gluck equine

Horohov Named Chair of UK Veterinary Science, Director of Gluck Equine Research Center

The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environ-

ment has named David Horohov chair of the Department of Veterinary Sci-ence and director of the Gluck Equine Research Center. His appointment will begin Sept. 23.

“We are extremely happy that David has joined the administrative team on a permanent basis. We are fortunate to have someone of his distinguished re-search reputation at the helm of this im-portant department. Even more impor-tant, David’s dedication to supporting Kentucky’s signature industry promises a focus on relevant research with high impact,” said Nancy Cox, dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Envi-ronment.

Horohov has served as the interim chair of the Department of Veterinary Science and the interim director of the Gluck Equine Research Center since September 2014. A professor and Jes E. and Clementine M. Schlaikjer En-dowed Chair, Horohov specializes in equine immunology research. He joined the Gluck Center in 2003. Previ-ously, he was a professor of veterinary immunology within the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

Horohov earned his bachelor’s degree in entomology from Penn State Uni-versity, his master’s in insect pathology from Purdue University and his doctor-

ate in immunology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He completed a post-doctorate in cytokine biology with the Food and Drug Administra-tion.

“I am humbled and excited by this op-portunity I have been given to be the chair of the Department of Veterinary Science and the director of the Gluck Equine Research Center. I truly believe that this program offers exceptional op-portunities, and I hope to continue our successes and accomplishments during

my tenure as chair. I greatly appreciate the support I have received from Dean Nancy Cox, the faculty and our stake-holders. I very much look forward to working with all of them, as we move this program forward,” Horohov said.

He will oversee the department’s three entities—the Animal Genetics Testing and Research Laboratory, the Gluck Equine Research Center and the Vet-erinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

The mission of the Department of Veterinary Science is to assure the health and viability of animal agricul-ture through teaching, discovery, re-search and service.

The mission of the Gluck Center, a UK Ag Equine program in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, is scientific discovery, education and dis-semination of knowledge for the bene-fit of the health and well-being of hors-es. The Gluck Center faculty conducts equine research in six targeted areas: genetics and genomics, infectious dis-eases and immunology, musculoskeletal science, parasitology, pharma-cology/toxicology and reproductive health.

For more information on the Department of Veterinary Science, visit http://www.ca.uky.edu/gluck.

--Jenny Evans

G L U C K E Q U I N ER e s e a r c h & S e r v i c e R e p o r t

Fall 2015Volume VII, Issue II

Dr. David Horohov became director and chair on Sept. 23.

Gluck Equine Research Foundation Fall 2015 2

GLUCK EQUINE RESEARCH FOUNDATION Mrs. Jenny EvansInterim Executive Director andMarketing and Promotion Specialist Senior Gluck Equine Research Foundation 108 Gluck Equine Research Center Lexington, KY 40546-0099 Phone: (859) 218-1089 Fax: (859) 257-8542 E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://ca.uky.edu/gluck

Layout by Hannah Forte

Cover photo by Erin Morgan

The mission of the Gluck Equine Research Center is scientific discovery, education and dissemination of

knowledge for the benefit of the health and well-being of horses.

The UK Gluck Equine Research & Service Report is pro-duced by UKGERF and the Department of Veterinary Sci-ence. It is published twice a year on behalf of all equine researchers and veterinarians and others in the horse industry who are committed to the continued improve-ments in equine research and technology.

Research material is meant to be shared. However, materials are copyrighted and require reprint permission from UKGERF.

BLUEGRASS EQUINE

DIGESTA free monthly online newsletter with the latest research and practical, use-it-today advice from the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center and the Ag Equine Programs. Sign up at www.thehorse.com/enewsletter/register.aspx

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY GLUCK EQUINE RESEARCH FOUNDATION

Case Clay, Chair

Dr. Stuart Brown, Vice Chair Dr. Eli Capilouto, President

Dr. Timothy Tracy, Vice PresidentDr. Nancy Cox, SecretarySusan Krauss, Treasurer

Shannon ArvinMichael BanahanMark Bellissimo

Benny Bell Williams Jamie Eads

Dr. Rolf Embertson William S. Farish, Jr. Thomas Grossman

Eric HamelbackDr. Robert E. Holland, Jr.

