Kenneth Harrington McKeever

Kenneth Harrington McKeever
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | Rutgers · Department of Animal Sciences

PhD, FACSM

About

235
Publications
23,541
Reads
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4,892
Citations
Additional affiliations
August 1985 - August 1987
Position
  • Research Associate
January 1995 - June 2009
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Position
  • Professor (Associate)
June 1989 - July 1994
The Ohio State University
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)
Education
August 1981 - December 1984
University of Arizona
Field of study
  • Animal Physiology
August 1979 - May 1981
California State University, Fresno
Field of study
  • Animal Science
September 1974 - June 1979
California State Polytechnic University
Field of study
  • Animal Science

Publications

Publications (235)
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Equine-assisted services (EAS) has received attention as a potential treatment strategy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as existing literature indicates that symptoms may decrease following EAS. Relatively little is known about the mechanisms at play during lessons and if physiological measures are impacted. The objectives o...
Article
Equid welfare in equine assisted services (EAS) is an area that has received attention, but less attention than the documentation of human outcomes in response to EAS. To safeguard the well-being of equids and minimize human risk of injury, continued research on the effects of EAS programming and participants on equids needs to occur. The aims of t...
Article
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an external nasal strip on thermoregulation during submaximal exercise in Standardbred horses. While several studies have been conducted to determine the effects of the external nasal strip on airway resistance, exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage, gas exchange, and time to fatigue in maxima...
Article
Clenbuterol (β2 agonist) is a commonly administered bronchodilator in race and performance horses. While long-term administration can alter exercise performance and muscle properties, little is known about its effects on these parameters following short-term administration. A single dose of clenbuterol (0.80µg/kg) was expected to alter muscle activ...
Article
Accurate objective, automated limb lameness detection and pose estimation play an important role for animal well-being and precision livestock farming. We present a wearable sensor-based limb lameness detection and pose estimation for horse walk and trot locomotion. The gait event and lameness detection are first built on a recurrent neural network...
Article
Full-text available
Horses' muscular tension during acute stress remains unexplored. Our aim was to assess muscular, behavioral, cortisol, and hematocrit responses to social isolation (ISO), novel object exposure (NOV), and sham clipping (CLIP). Altered stress responses were expected. Eight mature Standardbred horses (four mares and four geldings) were exposed to acut...
Article
Full-text available
Little published information exists on the horses in equine-assisted services (EAS), particularly their selection, longevity, and retirement. The purpose of this study was to characterize horses and procedures used in EAS. A pilot survey was developed using focus group discussions and distributed to Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemans...
Presentation
Anecdotal evidence suggests high horse turnover is a concern in the field of equine assisted services (EAS) with potential negative effects on sustainability. Members of key EAS organizations (American Hippotherapy Association; Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, International; eagala; Certified Horsemanship Association for a tota...
Article
Full-text available
Clenbuterol, (RS)-1-(4-amino-3,5-dichlorophenyl)-2-(tert-butylamino)ethan-1-ol, as Ventipulmin is an FDA approved β 2 agonist medication for the management of airway obstruction in horses. Administration above the FDA approved doses for clenbuterol produces repartitioning effects, which have led to restrictions on its use in human athletics and Qua...
Poster
Effects of social isolation, sham clipping, and novel object exposure on muscular and behavioral responses were investigated in horses. Humans increase muscular tension under psychologically or physically demanding situations and thus, similar conditions were expected to alter stress responses in horses. Eight mature Standardbreds (4 mares, 4 geldi...
Article
metabolomics is the high‐throughput, multiparametric identification and classification of hundreds of low molecular weight metabolites in a biological sample. Ultimately, metabolites are the downstream readouts of cellular signalling, transcriptomic and proteomic changes that can provide a comprehensive view of tissue and organismal phenotype. The...
Article
A commonly held belief is that lactate production during exercise limits performance via fatigue. The current study aimed to assess the effects of a supplement marketed as performance enhancing (Lactanase®) on equine exercise performance and plasma lactate concentrations. Lactanase was expected to alter exercise performance and plasma lactate. Eigh...
