Nutraceuticals: how to enhance fertility in stallions

Stallion semen preservation has played a fundamental role in the success of artificial insemination (AI) and several attempts have been made to improve male fertility over years. Cooling and freezing storage of semen is not immune from deleterious effects on spermatic cells such as decrease in cell viability, motility, and fertility. Nutraceutical supplementation has been proposed as a tool to increase the quality of stallion semen and improve the reproductive efficiency of horses. Substances of vegetable origin, minerals, and vitamins are available on the market for the management of male infertility in both human and veterinary medicine. Sev- eral strategies and nutraceutical compounds have been explored to have a beneficial effect on stallion sperm quality. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from different sources (pomegranate seed oil, heterotrophically grown microalgae, algae- and flaxseed-based supplements, linseed oil), carnitine, antioxidants and vitamins (selenium, carotene, tocopherol, ascorbic and folic acid, vitamins A, C, and E), botanical extracts (including herbs, fruits, vegetables, enriched plasmolysed yeast) has been added to stallions’ diet, alone or as a mixture, in order to investigate the effects on semen characteristics and redox status. Starting from the last decade, the frame of research directed toward the use of nutritional supplements able to improve the ability of equine se- men to cope with cryodamage and oxidative stress has produced remarkable results. The advantage of PUFAs as unique dietary supplement is fairly conflicting, minor improvements have been reported in some studies, whereas no improvement has been observed by other authors, probably related to redox imbalance following excessive dietary fatty acids intake, which has been recognized as a major cause of male infertility. Providing optimal levels of antioxidants resulted to be essential for the maintenance of normal reproductive functions and the most promising results have been obtained in those studies investigating the combination of PUFAs and antioxidants

Nutraceuticals and Complementary Feeds in Veterinary Medicine and Reproduction

Dear Colleagues, Dietary supplementation with nutraceuticals including herbs, fruits, vegetables, and vitamins has been used since ancient times to improve human and animal health by providing the optimal levels of nutrients according to the specific needs of body systems. Since the 1980s, dietary interventions have become a pillar in the multimodal management of health conditions in domestic animals. The present Special Issue addresses the most recent research on nutraceuticals in all aspects of veterinary medicine. We warmly welcome the contribution of original research papers, review articles, and short communications concerning the use of nutraceuticals and complementary feeds to manage medical conditions as wells as to improve performance and reproductive efficiency both in small and large domestic animal species. Additional topics regarding the discovery of target conditions that could benefit from dietary supplementation are also welcome

Fluorescence light energy in the management of lacerated and contused wound in a horse

Traumatic wounds are frequently faced by the equine practitioner. Although primary closure is preferred, of- ten wounds heal by second intention, a time-consuming process which may take several weeks with possible unsatisfactory functional results. Fluorescent light energy (FLE) represents an additional option in wound management and has been applied in small animal to manage different skin conditions including wounds and canine perianal fistulas. An 11-years-old Arabian stallion was presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital as first opinion consultation for a right hindlimb blunt-force contusion framed by a scalloped laceration, at the level of third metacarpal. The horse received systemic antibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapy for ten days with a limited response. Owing this, such treatments were discontinued and FLE (Phovia® Vetoquinol) man- agement was started. It consisted of applying a roughly 2 mm layer of gel on the lesion and illuminating with the blue LED device that delivers noncoherent blue light with peak wavelength between 440 and 460 nm and a power density of between 55 and 129 mW/cm2, for 2 min, at approximately 5 cm distance. After illumination, the gel was gently removed using sterile gauzes and a second cycle performed soon after. After FLE session, a protective bandage was applied. Phovia was administered twice weekly and after four FLE applications (2 weeks) granulation tissue fulfilled the laceration. Within 10 additional weeks (5 weeks) wound showed a >90% improvement in the extent of re-epithelization and FLE was discontinued after 7 weeks in total. This fluorescence-generating system is an innovative and non-invasive wound care device that promotes healing of wounds besides allowing regular monitoring of medical advancements. The present is only a case report but the obtained results suggest a possible role of FLE in daily practice for the management of wounds in horses which deserves to be better explored

