Equine asthma is the most-common non-infectious respiratory disease in horses. Often triggered by dust and mold spores, equine asthma has some similarities to human asthma: both involve airway obstruction caused by bronchoconstriction, lung remodeling, increased mucus production, and airway hyper-responsiveness.
The gold standard for equine asthma treatment is to minimize the affected horse's exposure to triggers like hay and dust. Changes to the horse's management may include soaking hay, changing bedding, or moving the horse to a 24/7 outdoor lifestyle. Medical management often includes inhaled or systemic corticosteroid use to improve clinical signs.
Dr. John Klier and researchers from the University in Germany and the Free University of Berlin investigated whether allergen-specific immunotherapy could help alleviate signs of equine asthma.
The team knew of no current research on immunotherapy and equine asthma, most likely because the disease takes different forms and is affected by a plethora of different triggers. Additionally, there are few commercially available equine allergen tests.
The scientists noted that short single-stranded synthetic DNA molecules can stimulate the horse's immune system. The naturally occurring molecules are often suppressed, but synthetic DNA molecules mimic the effect of a bacterial or viral infection and can cause the body to engage its immune system, mounting a response against the foreign body. They suggested that the synthetic DNA molecules could be used therapeutically for allergen-based diseases.
Several studies on asthmatic horses have shown that synthetic DNA molecules can be bound to gelatin nanoparticles and administered by inhalation. Studies have shown that this treatment produces sustained, significant improvement in horses suffering from asthma. This includes improvements in the quantity and viscosity of tracheal mucus, arterial partial pressure of oxygen, and in neutrophilic inflammatory cells in the respiratory tract.
The study team noted that immunotherapy success isn't reliant upon identification of specific allergens. The scientists also found that the number of inhalations required to get sustained improvement in clinical asthma signs was low. Over the eight-week study, clinical, endoscopic, and cytological parameters improved in horses treated with the modality.
The scientists conclude that immunotherapy is effective in combating severe equine asthma; the beneficial effects of the treatment can be seen for as long as eight weeks even in horses that have suffered from severe asthma for years and who were resistant to conventional therapies.
Read more at HorseTalk.
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