Dr. David HorohovLesley Howard

G. Watts Humphrey, Jr. William Lynn Jones

Lisa LourieEverett McCorvey

Leigh McKeeMichael Meuser

Chauncey Morris Dr. Stephen ReedDan Rosenberg

Dermot RyanWilliam “Bill” W. Thomason, Jr.

Ron Wallace

MASTHEADBOARD OF D IRECTORS


The Genetic Toolbox

Kathryn Graves, PhD, associ-ate professor and director of the

Animal Genetic Testing and Research Laboratory at the University of Ken-tucky, gave a talk about genetic testing at the 6th Annual Kentucky Breeders’ Short Course in Lexington, Ky. Genetic testing is defined as any test that detects differences at the DNA level. This in-cludes parentage, heritable disease, and trait testing.

DNA is made up of four nucleotides, or basic structural units, which are la-beled A, C, G, and T. Microsatellites are short segments of DNA that are made of short, repetitive sequences of nucleotides, for example: CACACACA. Microsatellites are a marker that can be used to look at parentage because each one has a number of possible variants (alleles) based on the number of re-peats. The Animal Genetic Testing and Research Laboratory uses 17 micro-satellites to generate DNA profiles for individual horses as well as to confirm parentage.

Microsatellites can also be used to find the location of mutations by comparing the alleles of microsatellites present in affected versus normal horses for a dis-

ease mutation or color variation. The closer a marker is to the gene, the great-er the linkage (association). The gene map can then be used to look for genes near markers and to sequence the gene.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) is another type of marker that can be utilized. SNPs are a single base change in the DNA sequence that can have profound effects on phenotype (all of an organism’s observable character-istics). Many SNPs are responsible for coat color variants but can also be asso-ciated with other traits such as fertility, body type, muscle function, dwarfism, and more.

During her presentation, Graves spent a substantial amount of time discussing coat color genetics in particular. She broke down the genes and character-istics of various coat colors, as well as the homozygotes (an organism with identical pairs of genes - or alleles -for a specific trait) of mutations. She also discussed cloning, and the reasons for its use. She suggested the primary rea-sons to clone are related to breeding. Cloning can be used to recover a valu-able breeding animal, create a breeding animal from a gelding or infertile mare,

recreate a successful performance ani-mal, or to recreate an animal because of emotional attachment.

Graves concluded by saying that ge-netic testing is still in the early stages. She said that moving forward, it is im-portant not to try and eliminate genetic disease genes too quickly in horses. There is the danger of eliminating good traits accidently by immediately re-moving all carriers of an undesirable trait. Tests for complicated traits such as performance and complex diseases such as laminitis or developmental dis-orders are in the future. However, the current tests available are useful tools to avoid producing horses with heritable disease and should be utilized by ev-ery breeder if that disease is present in their breed. The color gene tests can be used to produce horses with coat color that makes them more marketable or to avoid problems caused by some of the coat color mutations that are deleteri-ous when homozygous. The bottom line is that breeders need to take ad-vantage of the genetic tools available to increase their chances for the best pos-sible outcomes.

--Hannah Forte

Patrick McCue, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACT, a professor at Colorado

State University, and Edward Squires, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACT (Hon.), a pro-fessor at the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center, recent-ly teamed up to publish a manual titled Equine Embryo Transfer.

Targeted toward veterinary practitio-ners and students, the manual is based on a combination of basic science, ap-plied research, and clinical experience gained from the commercial equine embryo transfer program at CSU and other programs around the world.

In the preface, McCue and Squires write, “It is our hope that experienced practitioners will find useful tips in this manual to enhance embryo collec-

tion success or post-transfer pregnancy rates. New graduates and current stu-dents may utilize the manual to gain a basic understanding of reproductive principles as well as clinical techniques.”

