Publications by authors named "Fumio Sato"
We investigated the changes in inbreeding levels in Japanese Thoroughbred horses over the past 46 years. Our results show a significant increase in inbreeding over the past 30 years, primarily due to the influence of two sires, Northern Dancer and Sunday Silence. Northern Dancer's bloodline spread gradually through descendants like Northern Taste, leading to a slower increase in the inbreeding coefficient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To clarify the anti-inflammatory effect of platelet lysate (PL) on equine persistent synovitis by using a model of synovitis induced by monoiodoacetic acid (MIA).
Methods: Nonseptic synovitis was induced by administering MIA into both antebrachiocarpal joints of 6 clinically healthy horses on day 0. On days 23, 30, and 37, carpal circumference measurement and synovial fluid collection for assays (leucocytes, LDH, tumor necrosis factor-α, and TGF-β1) were performed, after which PL was injected into 1 antebrachiocarpal joint and saline into the contralateral joint.
Retraining retired racehorses for various purposes can help correct behavioral issues. However, ensuring efficiency and preventing accidents present global challenges. Based on the hypothesis that a simple personality assessment could help address these challenges, the present study aimed to identify genetic markers associated with personality.
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- The study compared two different winter management strategies for Thoroughbred weanlings and yearlings in Hokkaido, Japan: one group was kept outdoors for 22 hours (22hr group), while the other group had 7 hours outdoors with 1 hour of exercise on a horse-walker (7hr+W group).
- Results showed that the 7hr+W group had similar daily travel distances as the 22hr group but exhibited better body weight gains, lower body temperature, and improved heart rate variability, indicating better overall metabolic health.
- Endocrine analysis revealed that the 7hr+W group had higher levels of prolactin and insulin-like growth factor, suggesting that this management strategy is more effective for
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- The study examined radiographic changes in the forelimbs of foals over the first year of life, focusing on specific angles related to hoof and joint alignment.
- Key measurements showed significant increases in hoof angle and phalanx angles in the early weeks, indicating rapid developmental changes, while some angles decreased after reaching peak growth.
- The findings suggest that foals initially have a flexed fetlock and upright hoof alignment, transitioning to a mature conformation by six months, with physiological variations linked to common diseases in foals.
Throughout the Plio-Pleistocene, climate change has impacted tropical marine ecosystems substantially, with even more severe impacts predicted in the Anthropocene. Although many studies have clarified demographic histories of seabirds in polar regions, the history of keystone seabirds of the tropics is unclear, despite the prominence of albatrosses (Diomedeidae, Procellariiformes) as the largest and most threatened group of oceanic seabirds. To understand the impact of climate change on tropical albatrosses, we investigated the evolutionary and demographic histories of all four North Pacific albatrosses and their prey using whole-genome analyses.
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- Persistent synovitis in horses can damage articular cartilage, and a study used a monoiodoacetic acid (MIA) model to assess treatment effectiveness by monitoring inflammatory biomarkers.
- Five horses had synovitis induced via MIA injections in one joint, while the other joint received a saline control, with various examinations and synovial fluid collections conducted over 35 days.
- Results indicated that acute inflammation lasted about 2 weeks, with chronic inflammation markers remaining elevated, suggesting that specific inflammatory biomarkers can help assess the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory therapies.
Late-term fetal loss in horses is a major problem in the horse-breeding industry globally. Abnormal pregnancies should be diagnosed as early as possible to prevent abortions and other gestational problems. According to our previous longitudinal study in healthy pregnant mares, the plasma activin A concentration increases as pregnancy progresses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) approach was used to determine the best empirical dosage regimen of cefazolin (CEZ) after intramuscular (IM) administration of CEZ in horses. Seven horses received a single IM or intravenous (IV) administration of CEZ of 5 mg/kg bodyweight (BW) according to a crossover design. CEZ plasma concentrations were measured using LC-MS/MS.
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- * Twelve horses were given an intravenous dose of 22 mg/kg CET, and samples were collected at 1, 3, and 5 hours post-administration.
- * CET was effective in treating septic arthritis, pleuritis, and peritonitis caused by certain bacteria but was not effective for osteomyelitis due to low levels in bone tissue.
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- A recent study explored the use of advanced liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques to better identify drug metabolites in horses, focusing on the challenges posed by interfering substances.
- The researchers enhanced the detection process by creating exclusion lists (ELs) to minimize interference, particularly when dealing with low concentrations of drug metabolites, using daprodustat as a model compound.
- Their method successfully identified 21 metabolites of daprodustat in a single run, demonstrating the effectiveness of combining data-dependent acquisition (DDA) with exclusion lists for improving non-targeted analyses in doping control scenarios.
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- - The study focuses on developing a test to detect gene doping in horse racing by using next-generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze gene editing, specifically through the creation of 1012 amplicons targeting 52 genes and 147 single-nucleotide variants (SNVs).
