Effects of pre-shipping XXXX administration on fever and blood properties in healthy Thoroughbreds transported a long distance.

@entity1219 @entity1641 @entity31891 @entity14116
The present study evaluated the effects of single-dose @entity31891 in protecting @entity1641 against fever associated with transportation using 48 healthy Thoroughbreds. All @entity1641 were premedicated with interferon-a (0.5 U/kg, sublingually, every 24 hr) for 2 days before transportation and on the day of transportation. @entity1641 were randomly assigned to receive @entity31891 (2 mg/kg, IV, once; MRFX group), @entity14116 (5 mg/kg, IV, once; ERFX group) or saline (0.9% @entity1219 ) solution (10 ml, IV, once; control group)  <=1 hr before being transportation. Each group contained 16 @entity1641 (8 males, 8 females). @entity1641 were transported 1,210 km using commercial vans over the course of approximately 26 hr. Clinical examinations and hematologic analyses were performed on all @entity1641 both before and after transportation. Post-transportation neutrophil to lymphocyte ratios were significantly lower in @entity1641 in the MRFX group compared with the control horses. The serum amyloid A levels were significantly lower in @entity1641 in the MRFX group and ERFX group compared with the control @entity1641 . Regarding the post-transportation rectal temperatures, fever was detected in 0 @entity1641 and 1 @entity1641 in the MRFX and ERFX groups, respectively, whereas fevers exceeding 39.1  C were detected in 2 @entity1641 in the control group. Additionally, the number of essential post-transportation treatments provided by veterinarians was reduced 3-fold in the MRFX and ERFX groups compared with the saline group. MRFX provided ERFX-like protection against fever associated with long-distance transportation, yielding significantly better protection than saline. Administration of MRFX just before transportation deserves a further study for efficacy in preventing @entity1641 fever associated with transportation.