Article
The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in Glut-4 expression in gluteus muscle, and in the plasma concentrations of hormones and metabolites during the suckling period, after weaning, and after exercise training in foals. Our hypotheses were Glut-4 abundance will decrease following metabolite and hormonal concentration between ne...
Article
Sarco‐endoplasmic reticulum (S‐ER) stress results from physiological and pathological disturbances that alter S‐ER function. In turn, the unfolded protein response (UPR) and ubiquitin proteasome pathway (UPP) are activated in order to re‐establish S‐ER homeostasis and promote cellular resilience in the face of future cellular stressors. Unaccustome...
Article
Full-text available
Cobalt is a required trace element in animals, but administration in excess is considered dangerous and potentially performance enhancing in equine athletes. This study seeks to determine if cobalt may actually act as a performance enhancing drug (PED) by altering biochemical parameters related to red blood cell production as well as markers of aer...
Article
Full-text available
The athletic horse, despite being over 50% muscle mass, remains understudied with regard to the effects of exercise and training on skeletal muscle metabolism. To begin to address this knowledge gap, we employed an untargeted metabolomics approach to characterize the exercise-induced and fitness-related changes in the skeletal muscle of eight uncon...
Article
This study tested the hypothesis that 12 weeks of training would significantly alter maximal aerobic capacity (VO 2max ), running capacity, and body composition in mature Standardbred horses, and that these alterations would be maintained over an additional 60 weeks of training. It was also hypothesised that there would be a reversal of the trainin...
Article
To date equine skeletal muscle metabolism has centered on a limited number of candidate metabolites. As such, there is a dearth of information regarding global changes in skeletal muscle metabolism following exercise training. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of exercise training on skeletal muscle metabolism through cha...
Article
Full-text available
Sturkie's Avian Physiology is a highly regarded textbook for the study of comparative poultry physiology. Less well known, however, is the contribution of Paul D. Sturkie (1909-2002) as a pioneer in the experimental physiology of avian species. His seminal research on the cardiovascular and hemodynamic controls of chickens and egg-laying hens had a...
Article
We hypothesised that the cortisol response to acute exercise, markers of oxidative stress, expression of inflammatory cytokines, heat shock protein (HSP)70 and HSP90 expression in whole blood and skeletal muscle, and HSP70 and HSP90 protein concentrations in skeletal muscle are altered by age and in response to acute submaximal exercise in horses....
Article
With the increase in the number of horses being used in Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) programs and with the increasing concern for animal welfare, it is important to understand the impact of such interventions on the stress level and quality of life for the horses involved. The purpose of the present pilot study was to test the hy...
Article
Full-text available
A whole new industry has grown up around dietary supplements that purportedly can, enhance exercise performance or enhance the recovery from exercise. Many of these new supplements are 'functional foods' or nutraceuticals that have active molecules or ingredients that purportedly can reduce inflammation, prevent oxidative stress or have other benef...
Article
Two groups of unfit Standardbred mares (adult: 9-14 years, 540 kg, n=7) and old (20-25 years, 530 kg, n=5) were used to test two hypotheses, first, that aging and training would alter plasma and muscle glutamine [Gln] and glutamate [Glu] and second, that aging and training would alter Glut-4 expression in skeletal muscle. All animals were housed on...
Article
While exercise has been found to change the faecal microbiome (FM) in laboratory animals exposed over weeks, no studies have identified immediate changes in the FM associated with short spans of intense exercise, 5 min. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that acute intense exercise would alter the FM in horses. Each horse performe...
Article
Exercise has a significant effect on different physiological systems in the body of human and animals. Only limited numbers of published studies in laboratory animals or humans have shown the effect of exercise on the gut microbiota, and no studies have shown this effect in horses. In this study, 8 horses (4 mares, 4 geldings) were exercise trained...
