Aleman Monica, Weich Kalie M, Madigan John E
Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2017 Sep 5;7(9):69. doi: 10.3390/ani7090069.
Horses are a precocious species that must accomplish several milestones that are critical to survival in the immediate post-birth period for their survival. One essential milestone is the successful transition from the intrauterine unconsciousness to an extrauterine state of consciousness or awareness. This transition involves a complex withdrawal of consciousness inhibitors and an increase in neuroactivating factors that support awareness. This process involves neuroactive hormones as well as inputs related to factors such as cold, visual, olfactory, and auditory stimuli. One factor not previously considered in this birth transition is a yet unreported direct neural reflex response to labor-induced physical compression of the fetus in the birth canal (squeezing). Neonatal maladjustment syndrome (NMS) is a disorder of the newborn foal characterized by altered behavior, low affinity for the mare, poor awareness of the environment, failure to bond to the mother, abnormal sucking, and other neurologically-based abnormalities. This syndrome has been associated with altered events during birth, and was believed to be caused exclusively by hypoxia and ischemia. However, recent findings revealed an association of the NMS syndrome with the persistence of high concentrations of in utero neuromodulating hormones (neurosteroids) in the postnatal period. Anecdotal evidence demonstrated that a novel physical compression (squeeze) method that applies 20 min of sustained pressure to the thorax of some neonatal foals with this syndrome might rapidly hasten recovery. This survey provides information about outcomes and time frames to recovery comparing neonatal foals that were given this squeeze treatment to foals treated with routine medical therapy alone. Results revealed that the squeeze procedure, when applied for 20 min, resulted in a faster full recovery of some foals diagnosed with NMS. The adjunctive use of a non-invasive squeeze method may improve animal welfare by hastening recovery and foal-mare interactions that minimize health problems. This would also avoid or reduce costs arising from hospitalization associated with veterinary and nursing care that sometimes leads owners to elect for euthanasia.
马是一种早熟的物种，在出生后的即刻阶段必须完成几个对其生存至关重要的里程碑。一个重要的里程碑是从子宫内的无意识状态成功过渡到子宫外的意识或觉醒状态。这种过渡涉及意识抑制剂的复杂撤离以及支持觉醒的神经激活因子的增加。这个过程涉及神经活性激素以及与寒冷、视觉、嗅觉和听觉刺激等因素相关的输入。在这种出生过渡中，一个以前未被考虑的因素是对分娩时产道中胎儿受到的劳动引起的身体挤压（挤压）尚未报道的直接神经反射反应。新生儿适应不良综合征（NMS）是新生马驹的一种疾病，其特征是行为改变、对母马的亲和力低、对环境的意识差、无法与母亲建立联系、异常吸吮以及其他基于神经学的异常。这种综合征与出生时的事件改变有关，并且被认为完全是由缺氧和缺血引起的。然而，最近的研究结果揭示了NMS综合征与出生后子宫内神经调节激素（神经甾体）高浓度持续存在之间的关联。轶事证据表明，一种新颖的物理挤压方法，即对患有这种综合征的一些新生马驹的胸部施加20分钟的持续压力，可能会迅速加速恢复。这项调查提供了关于将接受这种挤压治疗的新生马驹与仅接受常规药物治疗的马驹进行比较的恢复结果和时间框架的信息。结果显示，当应用20分钟的挤压程序时，一些被诊断患有NMS的马驹能更快地完全恢复。非侵入性挤压方法的辅助使用可能通过加速恢复和马驹与母马的互动来改善动物福利，从而将健康问题降至最低。这也将避免或减少因兽医和护理导致的住院费用，有时这会导致主人选择安乐死。