Chapter topics include everything from a brief history to future directions of equine embryo transfer. The manual contains all the information needed to set up and succeed in an equine embryo transfer program. The format and size of the manual allows the technician or veterinarian to have it available in the clinic or laboratory as a readily avail-able reference guide.

The 172-page manual was published by Teton NewMedia and can be pur-chased on Amazon.

--Jenny Evans

McCue, Squires Publish Equine Embryo Transfer Manual

Published by Teton NewMedia, the manual can be purchased on Amazon.


Graduate Student Spotlight: Carleigh Fedorka

From: Meadville, PADegrees and institutes where received:B.S. in Biology from St. Lawrence Uni-versity in Canton, NY

Carleigh Fedorka came to Lexington, Ky., after graduating from college in

New York to start a career in the Thor-oughbred breeding industry. During the 2011 nocardioform placentitis outbreak, a form of bacterial placentitis affecting late gestation mares that can cause abor-tions and abnormal placentas, Fedorka was managing Hinkle Farms in Paris, Ky. Karen Wolfsdorf, DVM, DACT, and vet-erinarian for Hinkle Farms, asked if the farm would be willing to participate in a study through the University of Ken-tucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL).

The study piqued Fe-dorka’s interest in the physiology, pathology, and disease process-es that were occur-ring. Wolfsdorf and Erol Erdal, MS, PhD, DVM, associate pro-fessor at the UKVDL, suggested that she speak with the reproduction lab at the UK Gluck Equine Research Center. Af-ter meeting with Mats Troedsson, DVM, PhD, DACT, DECAR, professor and past chair of the department of veterinary sci-ence at UK, Fedorka decided to pursue a master’s degree in equine reproduction, which eventually became a doctoral de-gree.

“Although placentitis brought me to the Gluck Center, I have actually been study-ing the seminal plasma protein CRISP-3 and its possible effect on modulation of the inflammation that we see after breed-ing,” Fedorka said.

There had been previous research con-ducted by students in Troedsson’s lab on the effect of seminal plasma, specifically CRISP-3, on inflammation. It was hy-pothesized that CRISP-3 protects viable spermatozoa from phagocytosis (a living cell that ingests other cells/particles) and post-breeding digestion by neutrophils (white blood cells) which are both im-

mune system responses. “With this in mind, we are studying the

effect that this protein may have on the expression of cytokines in the endome-trium of the mare post-breeding, study-ing both normal mares as well as mares that are found to be susceptible to post-breeding induced endometritis (PBIE),” Fedorka said. “By studying cytokine ex-pression, we can get a picture of whether or not it is involved in numerous signal-ing pathways of the innate immune sys-tem, and further understand its role in the breeding process.”

According to Fedorka, the impact this research could have depends on the out-comes of the studies. Potentially, it could be utilized to modulate post-breeding in-flammation and may also assist with uter-ine clearance.

Fedorka has worked on and led other research projects besides her own in her time at the Gluck Center, including a 2014 field study on placentitis that re-quired taking blood samples from 750 Thoroughbred mares in central Kentucky and looking for biomarkers that predict placentitis. She also worked with another graduate student to look at the potential of Acyline for chemical castration. In addition, she has worked on numerous other research projects within the repro-duction lab.

Fedorka describes herself as a “farm manager with a scientific brain.” When she joined the Gluck Center, she wanted to understand the biology and chemistry behind what happens daily in an equine operation.

“During my time at UK, I have been able to answer so many of those ques-tions, as well as further my knowledge of the reproductive system even farther than I could have imagined,” Fedorka said.

“That was all that I asked for when begin-ning this degree, and I am happy to say that although I have discovered so many more questions, I have also answered so many of the original ones.”

After completing her degree, Fedor-ka hopes to become a faculty member at a university and teach undergraduates.

