Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Polyradiculoneuropathy in dourine-affected horses.
- Journal:
- Neuromuscular disorders : NMD
- Year:
- 2019
- Authors:
- Mungun-Ochir, Bayasgalan et al.
- Affiliation:
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
Dourine is a disease in horses caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma equiperdum, which can lead to serious neurological problems. In a study of four horses in Mongolia that had dourine, researchers found that those showing neurological symptoms had inflammation in their nerves, specifically affecting the protective covering of the nerves. One horse that seemed healthy had similar nerve inflammation but without the damage to the nerve covering. The study suggests that the nerve damage seen in horses with dourine can explain the neurological issues they experience. This research is important because it is the first to identify how the disease affects the nervous system in these horses.
Abstract
Dourine is an equine protozoan disease caused by Trypanosoma equiperdum. Dourine-afflicted animals die after developing neurological clinical signs, such as unilateral paresis. The disease has been a problem for many years; however, the pathogenesis regarding the neurological clinical signs of dourine has been unclear. In the present study, we conducted a histopathological examination in order to investigate the mechanisms by which dourine-afflicted horses develop the accompanying neurological clinical signs. Four dourine-afflicted horses in Mongolia were evaluated. An apparently healthy horse exhibited multifocal neuritis without axonal or myelin degeneration. The other horses, which had obvious neurological clinical signs, also exhibited multifocal neuritis. In particular, the nerves that innervated areas associated with neurological clinical signs exhibited neuritis with demyelination in the latter horses. Inflamed, non-demyelinating nerves were infiltrated with B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes; while inflamed, demyelinating nerves were infiltrated with mononuclear phagocytes. Our observations revealed lesion progression in the nerves, such that polyradiculoneuropathy could explain the accompanying neurological clinical signs of dourine. To our knowledge, this is the first report to describe a pathogenic mechanism for the development of the neurological clinical signs found in dourine-afflicted horses.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31101461/