Fluorescent Light Energy in the Management of Multi Drug Resistant Canine Pyoderma: A Prospective Exploratory Study

The increase in prevalence of staphylococcal antimicrobial resistance has been also associated with pyoderma in dogs, and prolonged antibiotic treatment, as often needed in severe cases of pyoderma, has been related to influencing possible development of multidrug resistance (MDR). Fluorescent light energy (FLE) has been indicated to improve pyoderma lesions as adjunct therapy to systemic antibiotics. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of FLE on clinical signs of MDR canine deep pyoderma (CDP) and interdigital furunculosis (CIF) when administered as solely management. Sixteen client-owned dogs affected by CIF (five dogs) and CDP (eleven dogs) were scored using a dedicated scoring system and received a single FLE applications twice weekly, until clinical resolution was achieved. Mean time to achieve complete resolution was 5.20 3.56 weeks (median 3 weeks) for CIF cases and 4.18 1.47 weeks (median 4 weeks) for CDP ones. FLE shows promise as an aid to managing clinical signs while reducing reliance on antibiotics for MDR CDP and CIF. In this study, FLE was responsible for the decrease in lesion scores and resolution of MDR pyoderma infection without any adjunct therapy, having a potential useful role to play in antibiotic stewardship programs, efficiently promoting complete clinical resolution of MDR lesions while optimizing the use of antibiotics

Probiotic Supplementation in Trained Trotter Horses: Effect on Blood Clinical Pathology Data and Urine Metabolomic Assessed in Field

The attention of sports community towards probiotic supplementation as a way to promote exercise and training performance, together with good health, has increased in recent years. This has applied also to horses, with promising results. Here, for the first time, we tested a probiotic mix of several strains of live bacteria typically employed for humans to improve the training performance of Standardbred horses in athletic activity. To evaluate its effects on the horse performance, we measured lactate concentration in blood, a translational outcome largely employed for the purpose, combined with the study of hematological and biochemical parameters, together with urine from a metabolomics perspective. The results showed that the probiotic supplementation reduced significantly post exercise blood lactate concentration. The hematological and biochemical parameters, together with urine molecular profile, suggested that a likely mechanism underlying this positive effect was connected to a switch of energy source in muscle from carbohydrates to SCFAs. Three sulfur-containing molecules differently concentrated in urines in connection to probiotics administration suggested that such switch was linked to sulfur metabolism

Respiratory metabolites in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) can differentiate horses affected by severe equine asthma from healthy horses

The use of an untargeted metabolomic approach to investigate biofluids of respiratory origin is of increasing interest in human and veterinary lung research. Considering the high incidence of equine asthma (>\u200914%) within horse population and the importance of this animal model for human disease, we aimed to investigate the metabolomic profile of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in healthy and asthmatic horses

Donkey Colostrum and Milk: How Dietary Probiotics Can Affect Metabolomic Profile, Alkaline Sphingomyelinase and Alkaline Phosphatase Activity

Positive results on animal health, feed efficiency, and milk’s nutritional content have been obtained after oral administration of probiotics. The aim of the present study was therefore to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with high numbers of multispecies probiotic formulations on the milk metabolomic profiles of alkaline sphingomyelinase (alk-SMase) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in donkeys. Methods: Twenty animals were randomly allocated to receive either a normal diet (group B) or a supplemented diet (group A). Colostrum and milk samples were obtained within 48 h, at 15 days (supplementation start), and at 45 days after parturition. Results: Different metabolomic profiles were observed between colostrum and milk, as were the concentrations of 12 metabolites that changed following 30 days of probiotic supplementation. Alk- SMase activity was found to be higher in donkey colostrum (vs. milk at 15 days); this enzyme, together with ALP, increased in milk after 30 days of probiotic supplementation. Conclusions: The results of the present study provide new insight into the complex changes in donkey colostrum and milk composition in the first 45 days of lactation and how the milk metabolome can be modulated by probiotic supplementation