Severe asthma in horses is chronic lower airway disease; airway obstruction recurs when the horse is exposed to environmental triggers like hay mites and fungi. Drs. Serena Ceriotti, Michela Bullone, Mathilde Leclere, Francesco Ferrucci and Jean-Pierre Lavoie wanted to see if there were changes to the pulmonary arteries in asthmatic horses and how widely distributed these changes were. They also sought to see if the condition was reversible, either by inhaling corticosteroids or by avoiding allergens.

The study found that both actively asthmatic horses and those in remission had increased wall areas and that the pulmonary artery smooth muscle mass was increased. Both inhaled corticosteroids and allergen avoidance reversed the wall increase, but the smooth muscle only returned to normal during avoidance.

They concluded that equine asthma caused thickening of smooth muscle mass in pulmonary arteries.  They also determined that the narrowing of the arteries could contribute to pulmonary hypertension. Avoiding triggers was found to be more effective than inhaled corticosteroids to control the disease.

Read the full study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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