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

Transrectal ultrasonography of the adrenal glands in donkeys (Equus asinus)

Little information is available for medical imaging in donkeys and no report about adrenal glands ultrasonography can be found in scientific literature. The feasibility of transrectal ultrasonography of the adrenal glands was tested on 30 healthy donkeys using a 10 MHz linear transducer. Mean age of animals was 10.7 ±4.8 years, mean weight 275.0 ±62.9 Kg and mean height 126.7 ±7.1 cm. The left adrenal gland was visualized in all donkeys. The right gland ultrasonography was not feasible in seven animals with a height less than 116 cm. The left gland was visualized as a linear or slightly curved structure, the right gland was most often S-shaped. In both glands, an hypechoic peripheral zone was identified as the cortex with an inner, hyperechoic medulla. The length was 5.49 ±1.90 cm and 5.15 ±1.10 cm for right and left gland, respectively. Right gland whole and medullary thickness were 0.71 ±0.11 cm and 0.24 ±0.09 cm, 0.65 ±0.13 cm and 0.21 ±0.07 cm, 0.56 ±0.17 cm and 0.25 ±0.07 cm for cranial pole, middle point and caudal pole respectively. Left gland whole and medullary thickness were 0.69 ±0.13 cm and 0.25 ±0.09 cm, 0.66 ±0.13 cm and 0.23 ±0.09 cm, 0.57 ±0.15 cm and 0.26 ±0.09 cm for cranial pole, middle point and caudal pole respectively. There was a significant correlation between height and the entire length of the left gland. Ultrasonography of the adrenal glands is a suitable tool for evaluation of both adrenal glands in most of the donkey. The size is a limiting factor for proper visualization of the right gland

Effects of Single-Dose Prucalopride on Intestinal Hypomotility in Horses: Preliminary Observations

Abnormalities of gastrointestinal motility are often a challenge in horses; however, the use of prokinetic drugs in such conditions must be firmly established yet. For this reason we carried out a preliminary study on the effects of prucalopride on intestinal motor activity of horses with gut hypomotility. The effect of prucalopride per os by oral dose syringe (2 mg/100 kg body weight) was assessed by abdominal ultrasound (evaluating duodenal, cecal, and colonic motor activity) in six horses with gut hypomotility. After administration of prucalopride, a significant increase of contractile activity was found in the duodenum at 30 minutes (p = 0.0005), 60 minutes (p = 0.01) and 90 minutes (p = 0.01), whereas in the cecum and in the left colon the increase was only present at 60 minutes (p = 0.03, and p = 0.02, respectively). No changes from baseline heart and respiratory rate or behavior side effects were observed after administration of the drug and throughout the observation period. Prucalopride may be a useful adjunct to the therapeutic armamentary for treating hypomotile upper gut conditions of horses. Dosing information is however needed to establish its actual clinical efficacy and its proper effects on the large bowel in these animals

Pharmacokinetic profiles of the active metamizole metabolites in healthy horses

Metamizole (MT) is an analgesic and antipyretic drug labelled for use in humans, horses, cattle, swine and dogs. MT is rapidly hydrolysed to the active primary metabolite 4-methylaminoantipyrine (MAA). MAA is formed in much larger amounts compared with other minor metabolites. Among other secondary metabolites, 4-aminoantipyrine (AA) is also relatively active. The aim of this research was to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profiles of MAA and AA after dose of 25 mg/kg MT by intravenous (i.v.) and intramuscular (i.m.) routes in healthy horses. Six horses were randomly allocated to two equally sized treatment groups according to a 2 9 2 crossover study design. Blood was collected at predetermined times within 24 h, and plasma was analysed by a validated HPLC-UV method. No behavioural changes or alterations in health parameters were observed in the i.v. or i.m. groups of animals during or after (up to 7 days) drug administration. Plasma concentrations of MAA after i.v. and i.m. administrations of MT were detectable from 5 min to 10 h in all the horses. Plasma concentrations of AA were detectable in the same range of time, but in smaller amounts. Maximum concentration (Cmax), time to maximum concentration (Tmax) and AUMC0-last of MAA were statistically different between the i.v. and i.m. groups. The AUCIM/AUCIV ratio of MAA was 1.06. In contrast, AUC0-last of AA was statistically different between the groups (P < 0.05) with an AUCIM/AUCIV ratio of 0.54. This study suggested that the differences in the MAA and AA plasma concentrations found after i.m. and i.v. administrations of MT might have minor consequences on the pharmacodynamics of the drug

