Acute phase response is a nonspecific reaction to disturbances in homeostasis during which the production of some Acute Phase Proteins (APPs) is stimulated; they are sensitive but nonspecific markers of systemic inflammatory processes. The major positive APP in dogs is the C-reactive protein (CRP). The dynamic of its concentration changes fast, rising and decreasing rapidly with the onset and removal of the inflammatory stimulus. It increases within the first 4–24 h after the stimulus and reaches up to a 50–100-fold increase of the baseline level. It has been documented that this APP’s concentration is elevated during several diseases, such as pyometra, panniculitis, acute pancreatitis, polyarthritis, sepsis, immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, and neoplasia in dogs. In clinical practice, canine CRP is mostly measured to detect and monitor systemic inflammatory activity and the efficacy of treatments, because it is a more sensitive marker than shifts in leukocyte counts. Blood serum CRP concentration is becoming a part of routine biochemistry panels in many countries. In this article, changes in CRP concentration and its clinical application in healthy and diseased dogs are discussed.

In 1996, when Dolly the sheep was born, a new, utopian era was expected to begin. Science fiction and popular culture instantly threatened the public with shortly upcoming human clones, portraying it as a very easy and instant procedure. Practice has proven otherwise; it exposed how little is known about the early development of mammals and epigenetic reprogramming. Unfortunately, somatic cell nuclear transfer success rate in mammals has not changed much since its very beginning. It is not uncommon that hundreds of oocytes need to be reconstructed to obtain a single live birth. In this review we provide a brief summary of the progress and problems of the field; beginning with selection of the donor cells and their susceptibility to different methods of epigenetic reprogramming; methods of the later gene activation, placental abnormalities, and their possible causes; to health issues that such offspring is prone to.

Domestic horses routinely participate in vigorous and various athletic activities. This enables the horse to serve as a model for studying athletic physiology and immunology in other species, including humans. For instance, as a model of physical efforts, such as endurance rides (long-distance running/aerobic exercise) and races (anaerobic exercise), the horse can be useful in evaluating post-exercise response. Currently, there has been significant interest in finding biomarkers, which characterize the advancement of training and adaptation to physical exercise in the horse. The parallels in cellular responses to physical exercises, such as changes in receptor expression and blood cell activity, improve our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the body’s response to intense physical activity. This study focuses on the changes in levels of the pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and cellular response in the context of post-exercise immune response. Both the direction of changes in cytokine levels and cellular responses of the body, such as proliferation and expression of surface markers on lymphocytes, monocytes and neutrophils, show cross-functional similarities. This review reveals that horses are robust research models for studying the immune response to physical exercise in human athletes.

Horses working with humans for recreational purposes are subjected to a variety of external factors that can have a negative impact on their well-being. There is an urgent need for unequivocal evidence from scientific studies to unify methods of welfare verification of working animals. The testosterone/cortisol ratio has recently been proposed as a marker of the propensity for social aggression as one of the stress reactions. In this study, we analyzed testosterone and cortisol blood concentration and ratio to evaluate the stress susceptibility of horses used for recreational purposes. The blood samples were collected from eleven (n = 11) standardbred horses (age 6–10; geldings–mares = 6:5) during the intense leisure exploitation and after the rest season. The cortisol concentration remained unchanged, whereas, despite the small study population, we observed higher testosterone levels during the horses’ intensive exploitation compared to the resting season (p > 0.09). Thus, the testosterone/cortisol ratio was increased during intensive exploitation. We conclude that recreational horseback riding is not an overly stressful activity for horses; however, it may lead to some behavioral abnormalities connected with high testosterone levels. However, more research is needed.