Could EHV-1 cause Blood Clots?

Researchers recently discovered that EHV-1 activates platelets, small cells in blood involved in clotting.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

A clot cutting off blood to the wrong place can spell disaster or death for horses—from unborn foals to mature adults. And researchers now believe that when equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) causes abortions and neurologic disease, blood clots could be to blame.

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine clinical pathologist Tracy Stokol, BVSc, PhD, has been investigating how the virus triggers these clots. Funded by the Harry M. Zweig Memorial Fund for Equine Research, her work investigating the role of platelets—small cells in blood involved in clotting—in EHV-1 infection pathogenesis has shown that the virus particles appear to be binding to platelets,.

When incubated together with platelets at a multiplicity of infection of one—a ratio of one virus particle per platelet—particles of the neuropathogenic strain Ab4 and abortion-inducing strain RacL11 induced platelet activation within 10 minutes. Activation causes the release of P-selectin, a protein that platelets use to bind to other cells. The viral gene product glycoprotein B was also amplified from platelets, suggesting that the virus is binding to them directly.

“We are excited to discover that EHV-1 activates platelets,” said Stokol. “Platelets play a crucial role in thrombosis, a major cause of abortion and neurological symptoms due to EHV-1. If platelets are involved in the pathogenesis of these EHV-1-associated disease syndromes, administration of platelet-inhibiting medications such as Plavix or aspirin may prove useful in the treatment of infected horses

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
282 votes · 282 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!