Clinical findings of equine leukoencephalomalacia

Albertino, Lukas G.; Dias, Natália M.; Moreira, Juliana J.; Oliveira-Filho, José P.; Takahira, Regina K.; Laufer-Amorim, Renée; Borges, Alexandre S.; Amorim, Rogério M.

doi:10.1590/1678-5150-PVB-6912

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Livestock Diseases • Pesq. Vet. Bras. 41 • 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-5150-PVB-6912 copy

Clinical findings of equine leukoencephalomalacia

Achados clínicos de leucoencefalomalácia equina

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT:

Equine leukoencephalomalacia (LEM) is a disease caused by the ingestion of food, especially corn, contaminated by fumonisin, a Fusarium verticillioides (synonymous with F. moniliforme) metabolite. The clinical signs of brain injuries have an acute onset and rapid evolution. This study aimed to describe the clinical findings in 11 animals diagnosed with LEM, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis. Of these animals, 91% (10/11) were horses, and only 9% (1/11) were asinine. The clinical localization of the lesions was 64% (7/10) cerebral, manifested mainly by altered mental state and behavioral disturbance, and 36% (4/11) were brainstem lesions, manifested by incoordination, head tilt, nystagmus, facial hypoalgesia, difficulty in apprehension, chewing, and swallowing food. Postmortem findings revealed that 82% (9/11) of the lesions were in the cerebrum and 18% (2/11) in the brainstem. CSF findings, such as xanthochromia (43%, 3/7), hyperproteinorrachia (50%, 3/6), and pleocytosis (43%, 3/7) were observed. The affected animals showed neurological signs that were compatible with cerebral and/or brainstem injuries. The CSF from animals with LEM may present with xanthochromia, hyperproteinorrachia, and pleocytosis, reinforcing the fact that this disease should be included in the differential diagnosis of encephalomyelopathies.

INDEX TERMS:
Leukoencephalomalacia; equine; epidemiological aspects; clinical aspects

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[1] *Corresponding author: rogerio.amorim@unesp.br

Identification	Breed	Sex	Age	Clinical signs
Equine 1	Mixed breed	F	17 years	Mental state depressed, compulsive walking, incoordination and ptosis
Equine 2	Mangalarga	F	5 years	Head tilt, decrease or loss of face sensibility and incoordination
Equine 3	Quarter horse	M	9 years	Hyperexcitability, compulsive walking, incoordination and fasciculations
Equine 4	Quarter horse	F	3.6 years	Mental state depressed, bilateral blindness, head pressing and focal convulsions
Equine 5	Miniature horse	M	8 months	Semi-comatose state, bilateral blindness, incoordination and nystagmus
Equine 6	Miniature horse	F	1.6 years	Semi-comatose state, incoordination, bilateral blindness, focal convulsions and nystagmus
Equine 7	Mixed breed	F	18 years	Mental state depressed, focal convulsions, decrease or loss of face sensibility, ptosis and incoordination
Equine 8	Mixed breed	M	6 years	Mental state depressed, incoordination, difficulty of gripping, chewing and swallowing food and ptosis
Equine 9	Miniature donkey	F	5 years	Mental state depressed, incoordination, compulsive walking, decrease or loss of face sensibility, difficulty of gripping, chewing and swallowing food and nystagmus
Equine 10	Quarter horse	F	1.8 years	Not performed
Equine 11	Mangalarga	F	4 years	Hyperexcitability, head pressing, incoordination, nystagmus and bilateral blindness

Identification	Serum biochemistry					Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
Identification	Urea (21.4-51.36 mg/dL)	Creatinine (1.2-1.9 mg/dL)	AST (226.0-366.0 UI/L)	ALP (143.0-395.0 UI/L)	GGT (4.3-13.4 UI/L)	Color	Aspect	Protein (20- 80 mg/dL)	Cellularity (0-8/μL)
Equine 3	55.6 mg/dL	2.0 mg/dL	222.0 UI/L	704.0 UI/L	35.1 UI/L	Not performed	Not performed	Not performed	Not performed
Equine 4	44.2 mg/dL	0.8 mg/dL	300.0 UI/L	575.0 UI/L	25.1 UI/L	Xanthochromic	Clear	84.5 mg/dL	103 cells/μL - Predominance of neutrophils, followed by lymphocytes and monocytes
Equine 5	36.9 mg/dL	1.4 mg/dL	555.0 UI/L	376.0 UI/L	Not performed	Colorless	Clear	27.4 mg/dL	2 cells/μL - Predominance of lymphocytes, followed by machropages and mononuclear cells
Equine 7	50.0 mg/dL	1.8 mg/dL	604.0 UI/L	1003.0 UI/L	101.0 UI/L	Colorless	Clear	42.0 mg/dL	0 cells/μL - Predominance of lymphocytes, followed by neutrophils and mononuclear cells
Equine 8	78.8 mg/dL	1.6 mg/dL	505.0 UI/L	578.0 UI/L	70.0 UI/L	Colorless	Clear	59.3 mg/dL	7 cells/μl - Predominance of lymphocytes, followed by neutrophils and mononuclear cells
Equine 9	29.5 mg/dL	1.41 mg/dL	371.0 UI/L	109.0 UI/L	21.0 UI/L	Reddish	Clear	Not performed	32 cells/μl - Predominance of mononuclear cells, followed by lymphocytes, neutrophils and machropages
Equine 10	40.8 mg/dL	2.4 mg/dL	570.0 UI/L	416.0 UI/L	4.9 UI/L	Xanthochromic	Turbidity	120.5 mg/dL	6 cells/μL - Predominance of lymphocytes, followed by mononuclear cells, neutrophils and machropages
Equine 11	61.0 mg/dL	2.1 mg/dL	449.0 UI/L	227.0 UI/L	46.7 UI/L	Xanthochromic	Clear	490.3 mg/dL	12 cells/μL - Predominance of lymphocytes, followed by neutrophils and mononuclear cells