Petra Garbade

Aborto e placentite micótica por Aspergillus fumigatus em uma égua

A case of mycotic placentitis with abortion in a mare in the 7th month of gestation is described. Gross changes included an underdeveloped fetus, patch whitish areas in the placenta and thickenning of the allantochorion. In the fetal lungs there were nodules of 1 cm diameter. Histopathological changes consisted mainly of necrosupurative placentitis with multifocal mineralization on the placenta and thrombosis with focal supurative inflamation in the fetal lung. Branching, septaded fungal hyphae could be demonstrated in the placental lesions and in the lungs of the fetus. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from the placental lesions. Diagnosis was based on the histopathology and isolation of the agent.

Brazilian Sport Horse: pedigree analysis of the Brasileiro de Hipismo breed

Brasileiro de Hipismo (BH) represents an open population that permits genetic input from breeds recognised by the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses. The aim of this study was the genetic characterisation of the population as the first of a series aiming at the consolidating the current selection programme. The Brazilian Association of the Brazilian Sport Horse Breeders provided genealogical data from 1977 to 2011. A data bank containing 34,393 horses was analysed for population genetic parameters including: individual inbreeding (F), effective population size (Ne), effective number of founders (fe), effective number of ancestors (fa), and number of founder genome equivalents (fg). Analysis were run twice: for animals born until 1995 (PREVIOUS) and for those born in the last 15 years (15YEARS). Ne estimated via paired increase in coancestry consisted of 188.59 (±3.24) animals. fe was 466 and 222 for PREVIOUS and 15YEARS, respectively. Ancestors were represented by fa of 274 and 129. Mean F for 15YEARS was 0.6%; 1444 animals were inbred, with mean inbreeding of 3.33%. The difference found in fa and fe parameters, between PREVIOUS and 15YEARS, indicated the loss of original alleles. The increase in contribution from some founders represents the breeder’s preference for a few horses, without the negative effect of high inbreeding levels. Brasileiro de Hipismo genetic variability agrees with its large based formation history, and should allow for genetic gain of heritable traits through selection.

Leite em pó desnatado não inativado e leite desnatado uht para preservação e fertilidade do sêmen eqüino resfriado

The present study was designed aiming to verify the need of inactivating reconstituted nonfat dry milk and the use of skim milk UHT as extender for cooling equine semen. Two experiments were performed. In the first experiment, four diluents were tested: reconstituted not-inactivated dry skim milk, inactivated reconstituted dry skim milk, UHT skim milk A and UHT skim milk B. Twenty semen collections were obtained. semen were cooled at +4°C and evaluated for progressive and total motility 0 , 24 and 48 h after collection. In the second experiment, one hundred and one cycles were studied. Mares were inseminated with semen diluted in inactivated and not-inactivated dry skim milk. Dilution was done in a 1:2 (semen:diluem) ratio and the minimal inseminating dosis used was 500x106 spermatozoa. It was concluded that it is not necessary to inactivate nonfat dry milk for using it to dilute equine semen and that skim milk UHT may be used to dilute and preserve chilled equine semen.

Monitoring Foals by Thoracic Ultrasonography, Bacterial Culture, and PCR: Diagnostic of Rhodococcus equi Subclinical Pneumonia in South of Brazil

Abstract Pneumonia caused by Rhodococcus equi is an insidious disease of young foals in which clinical signs may not be apparent until pathologic changes are well progressed. Thus, early and accurate diagnosis of foals with R. equi pneumonia is crucial. Thoracic ultrasound screening and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from fecal and nasal swab samples were performed in 22 foals from 3 to 16 weeks of age from three endemic farms located in the south of Brazil to identify the occurrence of R. equi subclinical disease/pneumonia. The association of thoracic ultrasonography and fecal PCR detection of virulent R. equi provided a possibility of identification of critical points in disease control. Considering that 95.4% of the foals showed evidence of subclinical disease based on pulmonary abscessation or consolidation but none of them developed R. equi pneumonia, antibiotic treatment does not seem necessary in the population studied. HighlightsRhodococcus equi vapA was detected on the samples from 12 of the 22 foals (54.5%).The number of samples positive for R. equi increased on 7th week (40.9%) and 16th week (33.33%).About 95.4% of the foals showed evidence of subclinical disease based on pulmonary abscessation or consolidation.None of the foals in this study developed R. equi pneumonia.

High-resolution melting analysis for detection of a single-nucleotide polymorphism and the genotype of the myostatin gene in warmblood horses

OBJECTIVE To develop a high-resolution melting (HRM) assay to detect the g.66493737C>T polymorphism in the myostatin gene (MSTN) and determine the frequency of 3 previously defined g.66493737 genotypes (T/T, T/C, and C/C) in warmblood horses. SAMPLES Blood samples from 23 horses. PROCEDURES From each blood sample, DNA was extracted and analyzed by standard PCR methods and an HRM assay to determine the MSTN genotype. Three protocols (standard protocol, protocol in which a high-salt solution was added to the reaction mixture before the first melting cycle, and protocol in which an unlabeled probe was added to the reaction mixture before analysis) for the HRM assay were designed and compared. Genotype results determined by the HRM protocol that generated the most consistent melting curves were compared with those determined by sequencing. RESULTS The HRM protocol in which an unlabeled probe was added to the reaction mixture generated the most consistent melting curves. The genotypes of the g.66493737C>T polymorphism were determined for 22 horses (16 by HRM analysis and 20 by sequencing); 14, 7, and 1 had the T/T, T/C, and C/C genotypes, respectively. The genotype determined by HRM analysis agreed with that determined by sequencing for 14 of 16 horses. The frequency of alleles T and C was 79.5% and 20.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that HRM analysis may be a faster and more economical alternative than PCR methods for genotyping. Genotyping results might be useful as predictors of athletic performance for horses.