Article
An increasing percentage of the equine population is more than 15 years old, many performing various athletic activities into their 20s. Studies of aged humans have led to a fine tuning of exercise prescription to promote fitness while preventing adverse and potentially dangerous effects of excessive exercise. However, limited data exist regarding...
Article
There are many choices for methods of extracting bacterial DNA for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) from fecal samples. Here, we compare our modifications of a phenol/chloroform extraction method plus an inhibitor removal solution (C3) (pH/Chl+C3) to the PowerFecal® DNA Isolation Kit (MoBio-K). DNA quality and quantity coupled to NGS results were u...
Article
An antioxidant derived from a variety of melon purported to be high in superoxide dismutase was fed to horses and the effect on performance and recovery was measured following repeated daily bouts of intense exercise. In a cross-over design study, six unfit Standardbred mares were fed this antioxidant at a rate of 2.0 IU/kg body weight (BW)/d as pa...
Conference Paper
Abstract Text: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that glucose-insulin homeostasis, and activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the protein kinase Akt, and the Akt substrate protein of 160 kDa (AS160) in equine skeletal muscle are altered by acute, exhaustive exercise and by aging. Unconditioned aged (n=6; 22.6 ± 2.25...
Conference Paper
Abstract Text: One of the largest industries in the United States involves horses, a $39.2 billion business associated with 9.2 million animals. The horse industry’s contribution to the U.S. gross domestic product is $102 billion, generating over 1.4 million full-time equivalent jobs across the country. More than 15% of the equine population is o...
Article
IntroductionIn theory, splenic reserve mobilization should elicit a cardiopulmonary baroreceptor mediated neuroendocrine response (the Gauer-Henry reflex).Six intact (IN) and 5 (SP) splenectomized Standardbred mares (421–491 kg, ∼9 yr) performed 10 min of treadmill exercise (80% VO2max) to test the hypothesis that hemodynamic and endocrine response...
Article
Six Standardbred mares (age 12±2 years, body weight 502±63 kg; mean ± standard deviation) were given 1.6 µg/kg acylated human ghrelin or vehicle treatment as an intravenous bolus in a randomised, cross-over design to test the hypothesis that exogenous ghrelin infusion would increase feed intake and alter metabolic parameters of energy homeostasis,...
Book
Showing how to maximize performance in horses, The Athletic Horse: Principles and Practice of Equine Sports Medicine, 2nd Edition describes sports training regimens and how to reduce musculoskeletal injuries. Practical coverage addresses the anatomical and physiological basis of equine exercise and performance, centering on evaluation, imaging, pha...
Article
This study tested the hypotheses that age-induced alteration in cortisol, ACTH and glucose concentrations are due to differences in the response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and that exercise training would attenuate these differences. Six old (22.0 ± 0.7 yrs; mean ± SE) and six young (7.3 ± 0.6 yrs) unfit Standardbred mares ran 3 gr...
Article
Clenbuterol was intended as a treatment for respiratory diseases in horses, but has been used in multiple species, including humans, for its repartitioning of fat to lean effects (free fatty acids are released from adipose tissue to be used by tissues of higher priority). In the horse industry clenbuterol application is restricted to the treatment...
Article
The chronic bradycardia seen in several species after intense exercise training may be due to autonomic mechanisms, non-autonomic mechanisms, such as increased pre-load, or a combination of the two. Thirteen, healthy, unfit Standardbred mares were split into two groups: young (age 12±1 yr; mean ± standard error, n=8) and old (age 22±1 yr, n=5) to t...
Article
The dietary supplement ephedra is a potent sympathomimetic that was banned by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2003 because of its deleterious effects on cardiovascular function and thermoregulation during exercise. Unfortunately, extracts of ephedra can still be obtained via the internet and are in use worldwide. The horse is the only athlet...
Article
In order to understand how gaited horses use their energy during exercise, a standardised field gaited test (SFGT) was developed to assess energy expenditure of four beat gaited horses independently of size, sex or breed. This work aimed at developing such an SFGT, using as main measurement parameter the heart rate (HR) of horses during the SFGT pe...
