• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1304-1310
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• 2015

The period circadian clock gene 3 (PER3) plays a role in the mammalian circadian clocksystem. A regular exercise regime may affect the PER3 transcription in skeletal muscle. Although the effects of day length on circadian and circannual processes are well established in humans and mice, the influence of exercise on these processes in the horse has not been investigated. The present study investigated the expression of the PER3 gene following exercise in a thoroughbred breed of Korean horse. In addition, a comprehensive in silico nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (nsSNP) analysis of the horse PER3 gene and predicted effects of nsSNPs on proteins were examined. The expression of PER3 in skeletal muscle was significantly upregulated after exercise. Four nsSNPs were functionally annotated and analyzed by computational prediction. The total free energy and RMSD values of PER3 gene showed causative mutations. The results showed that nsSNP s395916798 (G72R) was associated with residues that have stabilizing effects on structure and function of PER3 gene. This study documented role of PER3 gene in phenotypic adaptation related to exercise in skeletal muscle. Further, the SNPs in PER3 could serve as useful biomarkers of early recovery after exercise in racehorses.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.129-134
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• 2009

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and annual trends on the racing performance of Thoroughbred horses by a statistical analysis of the resulting records. We used the racing results of 245,979 observations for 13,458 horses recorded in 19 years of race held at Seoul and Busan racing tracks, provided by Korea Racing Authority. After a careful adjustment of some variables such as racing times, jockey and trainer numbers and the average prize a horse won, we selected significant factors that explain the result of racing records of a horse by stepwise AIC and BIC methods. The estimated heritability and repeatability were 0.322 and 0.332, respectively. The average of annual phenotypic and genetic improvement was -0.166 seconds and -0.161 seconds, respectively. Based on the statistical approach, we established reasonable animal model of well-set variables, which is important in the study on estimating performance of racing horses.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.85-92
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• 2023

Fractures in the horse industry are challenging and a common cause of death in racehorses. To accelerate fracture healing, tissue engineering (TE) provides promising ways to regenerate bone tissues. This study aimed to evaluate the osteogenic effects of biphasic calcium phosphate collagen (BCPC) graft, bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), mesenchymal stem cell (MSC), and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments in horses. Four thoroughbred horses were included in the study, and, in each horse, three cortical defects with a diameter of 5 mm and depth of 10 mm were formed in the third metacarpal bones (MC) and metatarsal bones (MT). The defects were randomly assigned to one of six treatment groups (saline, BCPC, BMP2, MSC, PRP, and control). Injections of saline, BMP2, PRP, or MSCs were made at 1, 3, and 5 weeks after defect surgery. Bone regeneration effects were assessed by radiography, quantitative computed tomography (QCT), micro-computed tomography (μCT), histopathological, and histomorphometric evaluation. The new bone ratio (%) in the histomorphometric evaluation was higher in the BMP2 group than in the control and saline groups. Radiographic and QCT values were significantly higher in the BCPC groups than in the other groups. QCT values of the BMP2 group were significantly higher than in the control and saline groups. The present study demonstrated that BCPC grafts were biologically safe and showed osteoconductivity in horses and the repeated injections of BMP2 without a carrier can be simple and promising TE factors for treating horses with bone fractures.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.319-324
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• 2011

This study was conducted to analyze demerits of the sire evaluation system using annual earnings and to examine relationship between annual earnings and finish time in home-produced thoroughbred racehorses. The average number of progenies and number of starts per sire were 34 heads and 221 times, respectively. On the other hand, the number of progenies with the average age of 2 years and the number of starts were 9 heads and 25 times, respectively. The earnings of the horses with the age of 2 years accounted for 8.3% of annual earnings. The simple correlation coefficient between the number of progenies and the number of starts in annual earnings were 0.922 and 0.934, respectively. The correlation coefficient between the number of progenies and the number of starts was very high (0.985). The number of progenies and starts of sires for the first year of test career were very low (6 heads and 17 times), and there was very close relationship between number of progenies and annual earnings by the year of test career. The number of progenies was over 40 heads during the first 4 years of test career, and as the number of progenies increased the average earning index increased. The average earning index of sires with less than 30 progenies was lower than 1.00. When the number of progenies was less than 10, the average earning index was in the range of 0.06~0.13, indicating that the number of progenies affects much for determining the ranking of sires. The correlation coefficient between breeding value for finish time and annual earnings per start was very high (-0.524~-0.633) compared with other traits.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1088-1093
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• 2021

