EQUINE VETERINARY EDUCATION / AE / APRIL 2018


209


TABLE 2: Distribution of scores of equine squamous gastric disease according to sex, age, and breed in donkeys examined alive by gastroscopic examination. Results show the number of positive animals/number of examined animals, prevalence values, and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (in brackets) for each score


Sex


Scores 0


1 2 3 4 Female 7/16


43.7% (19.4–68.1)


5/16


31.2% (8.5–54.0)


3/16


18.7% (0.0–37.9)


1/16


6.2% (0.0–18.1)


0/16


0.0% (0.0–0.0)


Male 12/23


52.2% (31.8–73.0)


0/23


0.0% (0.0–0.0)


7/23


30.4% (11.6–49.2)


3/23


13.0% (0.0–26.8)


1/23


4.3% (0.0–12.7)


≤3 years 11/23


47.8% (27.4–68.2)


1/23


4.3% (0.0–12.7)


6/23


26.1% (8.1–44.0)


4/23


17.4% (1.9–32.8)


1/23


4.3% (0.0–12.7)


Age >3 years 8/16


50.0% (25.5–74.5)


4/16


25.0% (3.8–46.2)


4/16


25.0% (3.8–46.2)


0/16


0.0% (0.0–0.0)


0/16


0.0% (0.0–0.0)


Amiatina 18/33


54.5% (37.8–70.6)


1/33


3.0% (0.33–13.3)


9/33


27.3% (14.4–43.9)


4/33


12.2% (4.2–26.3)


1/33


3.0% (0.33–13.3)


Breed


Crossbreed 1/6


16.7% (1.9–55.8)


4/6


66.6% (28.6–92.3)


1/6


16.7% (1.9–55.8)


0/6


0.0% (0.0–0.0)


0/6


0.0% (0.0–0.0)


Total


19/39 48.7% (33.0–64.4)


5/39* 12.8% (2.3–23.3)


10/39† 25.6% (11.9–39.5)


4/39† 10.3% (0.7–19.8)


1/39† 2.6% (0.0–7.5)


*,† Difference between the prevalence of donkeys affected by grade 1 lesions (hyperaemia and/or hyperparakeratosis), and the prevalence of donkeys affected by grade 2–4 lesions (ulcers) was statistically significant (12.8% [2.3–23.3%] vs. 38.5% [23.2–53.7%], P = 0.0183).


reported in Spain (Morales Brice~ no et al. 2015) and in the UK


(Morrow et al. 2011), respectively. Differences in prevalence rates of G. intestinalis may be due to environmental and climatic conditions influencing the spread of parasites. Some geographical areas may therefore be more favourable than others for the transmission of equine gastric myasis. It is also possible that lower prevalences were associated with the use of drugs that are effective against gastric stages of G. intestinalis. Unfortunately, other researchers did not provide information in this regard in their studies (Morrow et al. 2011; Morales Brice~


no et al. 2015). The role of parasites in the


pathogenesis of gastric lesions is unclear. Previous reports have suggested that Gasterophilus spp. can cause gastric and intestinal ulceration (Sandin et al. 2000; Sequeira et al. 2001). Since larvae were found both in donkeys with and without EGUS, the authors cannot rule out whether infestation by G. intestinalis could be a risk factor for EGUS in this host species. The starch/grain intake has been associated with a higher


risk of EGUS, both in horses (Vatistas et al. 1999; Frank et al. 2005; Luthersson et al. 2009) and donkeys (Burden et al. 2009). All the donkeys included in the present study were fed on carbohydrates in the same manner; therefore, this risk factor could not be evaluated.


Conclusions


Equine gastric ulcer syndrome has been described in horses and donkeys. In this study, we report EGUS in a population of donkeys in Italy. Our results highlight that EGUS had high prevalence in the examined donkey population although there were no clinical signs and that the squamous portion of the stomach was much more frequently affected than the glandular region. This suggests that EGUS may be more common in donkeys than was previously thought, but it is routinely overlooked. Further studies are needed to investigate the aetiology, pathogenesis, clinical significance and risk factors for this condition in donkeys.


Authors’ declaration of interests No conflicts of interest have been declared.


Ethical animal research


The study has been approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Pisa (prot. N. 9069/2014).


Source of funding This research has been supported by funding from the University of Pisa.


Authorship


M. Sgorbini and F. Bonelli contributed to study design, study execution, data analysis and interpretation, and preparation of the manuscript. R. Papini contributed to data analysis and interpretation, and preparation of the manuscript. S. Busechian contributed to study execution, data analysis and interpretation, and preparation of the manuscript. A. Briganti contributed to study design and study execution. F. Laus, V. Faillace and F. Zappulla contributed to study execution. A. Rizk contributed to the preparation of the manuscript. F. Rueca contributed to study execution and data analysis and interpretation. All authors gave their final approval of themanuscript.


Manufacturers' addresses


1Molitoria Val di Serchio, Lucca, Italy. 2Zoetis Italia srl, Rome, Italy. 3ACME s.r.l., Cavriago, Italy. 4Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Germany. 5GraphPad Software, La Jolla, California, USA.


References


Al-Mokaddem, A.K., Ahmed, K.A. and Doghaim, R.E. (2014) Pathology of gastric lesions in donkeys: a preliminary study. Equine Vet. J. 47, 684-688.


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