- - Four models of gene editing were constructed using CRISPR/Cas9 on horse fibroblasts, and the test successfully identified specific mutations in edited cells and 101 thoroughbred horse samples.
- - The study demonstrated that 120 of the SNVs could be reliably used to confirm biological parentage, helping to detect racehorses produced through prohibited practices like somatic cloning or embryo transfer.
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- - Vadadustat is a banned substance in horse racing, and this study explores its metabolism in horses to improve doping control methods.
- - Three thoroughbred mares were administered vadadustat, and comprehensive analyses were conducted to identify and quantify its metabolites in both plasma and urine.
- - The findings revealed that vadadustat can be detected in equine plasma and urine for up to two weeks, aiding in the effective monitoring of its misuse in horses.
Cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy (CVSM), a common cause of cervical spinal cord compression, is a neurological disease characterized by general proprioceptive ataxia and weakness of hindlimbs that tends to develop in young adult Thoroughbred horses. Although male horses seem to be at increased risk for CVSM, the mechanism for the occurrence of sex differences in the prevalence of CVSM is still poorly understood. Hence, we hypothesized that sex differences in the development of cervical spinal cord and spinal canal would affect the development of CVSM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThoroughbred horses appear to be particularly predisposed to cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy (CVSM), also known as wobbler syndrome. We hypothesized that variations in the cervical vertebral volumes can affect the dynamic instability of the cervical vertebrae. This observational study aimed to clarify whether cervical vertebral volume could be considered as a contributing factor in CVSM in Thoroughbred horses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We aimed to investigate the recent incidence of carpal fractures and the risk factors for recurrent ipsilateral fractures after arthroscopic removal of clinically active unilateral carpal chip fracture fragments in Thoroughbred racehorses.
Methods: The findings for horses managed under the Japan Racing Association that developed carpal bone fractures between 2014 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. The proportion of cases that developed a recurrent carpal fracture in the originally affected joint was calculated, and the risk factors for recurrent fractures were analysed.
The purpose of this observational study was to determine the characteristic computed tomographic (CT) myelography findings of cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy (CVSM) lesions in Thoroughbred horses. A total of 23 Thoroughbred horses (age range, 155-717 days on CT examination; mean, 410.9 days) were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Computed tomographic myelography can be a useful tool for evaluating vertebral canal stenosis. However, an index of spinal cord compression is yet to be established.
Objectives: This observational descriptive study aimed to establish an index for spinal cord compression using computed tomography (CT).
We performed a standing hand-assisted laparoscopic ovariectomy in a draft mare that presented with high serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level and had an enlarged single cystic ovary. Histopathological examination revealed no tumor cell proliferation in the ovary, but the presence of a large ovarian cyst was confirmed. In the diagnosis of abnormal ovaries in mares, a comprehensive assessment should be performed, including the monitoring of ovarian morphology and biomarkers over time, to determine the disease prognosis and treatment plan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: For medication control in several jurisdictions, withdrawal time is the period of refrain from racing after drug administration. It is set by adding a safety period to an experimental detection time. However, there are no reports of statistical analyses of detection time for the determination of withdrawal time in flunixin meglumine-treated horses.
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- The study examines the relationship between the shape of the white line of a horse's hoof and the notch on the distal phalanx (P3) in 163 Thoroughbred yearlings.
- It found that as the toe white line separation grade increased (rated from 0 to 3), both the depth and width of the notch on the P3 also significantly increased.
- This suggests that radiographic examinations of the P3 could help determine necessary hoof care to prevent toe white line separation issues.
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- Researchers studied how exercise and emotional stress impact hormone levels in Thoroughbred horses.
- They conducted two experiments: one focusing solely on exercise stress and the other combining exercise with emotional stress from a loud racetrack video.
- Results showed that both types of stress increased the secretion of prolactin and growth hormone, with exercise causing a quick rise that lasted after the workout, while emotional stress also boosted prolactin levels.
Many studies have reported that advancing age in broodmares has a negative impact on the reproductive performance of horses. However, although the ages at first and last mating vary among broodmares, it is unknown how this variation affects the correlation between age and reproductive performance in mares. Here, in order to examine the effects of the ages at first and last mating, we analyzed all recorded mating events for Thoroughbreds in Japan from 1997 to 2017.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnthropogenic marine debris is a threat to marine organisms. Understanding how this debris spatially distributes at sea and may become associated with marine wildlife are key steps to tackle this current issue. Using bird-borne GPS- and video-loggers on 13 black-footed albatrosses Phoebastria nigripes breeding in Torishima, Japan, we examined the distribution of large floating debris in the Kuroshio Current area, western North Pacific.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) is an endocrine disorder the clinical signs of which include infertility, but few reports have examined the relationship between PPID and reproductive performance in broodmares.
Hypothesis/objective: Broodmares with infertility of unknown etiology were screened for PPID using baseline endogenous plasma ACTH concentrations, and its relationship with subsequent reproductive performance was analyzed.
Animals: Sixty-seven Thoroughbred broodmares.