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Septic Arthritis/Osteomyelitis May Lead to Osteochondrosis-Like Lesions in Foals.
Abstract: Failure of the cartilage canal blood supply leads to ischemic chondronecrosis which causes osteochondrosis, and osteochondral lesions. Osteochondrosis is a disease with a heritable component and usually occurs under aseptic conditions. Because bacteria can bind to growth cartilage and disrupt the blood supply in pigs and chickens, we considered whether this might play a role in development of equine osteochondrosis. The aim of this study was to examine whether bacteria are present in canals in the growth cartilage of foals with septic arthritis/osteomyelitis, and whether this is associated with osteochondrosis. The material consisted of 7 foals aged 9-117 days euthanized because of septic arthritis/osteomyelitis. The 7 cases had 16 lesions in growth cartilage that were evaluated histologically. Bacteria were present in cartilage canals in foals with septic arthritis/osteomyelitis. Portions of necrotic canals adjacent to bacteria frequently contained neutrophils, termed acute septic canals; or granulation tissue with neutrophils, termed chronic septic canals. Acute and chronic septic canals were associated with ischemic chondronecrosis in the articular-epiphyseal cartilage complex (AECC) of 5 cases and in the physis of 2 cases, and ossification was focally delayed in 5 of those 7 cases. Lesions occurred with and without adjacent osteomyelitis. Bacteria were present in cartilage canals and were associated with focal chondronecrosis in both the AECC and the physis. This establishes sepsis as a plausible cause of some osteochondral lesions in horses. It is recommended that horses with sepsis-related osteochondral lesions may be used for breeding without increasing the prevalence of OCD-predisposing genes in the population.
Publication Date: 2018-05-28 PubMed ID: 29807507DOI: 10.1177/0300985818777786Google 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
- 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 examines the connection between a horse’s bacterial infection in joints or bones (septic arthritis/osteomyelitis) and the development of bone or cartilage diseases like osteochondrosis. The findings suggest that bacteria may block blood supply in growth cartilage, leading to conditions resembling osteochondrosis.
Research Objectives and Process
The intention of this study was to probe if the presence of bacteria in the canals of growth cartilage in young horses (foals) suffering from septic arthritis/osteomyelitis could be associated with osteochondrosis. The researchers investigated this through the method of:
- Examining bacteria presence in the bodies of 7 euthanized foals aged between 9 and 117 days, which suffered from septic arthritis/osteomyelitis.
- Observing and evaluating 16 lesions in the growth cartilage of the studied foals.
Findings and Implications
The results of the study illuminated several key observations:
- Bacteria were found in the cartilage canals of foals suffering from septic arthritis/osteomyelitis.
- Sections of dead (necrotic) canals near bacteria often contained white blood cells (neutrophils), adding to the definition of septic canals as either acute or chronic.
- Acute and chronic septic canals were associated with ischemic chondronecrosis (cartilage death due to insufficient blood supply) in the joint surface and growth plate (eryphyseal) cartilage complex of 5 cases, reflecting the same condition in bone formation regions (physis) of 2 cases. Therefore, the maturing of the bone (ossification) was locally postponed in 5 out of the 7 cases.
- These lesions occurred regardless of whether there was corresponding inflammation of bone and bone marrow (osteomyelitis).
- Bacteria were found to be associated with localized cartilage death (chondronecrosis) both in the joint surface and growth plate (epiphyseal) cartilage complex and the physis.
These findings therefore establish a bacterial infection as a credible cause of some bone and cartilage lesions in horses. It is also suggested that horses with sepsis-related bone or cartilage lesions could be used for breeding without escalating the prevalence of osteochondrosis-predisposing genes in the horse population.
Cite This Article
APA
Wormstrand B, Østevik L, Ekman S, Olstad K.
(2018).
Septic Arthritis/Osteomyelitis May Lead to Osteochondrosis-Like Lesions in Foals.
