Ceftiofur Side Effect in a Mare-Case Report.

Adverse drug reactions in horses are rare. The antimicrobials are in the list of the most common drugs associated with reaction in horses. The aim of this report is to describe the clinical presentation of an adverse drug reaction after the intramuscular administration of ceftiofur hydrochloride. A 5-year-old crioulo broodmare at one day postpartum presented signs of difficulty to walk, positive pulse in the four limbs, and heart rate of 80 beats per minute (bpm), with a history of fighting with another mare. The clinical suspicions were rhabdomyolysis and laminitis. Initially a dose of flunixin meglumine was administrated intravenous to prevent an endotoxemia. On the same day, the blood collection showed an elevated number of white blood cells, predominantly neutrophils and monocytes. An antimicrobial treatment with ceftiofur hydrochloride at a dose of 2.2 mg/kg intramuscular was applied. At the first day, the mare does not show signs of drug side effect. However, 24 hours later, in the second application, the patient presents incoordination, dizziness, and loss of equilibrium. At the same time, dexamethasone was administrated. The signs were reverted, and the mare was normal after the reaction. The treatment with ceftiofur was changed to enrofloxacin, and the animal had a complete recovery. These drug reactions are not common in the routine of equine clinical practitioners, but they cause a great preoccupation for the owner and the veterinarian.

Evaluation of Three Methods of Platelet-Rich Plasma for Treatment of Equine Distal Limb Skin Wounds.

Wounds localized on the distal limbs in horses are difficulty healing. No studies have been conducted to evaluate homologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in horses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect upon applying autologous PRP, homologous PRP, and autologous PRP gel on the wound healing process of wounds on the distal limb of horses. To study a possible correlation between the platelet count and wound healing time, four skin wounds of 4 cm2 were surgically created on the dorsolateral aspect of the third metacarpus in eight healthy adult horses. Each skin wound was randomly treated according to the established treatment groups (G): GI, treated with autologous PRP injection on the wound edges; GII treated topically with autologous PRP gel; and GIII homologous PRP injection on the wound edges and control group treated with saline solution injected on the wound edges. The animals were monitored every fifteen days throughout the wound healing process. The wound size was determined using a tape measure. Skin biopsies were obtained on the 15th and 30th day after the first PRP treatment. Autologous PRP gel treatment reduced the healing time in 15 days compared to the wounds of the control group. Histologically, GII presented a higher frequency of mild inflammation and mild to moderate neovascularization of biopsies 1 and 2. Platelet-rich plasma in gel form showed the best result on wound healing of the distal limb of horses in both clinical and histopathological evaluations. The homologous PRP is recommended for the recovery of animals with compromised hemodynamic conditions.

Spi2 gene polymorphism is not associated with recurrent airway obstruction and inflammatory airway disease in thoroughbred horses.

The aim was to detect the presence of polymorphisms at exons 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Spi2 gene, and evaluate a possible association between them and recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) or inflammatory airway disease (IAD) in thoroughbred horses, through single-strand conformational-polymorphism (SSCP) screening. Although polymorphism was not detected in exons 1, 2 and 3, three alleles and six genotypes were identified in exon 4. The frequencies of allele A (0.6388) and genotype AA (0.3888) were higher in horses affected by RAO, although no association was found between polymorphism and horses with either RAO or IAD.