Hormones and reproduction; FSH-P therapy, Series III.

Mode of access: Internet.

Equine piroplasmosis report, fiscal year 1966.

Mode of access: Internet.

Illinois Equine Infectious Anemia Control Act /

Description based on: 1990.

Equine infectious anemia : 2001 update /

Shipping list no.: 2004-0264-P.

EVA, EQUINE VIRAL ARTERITIS, A MANAGEABLE PROBLEM, PROGRAM AID NO. 1698, ISSUED APRIL 2001

Shipping List Date: 02/27/2007

A compend of equine anatomy and physiology

Mode of access: Internet.

The second generation of the International Equine Gene Mapping Workshop half-sibling linkage map

A low-density, male-based linkage map was constructed as one of the objectives of the International Equine Gene Mapping Workshop. Here we report the second generation map based on testing 503 half-sibling offspring from 13 sire families for 344 informative markers using the crimap program. The multipoint linkage analysis localized 310 markers (90%) with 257 markers being linearly ordered. The map included 34 linkage groups representing all 31 autosomes and spanning 2262 cM with an average interval between loci of 10.1 cM. This map is a milestone in that it is the first map with linkage groups assigned to each of the 31 automosomes and a single linkage group to all but three chromosomes.

Detection of surfactant protein A (SP-A) and surfactant protein D (SP-D) in equine synovial fluid with immunoblotting

Once considered unique to the lung, surfactant proteins have been clearly identified in the intestine and peritoneum and are suggested to exist in several other organs. In the lung, surfactant proteins assist in the formation of a monolayer of surface-active phospholipid at the liquid-air interface of the alveolar lining, reducing the surface tension at this surface. In contrast, surface-active phospholipid adsorbed to articular surfaces has been identified as the load-bearing boundary lubricant of the joint. This raises the question of whether surfactant proteins in synovial fluid (SF) are required for the formation of the adsorbed layer in normal joints. Proteins from small volumes of equine SF were resolved by 1- and 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and detected by Western blotting to investigate the presence of surfactant proteins. The study showed that surfactant proteins A and D (SP-A and SP-D) are present in the SF of normal horses. We suggest that, like surface-active phospholipid, SP-A and SP-D play a significant role in the functioning of joints. Next will be clarification of the roles of surfactant proteins as disease markers in a variety of joint diseases, such as degenerative joint disease and inflammatory problems.

Equine laminitis: increased transcription of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) occurs during the developmental phase

Reasons for performing study: The dysadhesion and destruction of lamellar basement membrane of laminitis may be due to increased lamellar metalloproteinase activity. Characterising lamellar metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and locating it in lamellar tissues may help determine if laminitis pathology is associated with increased MMP-2 transcription. Objectives: To clone and sequence the cDNA encoding lamellar MMP-2, develop antibody and in situ hybridisation probes to locate lamellar MMP-2 and quantitate MMP-2 transcription in normal and laminitis tissue. Methods: Total RNA was isolated, fragmented by RT-PCR, cloned into vector and sequenced. Rabbit anti-equine MMP-2 and labelled MMP-2 riboprobe were developed to analyse and quantitate MMP-2 expression. Results: Western immunoblotting with anti-MMP-2 detected 72 kDa MMP-2 in hoof tissue homogenates and cross-reacted with human MMP-2. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridisation detected MMP-2 in the cytoplasm of basal and parabasal cells in close proximity to the lamellar basement membrane. Northern analysis and quantitative real-time PCR showed MMP-2 expression significantly (P

Equine laminitis: cleavage of laminin 5 associated with basement membrane dysadhesion

Reasons for performing study: The key lesion of laminitis is separation at the hoof lamellar dermal-epidermal interface. For this to happen the structural and adhesion proteins of the basement membrane zone must be altered. Which proteins and how damage to them leads to the lamellar separation of laminitis is unknown. Objectives: To investigate lamellar hemidesmosome and cytoskeleton damage and basement membrane dysadhesion using light microscopy (LM) and immunofluorescence microscopy (IFM). Methods: Cryostat sections of lamellar tissues from 2 control and 6 Standardbred horses with oligofructose induced laminitis were studied using LM and IFM. Plectin, integrin alpha(6) and BP230 antibody was used to label hemidesmosome intracellular plaque proteins and anti-BP180 and anti-laminin 5 (L5) was used to label anchoring filament (AF) proteins. Cytoskeleton intermediate filaments were labelled using anti-cytokeratin 14. The primary antibodies of selected sections were double labelled to show protein co-localisation. Results: Laminitis caused reduction of transmembrane integrin alpha(6), the AF proteins BP180 and L5,and failure of co-localisation of BP180 and L5. Proteins of the inner hemidesmosomal plaque, plectin and BP230, were unaffected. Conclusions: Loss of co-localisation of L5 and BP180 suggests that, during the acute phase of laminitis, L5 is cleaved and therefore, the AFs connecting the epidermis to the dermis, fail. Without a full complement of AFs separation at the lamellar dermo-epidermal junction occurs. Potential relevance: Suppressing or inhibiting metalloproteinase activity may prevent L5 cleavage and therefore the lamellar dermo-epidermal separation of laminitis.

Equine laminitis: glucose deprivation and MMP activation induce dermo-epidermal separation in vitro

Reasons for performing study: Acute laminitis is characterised by hoof lamellar dermal-epidermal separation at the basement membrane (BM) zone. Hoof lamellar explants cultured in vitro can also be made to separate at the basement membrane zone and investigating how this occurs may give insight into the poorly understood pathophysiology of laminitis. Objectives: To investigate why glucose deprivation and metalloproteinase (MMP) activation in cultured lamellar explants leads to dermo-epidermal separation. Methods: Explants, cultured without glucose or with the MMP activator p-amino-phenol-mercuric acetate (APMA), were subjected to tension and processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results: Without glucose, or with APMA, explants under tension separated at the dermo-epidermal junction. This in vitro separation occurred via 2 different ultrastructural processes. Lack of glucose reduced hemidesmosomes (HDs) numbers until they disappeared and the basal cell cytoskeleton collapsed. Anchoring filaments (AFs), connecting the basal cell plasmalemma to the BM, were unaffected although they failed under tension. APMA activation of constituent lamellar MMPs did not affect HDs but caused AFs to disappear, also leading to dermo-epidermal separation under tension. Conclusions: Natural laminitis may occur in situations where glucose uptake by lamellar basal cells is compromised (e.g. equine Cushing's disease, obesity, hyperlipaemia, ischaemia and septicaemia) or when lamellar MMPs are activated (alimentary carbohydrate overload). Potential relevance: Therapies designed to facilitate peripheral glucose uptake and inhibit lamellar MMP activation may prevent or ameliorate laminitis.

The genetic diversity of lactic acid producing bacteria in the equine gastrointestinal tract

Seventy-two lactic acid producing bacterial isolates (excluding streptococci) were cultured from the gastrointestinal tract of six horses. Two of the horses were orally dosed with raftilose to induce lactic acidosis and laminitis while the remaining four were maintained on a roughage diet. Near complete 16S rDNA was amplified by PCR from the genomic DNA of each isolate. Following RFLP analysis with the restriction enzymes MboI, HhaI and HinfI, the PCR products from the IS isolates that produced L- and/or D-lactate were subsequently cloned and sequenced. DNA sequence analysis indicated that the majority of the isolates were closely related to species within the genus Lactobacillus, including Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus mucosae and Lactobacillus delbrueckii. Four isolates were closely related to Mitsuokella jalaludinii. Lactic acid producing bacteria (LAB) from the equine gastrointestinal tract was dominated by representatives from the genus Lactobacillus, but also included D-lactate-producing bacteria closely related to M. jalaludinii. Identification and characterization of LAB from the equine gastrointestinal tract should contribute to our understanding and management of fermentative acidosis, ulceration of the stomach and laminitis. (c) 2005 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.