The correlation of periodic ophthalmia with leptospira agglutinins in horses.

This research is about studying the connection between an eye disorder in horses, periodic ophthalmia, and the presence of leptospira antibodies in their system.

Background of the Study

Collectively, the significance of various studies are discussed which provide a well-rounded perspective necessary for the current research. These include studies by:

• Woods and Chesney who found that rabbits infected with ocular tissues from horses afflicted with periodic ophthalmia developed the disease. When transferred to healthy horses after six rounds, the disease was also reproduced. However, bacteriological examinations of the infected tissues didn’t reveal any known bacteria.
• Burky and his team isolated Brucella, a type of bacteria, from horses with periodic ophthalmia. It was hypothesized that Brucella may be causing the disease as it could move through a certain type of filter (Berkefeld-V). But the team couldn’t find Brucella in the horses’ diseased eyes and couldn’t recreate the disease in healthy horses by introducing Brucella.
• Jones investigated the supposed correlation between periodic ophthalmia and brucellosis but couldn’t find any substantial evidence. Davis and his team corroborated these findings.
• Rimpau suggested a link between periodic ophthalmia and leptospirosis, a bacterial disease spread through urine of infected animals. His suggestion was further supported by Heusser who found high leptospira antibody titers in a large percentage of horses with periodic ophthalmia.

Current Research Work

With this backdrop and following Rimpau and Heusser’s suggestion, the researchers dive into their own study:

• Analyzing the blood of 30 healthy horses and 17 horses with periodic ophthalmia specifically for the presence of leptospira antibodies.
• Pursuing the theory that periodic ophthalmia in horses could potentially be linked to leptospirosis.