Transport induced inflammatory responses in horses

Abstract

Deleterious response to road transport is an important problem in equine practice. It determines different physiological, immunological and metabolic changes which lead to increased susceptibility to several disorders such as pneumonia, diarrhea, colics, laminitis, injuries and rhabdomyolisis. The aim of our study was to look for possible relationships between transportation of female young and older horses over a long and short distance and an inflammatory state reflected by an increase of acute phase protein concentration, oxidative stress and muscle injury. The study was conducted on 24 cold-blooded female horses divided into four groups. Six fillies aged 6-18 months and six mares aged 10-12 years were transported over the distance of about 550 km, six fillies aged 6-18 months and six mares aged 10-12 years were transported over the distance of about 50 km. Plasma and serum were obtained from blood samples taken before transportation (T0), immediately after transportation (T1) and at an abattoir during slaughter (T2). In these samples fibrinogen, MDA, AST and CK were assessed. Fibrinogen increased in all studied groups especially in fillies after long distance transportation, where it reached 205±7.07 mg/dl before transportation, 625±35.35 mg/dl after transportation, and 790±14.14 mg/dl during slaughter. MDA concentrations rose after transportation and reached the maximal level during slaughter. CK activity was more elevated after short transportation in younger horses, whereas initial activity of AST was higher in older horses. We estimated that intensified responses from acute phase, oxidative stress and muscle injury parameters indicated an inflammatory state.

Retrospective Study on Risk Factors and Short-Term Outcome of Horses Referred for Colic from 2016 to 2022

“…No association was found on the whole population or on those horses that were surgically treated. This was unexpected because transport was considered as a stressful event, especially for critically ill patients [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Moreover, the time required to reach the clinic may affect the survival rate, because it increases the time from appearance of clinical signs to intervention.…”

“…During transportation, dehydration may worsen due to stress, sweating, and absence of adequate fluid therapy. Transportation is also one of the main causes of stress for horses, as it is responsible of disruption of homeostasis [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Therefore, distance from and time required to reach the referral practice may worsen the clinical conditions of the horse and act as a predisposing factor.…”

Welfare of equidae during transport

“…Wessely‐Szponder et al. (2015) quantified MAD at slaughter in horses transported for 1 and for 12 h (in conditions pertaining to current EU legislation). The study involved fillies and older mares, but no information is given on the prejourney conditions, thereby limiting the interpretation of the results.…”

Immunological, clinical, haematological and oxidative responses to long distance transportation in horses

“…Pearson correlation (expressed as value of r) between the dependant variables which reported at least one significant correlation The reported changes in the oxidative/antioxidative parameters, PTAS and ROMs, should also be interpreted as components of the acute phase response inducted by transport stress (Onmaz et al, 2011;Wessely-Szponder et al, 2015). We did not find a significant increase in ROMs, as reported in transported ewes (Piccione et al, 2013), however, peaks in oxidative products may be observed one or two days after transportation (Nazifi et al, 2009;Piccione et al, 2013;Wessely-Szponder et al, 2015), suggesting serial sampling during recovery might be considered in future studies. The highest ROMs values were observed on day 1 in EG horses in the current study, with a simultaneous and marked increase of PTAS, which was almost double the normal range (Kusano et al, 2016).…”