Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Vacuolar myopathy in an adult Warmblood horse.
- Journal:
- Neuromuscular disorders : NMD
- Year:
- 2013
- Authors:
- Massey, C A et al.
- Affiliation:
- Royal Veterinary College · United Kingdom
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A Warmblood mare was showing signs of muscle problems, particularly after exercise, and had some mild increases in muscle enzymes. Tests on her muscle tissue showed many small vacuoles, which are like little pockets filled with debris, but these vacuoles weren't surrounded by membranes and didn't contain certain expected substances. After resting for four months, follow-up tests showed that the vacuoles were no longer present in her muscle samples. This case is the first known instance of a specific type of muscle disease called vacuolar myopathy in a horse.
Abstract
Histopathological interpretation of semimembranosus muscle samples from an adult Warmblood mare with clinical signs suggestive of exertional rhabdomyolysis and intermittent mild elevations in muscle enzyme activities revealed abundant sarcoplasmic vacuoles in all fibre-types containing fine, apparently proteinaceous debris. Vacuolar contents stained lightly with PAS, but did not appear to contain amylopectate, lipid or acid phosphatase and their periphery was unstained with dystrophin immunohistochemistry. Electron microscopy revealed that vacuoles were not membrane bound. No vacuoles were detected in muscle samples evaluated at post mortem following 4 months of rest. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a presumed primary vacuolar myopathy in a horse.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23623568/