42. Hoffmann G. Comparative study of horses in tie stalls, individual housing in boxes and group housing.. Pferdeheilkunde 2012;28:702–709.
    doi: 10.21836/PEM20120608google scholar: lookup
  43. Yonekura T, Takeda K, Shetty V, Yamaguchi M. Relationship between salivary cortisol and depression in adolescent survivors of a major natural disaster.. J. Physiol. Sci. 2014;64:261–267.
    doi: 10.1007/s12576-014-0315-xpmc: PMC4070489pubmed: 24744089google scholar: lookup
  44. Henneke DR, Potter GD, Kreider JL, Yeates BF. Relationship between condition score, physical measurements and body fat percentage in mares.. Equine Vet. J. 1983;15:371–372.
    doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.1983.tb01826.xpubmed: 6641685google scholar: lookup
  45. Kubasiewicz LM. The Welfare Aggregation and Guidance (WAG) tool: A new method to summarize global welfare assessment data for equids.. Animals 2020;10:546.
    doi: 10.3390/ani10040546pmc: PMC7222376pubmed: 32218133google scholar: lookup

Citations

This article has been cited 0 times.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,344 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.