Vet Pathol, 55(5), 693-702.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0300985818777786 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- 1 Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
- 1 Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
- 2 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- 1 Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Arthritis, Infectious / complications
- Arthritis, Infectious / pathology
- Arthritis, Infectious / veterinary
- Bone and Bones / pathology
- Cartilage, Articular / microbiology
- Cartilage, Articular / pathology
- Chondrocytes / microbiology
- Chondrocytes / pathology
- Female
- Horse Diseases / pathology
- Horses
- Male
- Osteochondrosis / etiology
- Osteochondrosis / pathology
- Osteochondrosis / veterinary
- Osteomyelitis / complications
- Osteomyelitis / pathology
- Osteomyelitis / veterinary
Citations
This article has been cited 13 times.- Van Cauter R, Serteyn D, Lejeune JP, Rousset A, Caudron I. Evaluation of the appearance of osteochondrosis lesions by two radiographic examinations in sport horses aged from 12 to 36 months. PLoS One 2023;18(5):e0286213.
- Olstad K, Gangsei LE, Kongsro J. A method for labelling lesions for machine learning and some new observations on osteochondrosis in computed tomographic scans of four pig joints. BMC Vet Res 2022 Aug 31;18(1):328.
- Olstad K, Aasmundstad T, Kongsro J, Grindflek E. Osteochondrosis and other lesions in all intervertebral, articular process and rib joints from occiput to sacrum in pigs with poor back conformation, and relationship to juvenile kyphosis. BMC Vet Res 2022 Jan 18;18(1):44.
- Bergmann W, de Mik-van Mourik M, Veraa S, van den Broek J, Wijnberg ID, Back W, Gröne A. Cervical articular process joint osteochondrosis in Warmblood foals. Equine Vet J 2020 Sep;52(5):664-669.
- Olstad K, Wormstrand B, Kongsro J, Grindflek E. Computed tomographic development of physeal osteochondrosis in pigs. BMC Vet Res 2019 Dec 17;15(1):454.
- West EY, Jaramillo D. Imaging of osteochondrosis. Pediatr Radiol 2019 Nov;49(12):1610-1616.
- Berthelot JM, Sellam J, Maugars Y, Berenbaum F. Cartilage-gut-microbiome axis: a new paradigm for novel therapeutic opportunities in osteoarthritis. RMD Open 2019;5(2):e001037.
- Hendrickson EHS, Lykkjen S, Dolvik NI, Olstad K. Prevalence of osteochondral lesions in the fetlock and hock joints of Standardbred horses that survived bacterial infection before 6 months of age. BMC Vet Res 2018 Dec 10;14(1):390.
- Olstad K. Science-in-brief: Recent advances in failure of the blood supply to growth cartilage, osteochondrosis and developmental orthopaedic disease. Equine Vet J 2025 Sep;57(5):1161-1166.
- Hoey S, Fogarty U, McAllister H, Puggioni A, Cloak B, Richard H, Skelly C, Laverty S. Ultrasonographic assessment of equine metacarpal cartilage thickness is more accurate than computed tomographic arthrography. Vet Radiol Ultrasound 2025 Jan;66(1):e13444.
- Van Cauter R, Caudron I, Lejeune JP, Rousset A, Serteyn D. Nineteen years of radiographic screening: Impact of sepsis and evolution of osteochondrosis dissecans prevalence in Walloon sport horses born between 2004 and 2022. PLoS One 2024;19(9):e0308304.
- Birckhead EM, Das S, Tidd N, Raidal SL, Raidal SR. Visualizing neutrophil extracellular traps in septic equine synovial and peritoneal fluid samples using immunofluorescence microscopy. J Vet Diagn Invest 2023 Nov;35(6):751-760.
- Olstad K, Ekman S, Björnsdóttir S, Fjordbakk CT, Hansson K, Sigurdsson SF, Ley CJ. Osteochondrosis in the central and third tarsal bones of young horses. Vet Pathol 2024 Jan;61(1):74-87.
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