This study analyzed the effect of time of trot on hematology and blood chemistry values of the Jeju Pony crossbreed horses that are commonly used for riding (14.1±1.4 years old, Gelding). A total of 28 parameters including vital signs as well as stress hormones such as cortisol and lactic acid levels were examined as the time of the trot exercise progressed. Vital signs such as heart rate (38.0→81.0 times/min) and respiratory rate (11.7→35.7 times/min) increased significantly within 30 minutes of exercise. However, difference in the body temperature was not observed before and after exercise. The hematology including white blood cell count (8.03→9.52×103 cells/μL), red blood cell count (5.94×103→7.23–7.32×103 cells/μL), hemoglobin levels (11.82→14.65–14.78 g/dL), and hematocrit levels (25.04→30.27%) significantly increased 30 minutes after the start of the exercise (p<0.05). The blood chemistry value of albumin (3.25→3.47 g/dL) (p<0.05) only showed a significant increase after the exercise. However, the other blood chemistry levels such as, Na+, K+, Ca2+, total CO2, creatine kinase, glucose, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, aspartate transaminase, total bilirubin, gamma–glutamyl transpeptidase, and total plasma protein did not change. Also, cortisol and lactic acid levels did not show significant difference. The middle-aged Jeju pony crossbreed horses were not stressed by the 30-minute exercise; therefore, it can be concluded that there is no problem regarding the safety of both the rider and the animal.

American foulbrood (AFB) is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, which is highly contagious and often lethal to honeybee broods. To control AFB, rapid diagnostic tools including those based on immunological methods are required. We produced several specific mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against P. larvae. Interestingly, a few of the MAbs were revealed to be an IgM-type antibody. To ascertain the effects of adjuvants on immunoglobulin isotype switching, BALB/c mice were immunized with various adjuvants, i.e., Freund's adjuvant (FA), Alum adjuvant, and AddaVax™ followed by the generation of hybridoma that secreted monoclonal antibodies to P. larvae. In the case of AddaVax™, all screened hybridoma clones secreted IgG-type MAbs, whereas hybridomas generated by Alum and FA secreted 91.25% (7/80) and 66.67% (11/33) respectively, IgG-type MAbs. Although the mechanism of incomplete immunoglobulin isotype switching associated with the P. larvae antigen needs further study, our results indicate that the applied adjuvants can have a significant effect on immunoglobulin isotype switching results.

Chitosan is attracting attention as a health supplement material because of its various physiological activities. In this study, sugar solution containing chitosan was fed to honey bees to induce the production of ‘chitosan fortified honey’ by their same mode of natural honey production. To accomplish this, sugar solutions containing 0.1%, 1%, 2% and 5% chitosan were fed to the honey bees. Fully inverted Chitosan-honey was harvested after feeding the chitosan in sugar solution. To investigate the anti-obesity and immune-enhancing effects of Chitosan-honey, 1% and 10% Chitosan-honey containing drinking water were administrated freely to C57BL mice. Glucosamine concentrations in serum rapidly increased to peak levels in 10 minutes (1261.0 ± 97.6 ng/ml), then decreased gradually for more than 24 hours 793.0 ± 34.7 ng/ml. There were no significant differences in weight and or splenocyte proliferative capacity among experimental mice groups. However, increased granulocytes and monocytes were observed upon flow cytometric analysis. These results suggest that Chitosan-honey could induce removal of foreign antigens. In conclusion, ‘Chitosan-honey’ developed in this study has the potential for use as a honey type dietary health supplement with the same bioactivity as chitosan; however additional research should be conducted to confirm these effects.

The object of this study was to evaluate Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) antibody titer changes in broodmares and foals. Antibodies of 112 sera were detected by applying hemagglutination inhibition test. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that compares antibody titers of foals to that of their dams in order for evaluate optimal time of JEV vaccination. Most mares` antibody titers were variable. However, the highest titers in foals presented in their first month, and antibodies titers in all foals decreased gradually over time. This study provides important benchmarks that can be used to select optimum time JEV of vaccination.

Recently, two strains of a novel enterohepatic Helicobacter species, H. equorum, were isolated from fecal samples of two clinically healthy horses in Belgium. The purpose of the present study was to detect the presence of H. equorum infection in fecal samples of adult horses from Jeju Island using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 86 fecal samples from 31 clinically healthy Thoroughbred horses and 55 horses native to the Jeju Island were evaluated. H. equorum DNA was detected in 10.9% (6/55) of the native-horses, while all the Thoroughbred horses showed negative PCR results. Ages of the H. equorum DNA-positive horses ranged from 2 to 4 years old. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of H. equorum detection in fecal samples from horses in Korea.

Tabinidae(horseflies), which are known worldwide as important mechanical vectors of virus, bacteria, protozoans, and helminths, cause disease in humans and animals. To the best of our knowledge, reports of horseflies associated with horse farms in Korea are rare, and knowledge of the horsefly fauna in Jeju is poor. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of horseflies at a horse farm. Flies were collected using traps baited with natural attractants at a large horse farm during summer (Aug.-Sep. 2011). A total of 28,339 flies from 21 traps were collected on the large horse farm in Jeju. The most abundant were non-sucking flies (25,524; 90.07%) followed by sucking flies (2,226; 7.86%) and Tabanidae (589; 2.07%). Result of species analysis of 4 Tabanidae, ranked in descending order, are as follows: T. grisenus (45.2%), T. rufidens (25.3%), T. takasagoensis (21.6%), and Hybomitra bimaculata (7.9%). Although studies on vector ecology are essential to understanding, predicting, and controlling insect-borne diseases, relatively few studies on tabanids in Jeju have been reported. This paper presents the first comprehensive collection of data on the horse fly fauna of this part of the horse concentrated region. Further research is needed to investigate pathogens on the horse of horseflies.

Equine coital exanthema (ECE) caused by equine herpes virus type 3 (EHV-3) is a sexually transmitted disease which is resulted in the failure of mating, declination of horse productivity and finally economic loss in horse industry. In this thesis, diagnosis studies on ECE have been performed in order to develop a serological diagnosis method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ELISA has been developed to detect antibodies against EHV-3. Whole EHV-3 viruses were purified from cell culture and coated on ELISA plate, which successfully captured by anti-EHV-3 antibody in serum samples. The positive cut-off value of developed ELISA was 0.334 at OD405 using 15 negative control horse sera. The positive rate of 20 sera from ECE positive horses by PCR was 65% and the positive rate of 12 sera from ECE negative horses by PCR was 25%. The positive rate of 72 sera from horses showing clinical signs was 59.7% and the positive rate of 72 sera from horses showing no clinical signs was 13.9%. The correlation of serum positivity between broodmares and their sucklings was analysed using 12 pairs of cases (y=0.5418x—0.0158, R2= 0.4931). The data suggested that specific antibody against EHV-3 from broodmares might be transferred to their sucklings by nursing. When compared with the results of PCR, the sensitivity and specificity of ELISA were 65%, 81.8% respectively.

Seropositivity against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) was measured by hemagglutination inhibition test (HI) on sera from 323 horses raised in Jeju. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was applied for the confirmation of its availability as a tool of detecting anti-JEV antibodies in horses. The positive rate scored 50.4%. The positive rates were increased according to ages. The highest peak was shown at October. And Jeju Ponies showed higher positivity compared to thoses of Thoroughbred horses. When compared the results obtained by HI and ELISA, there was slight correlations between the two methods (r=0.7100). Besides, ELISA could discriminate between true and false positive sera by neutralizing serum specimen with JEV antigen.