Fedorka said, “While I re-ally enjoy research, I am more passionate about teaching and educating others with answers to those same questions that I had asked of my mentors. I wish that during my under-

graduate degree I had access to classes such as those taught by our own Equine Programs here at UK, and I would want to join a team such as this.”

Outside of her work at the Gluck Cen-ter, Fedorka owns two off-the-track Thoroughbreds, Dynamaker and Called to Serve, whom she competes in 3-day eventing. Called to Serve is entered with Fedorka in the Retired Racehorse Proj-ect’s Makeover competition at the Ken-tucky Horse Park in October. Aside from training and competing, Fedorka writes her own blog called “A Yankee in Paris” that has been published on websites in-cluding Horse Collaborative, The Paulick Report, and The Retired Racehorse Proj-ect.

If you want to read more about Fedorka, as well as her horses and people, you can find her blog at https://ayankeeinparis.wordpress.com/.

--Hannah Forte

Carleigh Fedorka

“During my time at UK, I have been able to answer so many of those questions, as

well as further my knowledge of the reproductive system even farther than I could have imagined.” --Carleigh Fedorka


Potomac Horse Fever Cases and Testing

The University of Kentucky Veteri-nary Diagnostic Laboratory has

seen a recent trend in positive results for Potomac Horse Fever (PHF), which is caused by Neorickettsia risticii. Re-sults are detected using a real-time PCR assay test.

Neorickettsia risticii causes fever, an-orexia, leukopenia (reduced white blood cell numbers), and occasional diarrhea in horses and can be fatal in up to 30% of cases. Neorickettsia risti-cii can also sometimes result in abor-tion in pregnant mares. PHF has been diagnosed across North America and is usually seen in horses one year old and older.

Exposure is through accidental inges-tion of the metacercarial (encysted) stage of a trematode (parasite) within its insect host (such as mayflies). Vet-

erinarians believe horses are infected through inadvertently ingesting insects that land in drinking water. Risk factors include association with rivers, streams, and other aquatic habitats and grazing pastures next to waterways.

The veterinary diagnostic laboratory can help diagnose PHF. A complete blood count might reveal a transient leukopenia in the early stages. A single positive indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test for PHF indicates exposure to the agent. Paired samples collected two weeks apart with a fourfold rise in titer is evidence of an active infection. On live animals, a PHF PCR assay should be performed on EDTA blood (i.e., blood collected in a tube containing a chelating agent and anticoagulant) as well as a fecal sample, as the presence of the organism in blood and feces might

not temporally coincide.SpecimenTo confirm suspect cases, the UKVDL

recommends providing 10 mL of an-ticoagulated blood in EDTA tubes (purple top) and either feces (at least 5 grams) or a fecal swab for each ani-mal tested using real-time PCR analy-sis. Please use an appropriate specimen container—feces in gloves can no lon-ger be accepted. Screw-cap tubes are preferred.

Fee and scheduleThe fee is $35 in-state and $52.50 out-

of-state total for both samples. Turn-around is one to two working days. The test is run Mondays through Fridays.

Please call 859/257-8283 for further information.

--Jenny Evans

As of July 9, UKVDL had received the following specimens that tested positive for Potomac Horse Fever in Kentucky (Neorickettsia risticii) by PCR this year.

UK Gluck Center to Host Immunology Symposium in November

The University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center will host

a one-day symposium titled the “Role of Immunology in Equine Health” on Saturday, Nov. 21 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Embassy Suites in Lexington, Ky.

This symposium will focus on the role of the immune system in equine diseas-es caused by viruses, bacteria, and para-sites. Scientific experts will specifically present information on the immune re-sponse to equine arteritis virus, respira-tory disorders, parasitism, skin diseas-es, and the immune changes in the foal.

Factors affecting the immune response to vaccines will also be presented.

The symposium is targeted toward veterinarians, regulatory officials, farm managers, and breed registry represen-tatives.

