Transcriptomic signature related to poor welfare of sport horses

Foury A(1), Mach N(2)(3), Ruet A(4), Lansade L(4), Moisan MP(1).

Author information:
(1)Univ. Bordeaux, INRAE, INP, UMR 1286 Nutrineuro, Team Nutripsy, 33076, Bordeaux, France.
(2)IHAP, Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, Toulouse, France.
(3)Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
(4)INRAE, UMR 85 PRC, CNRS, UMR 7247, IFCE, University of Tours, Nouzilly, France.

The improvement of horse welfare through housing conditions has become a real
issue in recent years and have highlighted the detrimental effect of individual
housing of horses on their health and behaviour. In this new study, we analysed
the blood transcriptome of 45 sport horses housed individually that were
previously examined for their behaviour and gut microbiota. We performed
differential and regression analyses of gene expression, followed by downstream
bioinformatic analyses, to unveil the molecular pathways related to the
behavioural changes associated with welfare impairment in these sport horses. We
found that aggressiveness towards humans was the behavioural indicator the most
correlated to blood gene expression and that the pathways involved belonged
mainly to systemic inflammation. In contrast, the correlations between genes,
alert postures and unresponsiveness towards the environment were weak. When
blood gene expression profiling was combined with faecal microbiota of a
sub-population of horses, stereotypies came out as the most correlated to blood
gene expression. This study shows that aggressiveness towards humans and
stereotypies are behavioural indicators that covary with physiological
alterations. Further studies are needed regarding the biological correlates of
unresponsiveness to the environment and alert postures.

© 2023 The Authors.

Conflict of interest statement: The authors have no interest to declare.

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus