EQUINE | Abstracts
EQUINE | Abstracts
Abstracts
Grass sickness horses had significantly lower percentage of grade 0 ( normal ) neurons and higher percentages of grade 1 – 3 neurons . Grade 3 neurons were observed in all but one grass sickness case , but were not seen in any of the control cases . When the criteria for grass sickness diagnosis was presence of at least one grade 3 neuron , this resulted in 95 % sensitivity and 100 % specificity . Further development of the diagnostic criteria and grading system is required before this technique can be fully applied in clinical cases .
Bottom line : Immunolabelling for β-amyloid precursor protein in rectal biopsy samples is a promising minimally-invasive technique for ante-mortem diagnosis of equine grass sickness .
Jago , R . C ., Scholes , S ., Mair , T . S ., Pearson , G . R ., Pirie , R . S ., Handel , I ., Milne , E . M ., Coyle , F . and McGorum , B . C . ( 2017 ) Histological assessment of β-amyloid precursor protein immunolabelled rectal biopsies aids diagnosis of equine grass sickness . Equine Veterinary Journal Epub ahead of print ; doi : 10.1111 / evj . 12710
Histological assessment of β-amyloid precursor protein immunolabelled rectal biopsies aids diagnosis of equine grass sickness
Short title : Equine grass sickness diagnosis
Immunolabelling with β-amyloid precursor protein , which is present in high levels in cranial cervical ganglia in equine grass sickness cases , has potential to improve the accuracy of histological examination of rectal biopsy samples . Biopsies were obtained from 21 grass sickness cases and 23 controls . In all grass sickness cases , the diagnosis was confirmed by post-mortem examination . A grading system was developed which classified the degree of immunolabelling in neurons from grade 1 ( sparse labelling of neurons ) to grade 3 ( diffuse labelling with no unlabelled cytoplasm visible ).
______________________________________________ Haspel , A . D ., Giguère , S ., Hart , K . A ., Berghaus , L . J . and Davis , J . L . ( 2017 ) Bioavailability and tolerability of nebulised dexamethasone sodium phosphate in adult horses . Equine Veterinary Journal Epub ahead of print ; doi : 10.1111 / evj . 12724
14 • Equine Health Update •