The symposium is partially funded by a USDA-NIFA-AFRI (United States Department of Agriculture- National Institute of Food and Agriculture-Ag-riculture and Food Research Initiative) grant titled “Identification of genetic factors responsible for establishment of equine arteritis virus carrier state

in stallions.” However, registration is required and the event costs $25. To register, visit http://immunologysym-posium.eventbrite.com.

Eight hours of Continuing Education is pending approval by the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners for vet-erinarians and veterinary technicians. CE sheets must be signed at the meet-ing to receive credit.

--Jenny Evans

See the complete Immunology Symposium schedule on page 6.


Cervical stenotic myelopathy (CSM), a neurologic disease commonly

known as wobbler syndrome, was first reported anecdotally back in the mid-1800s. Skeletal malformations of the neck vertebrae in affected animals lead to narrowing of the cervical spinal canal and subsequent spinal cord compres-sion. Clinical signs primarily include neurologic deficits, with the hind limbs typically more severely affected than the forelimbs. In severe cases, veterinarians might recommend euthanasia for hu-mane reasons and to guard horse and hu-man safety.

Equine CSM is a multifactorial disease, meaning it has many causes. High planes of nutrition (overfeeding), increased growth rates, alterations in zinc and cop-per concentrations, and genetic determi-nants could be responsible. Researchers have clearly established the relationship between nutrition, mineral intake, and skeletal development; any disruption in this balance can result in asynchronous (uneven) skeletal growth and possible clinical signs of disease. While we know or suspect that all these factors play a role in CSM development, the exact mecha-nisms leading to clinical disease remain

unclear.What we do know is how gender, breed,

and age factor into the epidemiology of this devastating disease. Males are more often affected than females. Breeds such as Thoroughbreds, American Saddlebreds,

W a r m -bloods, and Te n n e s s e e W a l k i n g Horses are overrepresented, which means they seem to develop the disease more often than horses of other breeds. And in vari-ous studies r e s e a r c h -ers have i d e n t i f i e d the mean age of CSM

Wobbler Syndrome: What We Know and

Where We’re Headed

horses as younger than 2 years, which has prompted veterinarians to categorize CSM as a developmental bone disease.

Over the years practitioners have de-veloped approaches for diagnosing CSM. All clinical workups begin with the vet-erinarian conducting a thorough neuro-logic exam, looking primarily for signs of ataxia (incoordination). The next step is using radiography to visualize the neck vertebrae. Researchers have defined what’s normal or healthy for a neck based on skeletal anatomical measurements at each vertebral site, which helps veteri-narians identify presumed areas of spinal canal narrowing. Veterinarians can per-form myelograms (special radiographs taken after injecting dye into the spinal canal) to see the actual compression.

Once a veterinarian diagnoses CSM in a horse, the owner has several management and treatment options to choose from. More conservative approaches center on dietary modification and anti-inflamma-tory administration to slow growth rates,

Role of Immunology in Equine Health Symposium Schedule

8-8:30 a.m. REGISTRATION8:30-9:30 An overview of the immune system Amanda Adams, UK Gluck Equine Research Center9:30-10 Immune control of vector-borne pathogens Robert Mealey, Washington State University10-10:15 BREAK10:15-11 Immune Response to EAV Udeni Balasuriya, UK Gluck Equine Research Center11-noon Equine lymphoma: classification and integrative ap- proach to diagnosis Renaud Leguillette, University of CalgaryNoon-1 p.m. LUNCH and LECTURE: Trends in vaccine development Frank Cook, UK Gluck Equine Research Center1-1:45 Immune response of the uterus to sperm and bacteria Robert Causey, University of Maine1:45-2:30 Immune response of the foal David Horohov, UK Gluck Equine Research Center2:30-2:45 BREAK2:45-3:30 Immunodiagnostics and molecular diagnostics of equine lymphoma; Peter Moore, University of California, Davis3:30-4:15 Immune response to parasites Don Knowles, Washington State University4:15-5 Local and systemic immune response to bacterial infection John Timoney, UK Gluck Equine Research Center5-5:15 p.m. CLOSING REMARKS

Sample of measurements made on lateral cervical radiographs to identify areas of vertebral canal narrowing. Wobbler Syndrome, p. 7

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Many equine researchers from the University of Kentucky College of

Agriculture, Food and Environment at-tended the Equine Science Society (ESS) symposium on May 26-29, in St. Pete Beach, Fla. The National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics (NAEAA) was held on the front end of the ESS sym-posium May 26.

