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Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

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Theses/Dissertations

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2003

Horses

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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Role Of Endothelin In The Pathogenesis Of Acute Laminitis In Horses, Ashley Michelle Stokes Jan 2003

Role Of Endothelin In The Pathogenesis Of Acute Laminitis In Horses, Ashley Michelle Stokes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Acute laminitis is a severely debilitating disease of the laminae of the equine digit; however, the mechanism(s) of pathogenesis have yet to be fully elucidated. In physiologic states, the endothelium synthesizes substances, such as nitric oxide (NO; vasodilator) and endothelin-1 (ET-1; profound vasoconstrictor), which play a crucial role in vasomotor regulation. The overall hypothesis is that the initiating factor in the onset of acute laminitis is a disruption in the balance between NO and ET-1, which leads to digital vasoconstriction and subsequent laminar ischemic necrosis. In vitro studies with digital vessels from healthy horses and horses with naturally-acquired laminitis determined …


Role Of Endothelin-1 In The Gastrointestinal Tract Of Horses In Health And Disease, Ramaswamy Monickarasi Chidambaram Jan 2003

Role Of Endothelin-1 In The Gastrointestinal Tract Of Horses In Health And Disease, Ramaswamy Monickarasi Chidambaram

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Gastrointestinal tract disease is the leading natural cause of death in horses and horses with ischemic intestinal disease have the greatest mortality. We hypothesized there is basal synthesis of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in the intestinal tract of healthy horses that is likely involved in regulating vasomotor tone, secretion and motility and that ET-1 synthesis increases with gastrointestinal tract disease, which may be involved in the pathophysiology of these disorders. Plasma ET-like immunoreactivity was increased in horses with naturally-acquired gastrointestinal disease, compared with normal horses; values were greatest in horses with large intestinal strangulation obstruction, enterocolitis and peritonitis. There was an association …