Gestation in a Mare with Facial Deviation (Wry Nose)

Background: Wry nose is a congenital deformity that causes respiratory obstruction and decreased oxygenation rate. Gestation in a wry nose mare may be considered a risk to the neonate since it depends on the maternal environment for development. Compromised oxygenation during pregnancy can lead to fetal distress and cause consequences on fetal development. However, depending on the degree of the impairment, the fetus may still be able to adapt. The aim of the present study was to report the gestation in a mare with facial deviation until term and to assess blood gases in the mare and neonate, and to evaluate the histomorphometry of the placenta.Case: A Criollo breed mare presenting facial deviation (Wry Nose) was donated to Equine Medicine Research Group (ClinEq) of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) due to the presence of the physical deformity. When the mare was five years old, it was inseminated and had a pregnancy confirmed. At the fifth month of gestation, evaluation of fetal aorta diameter, fetal orbital diameter and combined thickness of the uterus and placenta (CTUP) started to be performed monthly to assess gestation health. The assessment of the fetal orbit and aorta diameter revealed a linear increase of both variables with the progress of gestation indicating a normal fetal development.  CTUP remained in the normal reference range, presenting no alterations during the gestational length. The mare foaled at 324 days of gestation a coat showing no congenital deformities. The foaling was monitored until the complete passage of fetal membranes. A complete clinical and hematological evaluation of the foal was carried out after birth. The foal showed normal adaptive behavior, clinical and hematological parameters during the first hours of life, although presenting physical signs of immaturity. Venous blood samples were collected from the mare at 315 days of gestation, immediately after foaling and 24 h post-partum for lactate and blood gas analysis.  Mild changes were observed in the mare’s blood gas analysis at foaling that were compensated within 24 h post-partum. Venous blood samples were collected from the umbilical cord and from the foal after birth, at 12 and 24 h post-partum to measure blood gases and lactate. The newborn foal presented respiratory acidosis immediately after birth, which was metabolically compensated at 24 h post-partum. Both mare’s and foal’s lactate evaluation were within the normal reference ranges. After expulsion of the placenta, samples from the gravid horn, uterine body and non-gravid horn were collected for histological and histomorphometric evaluation. In the histological evaluation, avillous areas were detected in the gravid horn and uterine body and mild hypoplasia was found in the uterine body. Placental histomorphometry revealed larger total microcotiledonary and capillary areas on the non-gravid horn when compared to the remaining areas of the placenta (gravid horn and uterine body). No abnormalities on the placental vasculature were detected.  Discussion: To date, there are no reports of a pregnancy in a mare with facial deviation in the literature. This report showed that the wry nose mare gave birth to a viable foal showing no congenital abnormalities, which suggests that wry nose animals can be bred normally. The mare presented a healthy pregnancy, with mild changes in the blood gas analysis at foaling that were compensated at 24 h postpartum. Similarly, despite the foal showed physical signs of immaturity and respiratory acidosis at birth, these changes were compensated in the later assessments. Furthermore, no abnormalities on the placental vasculature were detected

Imunidade humoral não é alterada em éguas Crioulas gestantes com sobrepeso

Tanto a gestação quanto a obesidade podem influenciar o desenvolvimento de alterações significativas no sistema imune, portanto, o presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a resposta imune humoral de éguas gestantes com sobrepeso em resposta a uma vacina comercial. Trinta éguas Crioulas gestantes foram separadas de acordo com o escore de condição corporal (ECC) em éguas com sobrepeso (ECC≥7/9) e éguas controles (ECC=5-6/9) e, ainda, em cada grupo, os animais também foram separados em vacinados e controles. As éguas foram vacinadas contra o EHV-1 em duas doses com intervalo de 21 dias, sendo realizadas coletas de sangue mensalmente durante cinco meses para avaliação de anticorpos neutralizantes. Ambos os grupos vacinados tiveram aumento de anticorpos neutralizantes específicos após a vacina, porém, após a segunda dose, não foi observado aumento de anticorpos em nenhum dos grupos. Nenhuma diferença foi observada entre éguas vacinadas com sobrepeso e as éguas controles em nenhum momento. Assim, este estudo demonstrou que a obesidade não é um fator que influencia a resposta imune humoral de éguas Crioulas gestantes.Both pregnancy and obesity can influence significant changes in the immune system. On this basis, the present study proposes to evaluate the humoral immune response of overweight pregnant mares in response to a commercial vaccine. Thirty pregnant Crioulo mares were separated according to body condition score (BCS) into overweight (BCS≥7/9) or lean-control (BCS= 5-6/9). In each group, the animals were subdivided into vaccinated and controls. The mares were vaccinated against EHV-1 in two doses spaced 21 days apart and had their blood collected monthly, for five months, for antibody evaluation. Both vaccinated groups had an increase in specific neutralizing antibodies after the vaccine. However, after the second dose, there was no increase in antibodies in any of the groups. Vaccinated overweight and lean-control mares did not differ at any time point. Therefore, this study demonstrated that obesity does not influence the humoral immune response in pregnant Crioulo mares

Fatores maternos que afetam o peso e altura dos potros ao nascer na raça crioula

O objetivo deste estudo é identificar e correlacionar os fatores maternos que afetam o tempo de gestação, peso e altura dos neonatos da raça Crioula ao nascer