EQUINE VETERINARY EDUCATION / AE / APRIL 2018
207
A total of 39 donkeys (Amiatina donkeys n = 33, and cross-
bred donkeys n = 6) with no clinical signs of EGUS, underwent gastroscopic examination to evaluate the presence of gastric lesions. The animals were not selected randomly, and an opportunistic sampling strategy was adopted. Seventeen out of 39 donkeys were owned by the regional authority and administrative body of Tuscany (Italy). The donkeys were permanently housed at the Department of Veterinary Sciences’ (13/39) or regional authority’s stud farm facilities in Pisa (4/39) for reproduction activities. The remaining donkeys (22/39) were owned by two private stud farms located in Camerino and Perugia, also used for reproduction activities. All the donkeys were eligible to participate in the study
(see study inclusion criteria below), and were thus recruited. All the animals were kept in sand paddocks for at least one year before the gastroscopy. Jennies were grouped (5 or 6 animals/paddock), while jacks were housed in single small paddocks maintaining eye contact with the other animals. All the donkeys were fed meadow hay ad libitum and commercial feed for horses (humidity 12%, protein 15–16.5%, oils and lipids 1.5–2%; cellulose 6.8%; ashes 2.6%; sodium 75 mg/kg; Equifioc)1, in accordance with the NRC recommendations for energy. All the donkeys included in this study had never been vaccinated and had not received antiparasitic drug treatments for at least one year. The inclusion criteria were: 1) nonathletes and nonworking
donkeys; 2) breeding animals; 3) no administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or corticosteroids for at least 20 days immediately prior to gastroscopy. The day prior to gastroscopy a clinical examination and
routine blood work was performed on all the donkeys enrolled. The animals were then housed in 4 9 4 m boxes 15 h before gastroscopy. The examination was performed under sedation after 15 h of fasting with detomidine 60 lg/kg bwt (Detogesic)2 and butorphanol 50 lg/kg bwt (Nargesic)3 injected i.m. before entering the examination room. Gastroscopy was performed as described by Bain et al. (2004), using a portable processor Gastropack4 and a 300 cm long scope (60130PKS)4. The long gastroscope was passed into the stomach, which was insufflated with air through an air-flow system attached to the biopsy channel of the endoscope until the internal stomach folds appeared flattened. Feed material adherent to the nonglandular mucosa was flushed away with sterile water in order to visualise the entire nonglandular portion of the stomach, including the greater curvature, the lesser curvature, and the dorsal fundus. The images were recorded on a digital media for
subsequent revaluation and storage. The lesions were graded and described in accordance with the European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement guidelines (Sykes et al. 2015). Equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) lesions were scored using the scale proposed by the EGUS Council (1999), while equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) was not scored, but described as the presence or absence, anatomical location, distribution and appearance of lesions. The occurrence of Gasterophilus larvae in the stomach and proximal duodenum was also determined during the gastroscopic examination. A few (3–5) larvae were collected via the biopsy channel of the endoscope using a biopsy pincer from each infested animal, placed in plastic vials containing saline solution (NaCl 0.9%), examined under a stereomicroscope, and identified by their morphological features to species level according to Zumpt (1965).
Statistical analysis Total prevalence values of EGUS, ESGD and EGGD, single scores (0–4), groups of scores ranging from 1 to 2–4, and Gasterophilus infestations were determined. In addition, the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with Jeffrey’s method (
http://epitools.ausvet.
com.au/content.php?page=CIProportion). Prevalence values and 95% CIs of EGUS according to anatomical location (ESGD and EGGD), sex, age (≤3 years and >3 years), and breed (Amiatina and crossbreed) as well as distribution of scores of ESGD according to sex, age and breed were also calculated. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare differences between groups. Statistical analysis was performed with commercial software (Prism 7)5. Differences were considered significant and highly significant when P values were <0.05 and <0.01, respectively.
Results
The donkeys enrolled in this study included 16 female donkeys (jennies) and 23 male donkeys (jacks), aged 1– 18 years (median age = 3 years). A 15-h feed withdrawal time was adequate to visualise 95% of the stomach (Fors et al. 2001). The gastroscopy was performed in all the donkeys enrolled (39/39, 100%). The anatomy was similar to observations described by others (Fors et al. 2001; Jerbi et al. 2014).
Lesions attributable to EGUS were not present in 19/39
(48.7% [95% CI = 33–64.4%]) donkeys, while 20/39 (51.3% [35.6–67%]) donkeys had lesions consistent with EGUS. Of the 20 donkeys with lesions consistent with EGUS, 19/39 (48.7% [33–64.4%]) animals had ESGD, while a one-year-old crossbreed jack out of 39 (2.6% [0–7.5%]) showed ESGD concurrent with EGGD. Scores for ESGD were 0/4 in 19/39 (48.7% [33–64.4%]), 1/4 in 5/39 (12.8% [2.3–23.3%]), 2/4 in 10/39 (25.6% [11.9–39.5%]), 3/4 in 4/39 (10.3% [0.7–19.8%]) and 4/4 in 1/39 (2.6% [0–7.5%]) donkeys, respectively. On the basis of the scores proposed by Andrews et al.
(1999) and Sykes et al. (2015), grade 1 is characterised by an intact squamous gastric mucosa with the presence of hyperaemia and/or hyperparakeratosis, while grades 2–4 are characterised by the presence of squamous gastric ulcers. Thus, the total prevalence of donkeys with gastric lesions obtained in this study (51.3% [35.6–67%]) included 12.8% (5.1– 25.8%) of donkeys showing hyperkeratosis and/or hyperaemia (score 1) and 38.4% (24.5–54.1%) showing ulcers in the nonglandular mucosa (scores 2-4). The EGGD lesion consisted of a mild depression in the
ventral glandular fundus and was associated with ESGD lesions scoring 2. ESGD was considered primary in all the positive (19/19, 100%) donkeys enrolled with alterations located around the cardia and along the lesser curvature. Tables 1 and 2 summarise the results for the prevalence of EGUS according to anatomical location of lesions (ESGD or ESGD/EGGD), sex, age (≤3 years or >3 years) and breed (Amiatina or crossbreed), as well as distribution of scores for ESGD according to sex, age, and breed, respectively. All the animals (39/39, 100%) showed the occurrence of Gasterophilus larvae attached in groups near the margo plicatus curvature, irrespective of the presence or absence of EGUS. No Gasterophilus larvae were found in the proximal duodenum. In agreement with Al-Mokaddem et al. (2014), after removal, Gasterophilus larvae left small shallow erosions
© 2017 EVJ Ltd
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