Article
The purpose of this study was to determine the metabolic effect(s) of four graded exercise tests (GXT) performed on the underwater treadmill (UWT), and compare them to the results from performing the standard Bruce protocol on a traditional land treadmill (LT). Twelve male Division I college athletes performed the stand Bruce protocol on a LT and 4...
Article
The goal of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that quercetin would alter markers of athletic performance as well as markers of exercise-induced inflammation. Six healthy, unfit Standardbred mares (~500 kg, age 4-5 years) were assigned to one of two treatments (quercetin or water) in an experiment conducted in a crossover fashion. The horse...
Article
This study tested the hypothesis that old and young mares exhibit different endocrine responses to a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIGT) and different cytokine profiles in blood, adipose and muscle tissues. It was also hypothesised that exercise training alters endocrine and tissue cytokine profiles. Pilot data from 15 mix...
Article
Horses spend most of their day eating, standing, and occasionally exercising. Exercise can range from running in a pasture to athletic training. Under resting conditions, horses easily maintain the internal environment. The performance of work or exercise is a major physiologic challenge, a disturbance to homeostasis that invokes an integrative res...
Chapter
Recent reports in the literature confirm the links between exercise, inflammation, immune system response and the use of food components and nutraceuticals to modulate these responses (Franke et al., 2005). To that end, recent work conducted at Rutgers examined the anti-inflammatory effects of a number of food extracts. In vitro studies demonstrate...
Article
Reasons for performing study: Mangalarga-Marchador is a popular 4-gaited Brazilian horse breed; however, there is little information about their metabolic and physiological response to exercise. Objectives: To measure physiological and metabolic responses of the Mangalarga-Marchador to a simulated marcha field test and to compare these responses be...
Article
Full-text available
To help resolve the mechanistic bases for haematological adaptations (~28% increase in red blood cell volume) of equids to high altitude (3800 m, barometric pressure Pb, 487 mm Hg) and exercise, plasma erythropoietin concentration ([EPO]) was measured at rest and following exercise in six, moderately fit equids (four Arabians, one Quarter Horse and...
Article
Older horses have an increased risk of hyperthermia due to impaired cardiovascular function. While many studies have investigated thermoregulation in horses during exercise, none have investigated the effects of ageing. To test the hypothesis that there is a difference in thermoregulation during exercise and plasma volume (PV) in young and old hors...
Article
Studies have demonstrated increases in mRNA expression for inflammatory cytokines following exercise in horses and have suggested those markers of inflammation may play a role in delayed onset muscle soreness. However, measurement of mRNA expression in white blood cells is an indirect method. No studies to date have documented the cytokine response...
Article
Many nutraceuticals are used as equine supplements without their efficacy having been scientifically tested. Black tea, cranberries, orange peel and ginger are a few of those nutraceuticals that warrant further study. To test the effects of single doses of black tea, cranberry, orange peel and ginger extract on markers of oxidative stress and antio...
Article
The objective of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that ageing and training alter plasma concentrations of the peptide hormone leptin. The rationale for the study is based on prior investigations performed at Rutgers University, where published reports documented that ageing disrupts the immune and endocrine responses to acute exercise. Th...
Article
This study tested the hypothesis that phenylbutazone would block the exercise-induced increase in cytokine markers of inflammation in blood. Blood samples were obtained from unfit Standardbred mares (age 10 ± 4 years, ~500 kg) before and after three different trials (standing control (CON), n = 9; exercise with phenylbutazone (EX-bute), n = 9; and...
Article
The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that ageing would result in a decline in maximal heart rate (HRmax) and maximal aerobic capacity (V̇O2max) and, secondarily, that those effects would be reversible with training. Eighteen, healthy, unfit Standardbred mares representing 3 age groups: young (Y = mean ± s.e. 6.8 ± 0.4 years, n = 6);...
