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Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (WFFS) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the procollagen-lysine, 2-oxoglutarate 5-dioxygenase 1 (PLOD1) gene, associated with collagen biosynthesis. WFFS causes lesions and malformations of the skin in neonatal foals, and abortion. The objective of this study was to investigate the allelic frequency of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) c.2032G>A in the PLOD1 gene in warmblood samples from Brazil. Of the 374 Warmblood horses tested, 41 animals (11%) were identified as heterozygous for the WFFS SNP and 333 (89%) were homozygous for the wild-type allele (N/N), and therefore, the allele frequency was 5.5%. This study highlights the importance of control measures to prevent an increase in the incidence of WFFS in Warmblood horses worldwide., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Despite the reported association between aural plaques and the presence of Equus caballus papillomavirus (EcPV), there are few data regarding the distribution of viral types in different geographic regions or possible correlations for different papillomaviruses and lesion characteristics. We detected the presence and frequency of EcPV (1-7) DNA in aural plaque biopsies of horses from different regions of Brazil and identified the patterns of these infections or coinfections and their possible association with lesion severity. A total of 108 aural plaque biopsies from horses in the 5 geopolitical regions of Brazil were examined. We performed PCR to detect EcPV DNA in the biopsies. At least 1 type of EcPV was detected in 97% of the samples. EcPV coinfection was observed in 59% of the samples. Compared to the other viruses, EcPV-4 was found at the highest frequency in coinfection (84%) or individually identified (32%). EcPV-2 and -7 were not detected. No significant association was found between lesion characteristics (type and distribution) and either the viral type detected or the presence of coinfection. EcPV is widely distributed in Brazil, both isolated and in coinfection; the viral type does not appear to influence the clinical characteristics of equine aural plaques.

Madariaga virus (MADV), the new species designation for the South American isolates of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), is genetically divergent and substantially different in ecology and pathogenesis from North American EEEV strains. We isolated and characterized a MADV isolate obtained from a horse in Brazil. Our results support previous phylogenetic studies showing there are three genetically distinct MADV lineages. The MADV isolate from Paraíba State belongs to the South American lineage III and is closely related to Peruvian, Colombian and Venezuelan isolates., (© 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.)

Hepcidin has been found to be the key regulator of iron metabolism that leads to hypoferremia during inflammation. Recent work has shown that equine hepcidin is predominantly expressed in the liver of horses. In this study, hepcidin gene expression was determined in the liver and bone marrow of six healthy horses after iv infusion of Escherichia coli O55:B5 LPS. The IL-6 gene expression was also determined in liver and bone marrow samples. Clinical and laboratory evaluations were measured at multiple time points between 0 and 240 h post-LPS infusion (PI). Liver and bone marrow biopsies were taken immediately before (baseline) and at 6 and 18 h PI. In response to endotoxin infusion, all horses showed characteristic clinical signs of endotoxemia. Plasma iron concentration was decreased significantly from the pre-infusion level at 8 h PI. Hypoferremia peak was observed at 12 h and returned to normal levels at 30 h PI. Relative real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that liver hepcidin and IL-6 mRNA expression was up-regulated at 6 h PI. Bone marrow hepcidin relative expression was not influenced by LPS infusion. In another experiment, equine monocyte cultures were stimulated with LPS (1 µg/ml). Monocyte hepcidin and IL-6 gene expression was significantly induced after 2 h of LPS stimulus and returned to baseline levels thereafter. The present study describes that, in horses, LPS infusion up-regulates hepatic hepcidin mRNA expression resulting in early observed hypoferremia and suggests that hepcidin may act as an acute-phase protein in horses.