Serum IgG values of <8 g/l in hospitalised foals were proportionally associated with mortality. We recommend immediate assessment of IgG concentrations in hospitalised foals and those with FTPI should receive prompt immunotherapy. The summary is available in Chinese - see Supporting information.

Alterations in the gastrointestinal microbiota after antimicrobial therapy in horses can result in loss of colonization resistance and changes in bacterial metabolic function. It is hypothesized that these changes facilitate gastrointestinal inflammation, pathogen expansion and the development of diarrhea. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of intravenous administration of antimicrobial drugs (ceftiofur, enrofloxacin, oxytetracycline) on equine fecal bacterial communities over time, to investigate whether those changes are detectable after 5 days of treatment and whether they persist over time (30 days). Sixteen horses were randomly assigned into 4 treatment groups: group 1 (enrofloxacin, n = 4); group 2 (ceftiofur sodium, n = 4); group 3 (oxytetracycline, n = 4); group 4 (0.9% saline solution, placebo, n = 4). Antimicrobial therapy was administered for 5 days. Fecal samples were obtained before (day 0) and at 3, 5 and 30 days of the study period. Bacterial DNA was amplified using specific primers to the hypervariable region V1–V3 of the 16S rRNA gene using a 454 FLX-Titanium pyrosequencer. Antimicrobial therapy failed to cause any changes in physical examination parameters, behavior, appetite or fecal output or consistency throughout the study in any horse. There was a significant effect of treatment on alpha diversity indices (richness) over the treatment interval for ceftiofur on days 0 vs. 3 (p < 0.05), but not for other antimicrobials (p > 0.05). Microbial composition was significantly different (p < 0.05) across treatment group and day, but not for interactions between treatment and day, regardless of taxonomic level and beta-diversity distance metric. The most significant antimicrobial effects on relative abundance were noted after intravenous administration of ceftiofur and enrofloxacin. The relative abundance of Fibrobacteres was markedly lower on day 3 compared to other days in the ceftiofur and enrofloxacin treatment groups. There was an increase in Clostridia and Lachnospiraceae from day 0 to days 3 and 5 in ceftiofur and enrofloxacin treated groups. These findings showed the negative effect of antimicrobial drugs on bacterial communities associated with gut health (Fibrobacteres and Lachnospiraceae) and indicate that changes in specific taxa could predispose horses to gastrointestinal inflammation and the development of diarrhea.

Acute abdominal pain in the horse is a common emergency presenting to equine practices. The wide variety of etiologies makes prognosticating survival a challenge. A retrospective, multi-institutional clinical study was performed to determine clinical parameters associated with survival of horses with colic, and to use them to develop a colic survival scoring system. The scoring system was then validated using clinical data in the prospective portion of the study. Medical records from 67 horses presenting for acute abdominal pain were evaluated to develop the colic assessment score. Twenty eight variables were compared between survivors and non-survivors and entered into logistic regression models for survival. Of these, six variables were included in the colic assessment score. A total colic assessment score range was from 0 to 12, with the highest score representing the lowest probability of survival. The optimal cutoff value to predict survival was seven resulting in an 86% sensitivity and 64% specificity with a positive predictive value of 88% and a negative predictive value of 57%. Data from 95 horses presenting for abdominal pain to two equine hospitals was then collected prospectively to validate the colic assessment score. Horses from the prospective portion of the study that received a score &gt;7 were classified as predicted to die and those with a score ≤7 were predicted to survive. The classification was compared to the actual outcome, of which the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the colic assessment score were 84, 62, 88, and 52%, respectively.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.12462/abstract and http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.12428/abstract

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