Jeju horse (Equus ferus caballus) is a Korean horse breed that has been native to Jeju Island for a long time. Jeju horses are used as racehorses, and their racing ability is a major economic trait. The role of the myostatin (MSTN) gene in skeletal muscle mass has been studied in various mammals, and mutations in the MSTN gene are known to affect the racing ability and stamina of thoroughbreds. In this study, we compared the frequency of mutations in the MSTN gene in several horse breeds, including 1,433 Jeju horses. Among the mutations (ECA18 g.66493737C>T) in the MSTN gene, the long-distance aptitude genotype (TT) was found to have a frequency of 0.826 in Jeju horses, which was higher than that in Halla horses (0.285) and thoroughbreds (0.252). The genotypes and arrival records of Jeju horses were compared according to various distances (400 m, 800 m, 900 m, 1,000 m, 1,110 m, and 1,200 m). According to the results, the CT type showed a faster-reaching record than the TT type in races of less than 1,000 m. However, almost identical results were confirmed in races over 1,110 m. This study suggests that the MSTN mutation in Jeju horses may be related to race distance aptitude. In future research, the data in this study can be used for developing markers related to race distance aptitude and racing abilities in Jeju horses.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to examine the suitability of genetic evaluation models using the integrated racing records collected from Gwacheon and Busan Gyeongnam racetracks. Results obtained are summarized as follows: In the short-distance races of 1,400 meters and less the records of finishing time at Gwacheon racetrack was superior, whereas, in the races of 1,800 meters and more it was superior in the records from Busan Gyeongnam racetrack. The effects of contemporary groups accounted for 42.7~70.2% of the total variation, and the effects of the individual race considering racing classes was the biggest in all racing distances. Heritabilities and repeatabilities for the finishing time were estimated in the range of 0.153-0.238 and 0.401-0.498, respectively. Correlation coefficients between the breeding values estimated from the integrated records and the breeding values estimated from records of Gwacheon and Busan-Gyeongnam were 0.907 and 0.803, and coefficients of rank correlations were 0.891 and 0.846, respectively. The correlation coefficients between sire's annual earning of the integrated records and Gwacheon and Busan Gyeongnam racetracks records were 0.943 and 0.886, and coefficients of rank correlations were 0.938 and 0.853, respectively. Also, the correlation coefficient of sire's annual earning between Gwacheon and Busan Gyeongnam racetracks was 0.742. The results of this analysis indicate that the genetic evaluation using the integrated racing records are reliable when the racing records from Busan Gyeongnam racetracks are stabilized and more data are accumulated.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.215-217
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• 2015

There was no study on the prevalence of doping control of racehorses in Korea. The purpose of this study was to determine prohibited substances in horse races of a drugs testing program. Blood samples were taken from those 298,543 starters prior to racing and the that finished top 3 runners of each race and horses designated by the stewards shall be taken for collection of 91,482 urine samples for the purpose of post-race doping test in Seoul, Busan and Jeju Race Park between 2002 and 2013. Detection and measurement of prohibited substances were carried out by ELISA, GC/MS and LC/MS using standard methods at the Doping Control Center, Korea Racing Authority. Total 0.0030% of pre-races and total 0.0186% of post-races tested positive for prohibited substances. In pre- and post-race, caffeine and ketoprofen were the most detected prohibited substance respectively. We thought that characteristics of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs resulted in different between plasma and urine. These substances have also been detected with other prohibited drugs suggesting that unintentional feeding or bedding may be the reason and groomers' confusion of candidate horses based by the stewards' research.