Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Newborn foal with atypical myopathy.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary internal medicine
- Year:
- 2018
- Authors:
- Karlíková, Radana et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A newborn Haflinger foal developed a condition called atypical myopathy (AM), which caused it to appear very tired and weak just six hours after birth, leading to it lying down and not getting up by twelve hours old. The foal's mother had been diagnosed with AM during her pregnancy, showing signs of muscle problems and having certain abnormal substances in her blood. Although the mare was grazing near sycamore trees at the time of the foal's birth, she did not show any signs of illness. Tests on the foal's blood showed high levels of specific compounds that are linked to AM, suggesting that these harmful substances may have either built up in the mare's placenta or been passed through her milk. Unfortunately, the treatment outcome for the foal is not specified in the abstract.
Abstract
The case of atypical myopathy (AM) in newborn Haflinger foal with clinical signs of depression and weakness appearing 6 hours after birth resulting in recumbency 12 hours after birth is described. The foal's dam was diagnosed with AM in the 6th month of gestation based on clinical signs of a myopathy, elevated serum activity of creatine kinase, metabolomic analysis and the presence of methylenecyclopropyl acetyl carnitine (MCPA-carnitine) in the blood. At the time of delivery, the mare was grazing on a pasture near sycamore trees but was free of clinical signs of AM. Metabolomic analysis of the foal's blood revealed increased concentrations of acylcarnitines and MCPA-carnitine consistent with metabolic profiles of blood from AM affected horses. Two theories could explain this observation (a) hypoglycin A or its metabolites accumulated in the mare's placenta with consequent transfer to fetus or (b) these compounds were secreted into mare's milk.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30216546/