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Research

The Equine Health and Welfare Alliance has funded 13 research projects which have been published in peer-reviewed journals.  Over the last few years, EHWA has forged relationships with the top experts in the fields of research that impact the health and welfare of equine athletes.  Muscle cramping is a significant problem among competition horses, and EHWA has provided funding to investigate the underlying causes of muscle cramping, comparing the disease across Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds, recruiting the top world expert in muscle physiology of the equine, Dr. Stephanie Valberg.  As public focus has become fixed on injuries in racing horses, the EHWA has also recruited the world’s expert in objective lameness measurement, Dr. Kevin Keegan.  We have funded research evaluating the utility of regular objective lameness measurement in horses to identify injuries before they progress to catastrophic injury, a project that is still ongoing.  Additional areas of research supported by EHWA include the investigation of substances that may innocently cause positive tests at insignificant levels in horse competitions, including aminorex, synephrine, cannabidiol and even the therapeutic substances dexamethasone and betamethasone. 

1.      Brewer K, Machin J, Maylin GA, Fenger C, Morales-Briceño A, Neidhart MN, Tobin T.  2022.  Case report: synephrine, a plant substance yielding classic environmental clusters of hay related identifications in equine urine.  Drug Testing and Analysis, In Press.

 

2.      Guy CP, Latham CM, Owen RN, Fowler AL, Fenger CK, Riley RG, White-Springer SH.  2021.  Weanling Thoroughbred mitochondrial profiles are related to race performance metrics.  Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 100 doi:  10.1016/j.jevs.2021.103466. 

 

3.      Aldrich K, Velez-Irizarry D, Fenger C, Schott M, Valberg SJ.  2021.  Pathways of calcium regulation, electron transport, and mitochondrial protein translation are molecular signatures of susceptibility to recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis in Thoroughbred racehorses.  PLOS One  16(2):e0244556. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244556. eCollection 2021.

 

4.      McKeever KH, Manso Filho HC, Rankins EM, Duchamp CS, Salah Y, Fenger CK, Duer WC, Malinowski K, Maylin GA.  2021.  Clenbuterol plasma concentrations after therapeutic administration in fit Standardbred Horses:  Threshold recommendations.  Comparative Exercise Physiology, DOI: 10.3920/CEP200065.

 

5.      McClure S, Fenger C, Kersh K, Brown B, Maylin G, Duer W, Dirikolu L, Brewer K, Machin J, Tobin T.  2020.  Dexamethasone serum concentrations after intravenous administration in racing horses during race training. Comparative Exercise Physiology, 17(3):263-272.

 

6.      Machin J, Childers T, Kudrimoti S, Eisenberg R, Fenger C, Hartmann P, Maylin G, Shults T, Tobin T.  2020.  Synthesis and characterization of barbarin, a possible source of unexplained aminorex identifications in forensic science.  Drug Testing and Analysis, 12(10):1477-1482, DOI: 10.1002/(ISSN)1942-7611.

 

7.      McKeever KH, Malinowski K, Fenger CK, Duer WC, Maylin GA.  2020.  Evaluation of Cobalt as a Performance Enhancing Drug (PED) in Race Horses.  Comparative Exercise Physiology, 16(4):243-252, DOI: 10.3920/CEP200001.

 

8.      Machin J, Brewer K, Catignani M, Shults TF, Fenger CK, Maylin GA, Tobin T.  2019.   An interim screening limit of detection for naproxen in equine plasma: a review and analysis. Comparative Exercise Physiology.  16(2):153-160.

 

9.      Maylin GA, Fenger CK, Machin J, Kudrimoti S, Eisenberg R, Green JD, Tobin T.  2019.  Aminorex identified in horse urine following consumption of Barbarea vulgaris; A preliminary report.  Irish Veterinary Journal, 72:15.  DOI:  10.1186/s13620-019-0153-5.

 

10.   Latham C, Fenger CK, White S.  2019.   Rapid Communication: Differential skeletal muscle mitochondrial characteristics of weanling racing-bred horses.  Journal of Animal Science, 97(8):3193-3198.

 

11.   Valberg SJ, Soave K, Williams ZJ, Perumbakkam S, Schott M, Finno CJ, Petersen JL, Fenger CK, Autry JM, Thomas DD.  2019.  Coding sequences of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase regulatory peptides and expression of calcium regulatory genes in recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis.  Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 33(2):933-941.

 

12.   Machin J, Duer W, Maylin G, Fenger C, Wilson D, Ivey M, Berthold B, Allison S, Tobin T.  2019.  Variability in plasma concentrations of methylprednisolone 6 days after intrasynovial injection of methylprednisolone acetate in racing horses: a field study.  Equine Veterinary Journal, 51(3):343-348,  doi: 10.1111/evj.13003.

 

13.   Brewer K, Shults TF, Machin J, Kudrimoti S, Eisenberg RL, Hartman P, Wang C, Fenger C, Beaumier P, Tobin T.  2016. A cluster of trace-concentration methamphetamine identifications in racehorses associated with a methamphetamine-contaminated horse trailer: A report and analysis. Canadian Veterinary Journal. Aug;57(8):860-4.

All donations to EHWA are 100% tax deductible and will directly support scientific research and initiatives dedicated to promoting the health and welfare of equine athletes

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