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Comparative Review of Asthma in Farmers and Horses

  • Occupational Allergies (JA Poole, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Farmers are routinely exposed to organic dusts and aeroallergens that can have adverse respiratory health effects including asthma. Horses are farm-reared large animals with similar exposures and can develop equine asthma syndrome (EAS). This review aims to compare the etiology, pathophysiology, and immunology of asthma in horses compared to farmers and highlights the horse as a potential translational animal model for organic dust-induced asthma in humans.

Recent Findings

Severe EAS shares many clinical and pathological features with various phenotypes of human asthma including allergic, non-allergic, late onset, and severe asthma. EAS disease features include variable airflow obstruction, cough, airway hyperresponsiveness, airway inflammation/remodeling, neutrophilic infiltrates, excess mucus production, and chronic innate immune activation.

Summary

Severe EAS is a naturally occurring and biologically relevant, translational animal disease model that could contribute to a more thorough understanding of the environmental and immunologic factors contributing to organic dust-induced asthma in humans.

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Funding

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01ES019325 to JAP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comparative Medicine Institute, Department of Clinical Sciences, North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, NC, 27607, USA

    M. Katie Sheats & Kaori U. Davis

  2. Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy, Department of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 985990 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5990, USA

    Jill A. Poole

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  1. M. Katie Sheats
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Sheats, M.K., Davis, K.U. & Poole, J.A. Comparative Review of Asthma in Farmers and Horses. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 19, 50 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-019-0882-2

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