Effect of Lavage Solution Type on Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Cytology in Clinically Healthy Horses.

Equine bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is usually performed with 250-500 mL of isotonic saline at pH 5.5. The acidic pH of saline may cause an increase in airway neutrophil count 48 h after BAL.

Effects of low-dust forages on dust exposure, airway cytology, and plasma omega-3 concentrations in Thoroughbred racehorses: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: Racehorses commonly develop evidence of mild asthma in response to dust exposure. Diets deficient in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (Ω-3) might exacerbate this response.

Hypothesis: To compare dust exposure, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology, and plasma Ω-3 and specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM) concentrations amongst racehorses fed dry hay, steamed hay, and haylage.

Effect of different adjuvant formulations on the antibody response of horses to porcine zona pellucida proteins.

Immunization with porcine zona pellucida (PZP) proteins is being used successfully to induce infertility in wildlife including horses. However, widespread adoption of this method to control the growth of horse populations requires further refinement in order to induce long-term infertility, reduce the frequency and severity of injection site reactions, and make the vaccines easier to administer. The next generation of PZP-based vaccines will likely be a controlled-release formulation with different adjuvants from the Freund's adjuvants used in existing vaccines.

Effects of forages, dust exposure and proresolving lipids on airway inflammation in horses.

Objective: To investigate the role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (Ω-3)-derived proresolving lipid mediators (PRLM) in the resolution of mild airway inflammation in horses.

Animals: 20 horses with mild airway inflammation.

Procedures: Horses previously eating hay were fed hay pellets (low Ω-3 content; n = 10) or haylage (high Ω-3 content; 9) for 6 weeks.

A randomised, controlled trial to determine the effect of levothyroxine on Standardbred racehorses.

Background: The use of thyroid supplement is pervasive in athletic horses although its effects on measures of performance are not known.

Objectives: One purpose of this study was to determine whether supra-physiologic doses of levothyroxine affect the velocities at which blood lactate was greater than 4 mmol/L (V ) and heart rate was over 150 (V ) and 200 (V ) beats per minute respectively. Additionally, a survey of post-race blood samples was also conducted to determine whether high thyroxine concentrations were common in racehorses.

Tamoxifen induces apoptosis and inhibits respiratory burst in equine neutrophils independently of estrogen receptors.

Neutrophils play an important role in the exacerbation and maintenance of severe equine asthma; persistent neutrophil activity and delayed apoptosis can be harmful to surrounding tissues. Tamoxifen (TX) is a nonsteroidal estrogen receptor modulator with immunomodulatory effects and induces early apoptosis of blood and bronchoalveolar lavage neutrophils from horses with acute lung inflammation. This study investigated if the in vitro effects of tamoxifen are produced by its action on nuclear (α and β) and membrane (GPR30) estrogen receptors in healthy equine neutrophils.