ESS is held every two years in different locations and promotes quality research on equine nutrition and reproductive physiology production and management, teaching and extension. The event is set up to establish effective communication among researchers, teachers, extension, and production personnel.

Ernie Bailey, PhD, professor in the de-partment of veterinary science at the UK Gluck Equine Research Center, was an in-vited speaker and presented a full-length paper titled “Genetics After Twilight,” about the next step in genetics. The title references Bailey’s past work, sequencing the entire equine genome on the Thor-oughbred mare, Twilight. Bailey’s paper discusses how functional genomics can be used to answer biological questions. Functional genomics is relevant to all areas of equine studies, including immu-nology, nutrition, reproduction, exercise physiology, and veterinary medicine.

Laurie Lawrence, PhD, professor in the department of animal and food sciences at the UK, received the Equine Nutrition Research Award during the symposium. The award was sponsored by the Ameri-can Feed Industry Association, and ac-knowledges Lawrence’s achievements and contributions to the equine indus-try. Lawrence’s international research on equine nutrition has most recently con-centrated on pasture-based feeding and forage for both young and mature horses.

To view other abstracts that were au-thored and/or co-authored by UK faculty and students, please visit http://www.the-horse.com/articles/36145/uk-strongly-represented-at-the-ess-symposium.

--Hannah Forte

UK Strongly Represented at the Equine Science

Symposium

reduce swelling of nonskeletal tissues, and possibly allow vertebral bone remod-eling to reduce cord compression. More aggressive approaches involve surgical intervention (e.g., cervical vertebral fu-sion) to alleviate cord compression.

Developments in diagnostic imaging modalities, such as MRI and CT, have helped veterinarians better characterize the lesions along the entire neck post-mortem. High-resolution images from multiple angles and the ability to visual-ize the cervical vertebrae, spinal cord, and associated soft tissues together pro-vide powerful data for studying CSM pa-thology. A combination of imaging mo-dalities, clinical resources, and thorough

Wobbler Syndrome, continued

Transverse images from a MRI study from a horse with wobbler syndrome. The image on the left shows a normal vertebral canal with no evidence of compression (green ar-rows). The image on the right demonstrates spinal cord compression (yellow arrows).

necropsy examination results are provid-ing new insights for CSM research. Up-coming changes in these imaging units to accommodate the horse’s large size will allow veterinarians to use CT or MRI, where available, to examine CSM cases clinically in the future.

Finally, due to rapidly developing tech-nologies, researchers are now examin-ing the equine genome to identify spe-cific genes that may contribute to CSM susceptibility. This is an exciting area of research that could have an important impact both on breeding decisions and management of potentially susceptible horses.

--Jennifer Janes

Myelogram: There is no loss of contrast that outlines the spinal cord (yellow line). At-tentuation of the contrast and compression of the spinal cord (green line).

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University of KentuckyGluck Equine Research Center

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Please return this form with your gift to:Gluck Equine Research Foundation, 108 Gluck Equine Research Center, Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0099

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The Gluck Equine Research Center encompasses faculty members that conduct equine research full time in the areas of infectious diseases and immunology, genetics and genomics, musculoskeletal science, parasitology, pharmacology/toxicology and reproductive health. Gifts to the Gluck Equine Research Center are used to support research, build facilities, purchase equipment, provide scholarships for graduate students, create educational material and provide continuing education programs for Veteri-narians and Horsemen.

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