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

Clinical investigation on Theileria equi and Babesia caballi infections in Italian donkeys

Background: Interest in the welfare and diseases of donkeys is constantly increasing in several countries. Despite this, clinical research into donkeys needs to be in continual development since they show different reactions compared to horses in many conditions, including infectious diseases, and need specific clinical and therapeutic approaches. No reports are currently available on clinical and clinical pathology data regarding donkeys with natural piroplasms infection. Results: Venous blood samples were taken from one hundred and thirty eight donkeys and underwent indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) to detect IgG antibodies against Theileria equi and Babesia caballi and real-time polimerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect Babesia spp. and Theileria spp.. Clinical examinations, haematological analyses and serum bilirubin evaluation were also performed and compared with positive or negative status. A seroprevalence of 40.6% and 47.8% was found for T. equi and B. caballi, respectively; double positivity was detected in 19.6% of the animals. PCR results showed that 17.4% of the animals tested positive for T.equi and 3.6% for B. caballi with no double positivity. Twelve donkeys (8.7%) had clinical signs consistent with chronic forms of the disease and no acute forms were detected. Fifty-eight donkeys had haematological and serum bilirubin alterations and 56 (96.6%) of them were IFAT and/or PCR positive. Changes in erythrocyte number, packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, platelets number and total bilirubin were significantly associated with positive and symptomatic animals. Conclusion: Nonspecific clinical presentation seems to be very common in donkeys and several clinical pathology alterations persist after natural infection. Therefore, apparently healthy donkeys can have masked but severe clinical pathology alterations. Acute forms are very seldom observed in donkeys. Clinical monitoring of chronically infected donkeys is recommended since such animals represent a risk both for transmission to other animals and for their own health; furthermore, their production performances could be reduced. The study should also be intended as a contribution for veterinary practitioners because it describes the most usual clinical presentations and laboratory findings of equine piroplasmosis in naturally infected donkeys in endemic areas

Conjunctival bacterial and fungal flora in healthy donkeys in Central Italy

Introduction - The normal eye microflora is composed of several species of fungi and bacteria. If the ocular defense barriers become weak, they can act as pathogens and cause infections. Therefore, characterization of conjunctival normal flora is essential in making diagnosis and treating eye infections. Bacterial and fungal flora of the normal eye has been reported for different mammals but few studies concerning donkeys are available. Aim - To evaluate the bacterial and fungal flora of healthy eyes of donkeys (Equus asinus) reared in three different Areas in Central Italy. Materials and methods - One hundred-fourteen mixed breed donkeys (93 females, 21 males) housed in Marche, Umbria and Lazio Region were included in the study and sampled on the ventral conjunctival fornix. Age ranged between 4 months and 16 years (mean: 7.3 years, SD ± 8.6). Animals were divided into three categories: foals: ≤ 1 year, n = 35; young: 1 < age ≤3 years, n = 9; and adult: ≥ 3 years, n = 70. Results and discussion - Twenty-one different bacteria genus and thirteen fungi/yeasts were isolated. The emergent Kocuria spp. was isolated in 61 cases. None significant effect of gender on bacterial and fungal isolation was observed. Significantly lower bacterial load was recorded in foals than adult donkeys. In relation to the Areas, differences were observed both for bacterial and fungal mean loads. Conclusion - The area in which donkeys are reared seems to be a significant factor influencing the conjunctival bacterial and fungal flora loads. The emerging human pathogen bacteria Kocuria spp. was isolated for the first time in donkeys. In the present study, new important information to facilitate the diagnosis of eye disease in an emergent species like donkeys are provided