Article
Several body systems make critical contributions to the defence of blood volume, mean arterial pressure and plasma tonicity. These mechanisms ensure adequate blood flow to the working muscles and vital tissues along with the provision of adequate fluid volume for sweating and thermoregulation. The present paper integrates data from several recent s...
Article
The main purpose of this study was to describe the effect of glucose infusion on selected physiological variables and on the duration of treadmill exercise to fatigue. Six, 3–4 year old, clinically normal, Standardbred fillies were used in a randomised and balanced crossover design. The treatments were either an infusion of glucose (an initial bolu...
Article
Frusemide is administered to large numbers of North American racehorses because of its putative prophylactic effect on exercise induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH). Two issues central to the use of frusemide in performance horses remain to be resolved: 1) Does frusemide reduce the incidence or severity of EIPH? and 2) does frusemide alter athletic...
Article
Reasons for performing study: Ageing appears to affect immune and neuroendocirne function in horses and response to acute exercise. No studies have examined the combined effects of training and ageing on immune and neuroendocirne function in horses. Hypothesis: To ascertain whether training and age would affect the plasma β‐endorphin (BE) and corti...
Article
The present study tested the hypothesis that lactate concentration ([La− ]) would differ between sample sites and between assay techniques that used different analytical substrates. Six clinically normal adult (two Thoroughbreds, three Standardbreds and one Quarter Horse) mares weighing between 435 and 560 kg were used in the study. Each mare perfo...
Article
Twenty-seven mature Standardbred mares (9detraining 5 m stalls, and were fed the same hay ration. Water and trace-mineral blocks were available ad libitum. Blood samples were collected from the mares prior to the last session of their 12 weeks of training at 60% HRmax (maximum heart rate), as well as on the third day following 2 days of detraining...
Article
Ten mature Standardbred mares (9 1, 2 min at the speed previously shown to correspond to VO2max and 2 min at 4 m s 4 h), 10 min prior to exercise and at 0, 60 and 90 min post-exercise. Plasma concentrations of bicarbonate, sodium, potassium and chloride were measured using a Beckman ELISE analyser. The major finding of this study indicates that the...
Article
Full-text available
Muscle soreness and decreased performance often follow a bout of high-intensity exercise. By reducing these effects, an athlete can train more frequently and increase long-term performance. The purpose of this study is to examine whether a high-potency, black tea extract (BTE) alters the delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), oxidative stress, infla...
Article
Reasons for performing study: Mangalarga-Marchador is a popular 4-gaited Brazilian horse breed; however, there is little information about their metabolic and physiological response to exercise. Objectives: To measure physiological and metabolic responses of the Mangalarga-Marchador to a simulated marcha field test and to compare these responses be...
Article
Previous studies of the effect of age on maximal aerobic capacity (maximal rate of oxygen consumption, VO2max) in horses have only grouped horses (young, middle-aged and old) for statistical analysis. Those experiments were not designed to determine a break point due to age. The purpose of this study was to utilize data collected over the last 15 y...
Article
Full-text available
This study hypothesized that ginger (Zingiber officinale) and cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) extracts would alter the physiological response to exercise as well as markers of muscle damage, and mRNA expression for the inflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) after an exhaustive bout o...
Article
Methoxy polyethylene glycol–epoetin β (pegylated epoetin β, peg-epoetin β, Mircera®) is an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent that is synthesized by pegylating epoetin β. It is prohibited in racehorses and humans because it enhances their performance. It is detectable in human urine and plasma using the isoelectric focusing–double-blotting (IEF–DB) m...
Article
The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the gastric ulcer medications, ranitidine and omeprazole, would alter plasma concentrations of total carbon dioxide (tCO2), lactate (LA), Na+, K+, Cl− and total protein (TP), as well as calculated plasma strong ion difference (SID) and packed cell volume (PCV) in horses subjected to a simula...
Article
Full-text available
Football players walk a fine line between optimal training and overtraining. Manipulating nutrient intake has the potential to maximize the biochemical environment necessary to induce peak performance and proper recovery. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of supplementing the diet of Division I football players with a proprietary...
Article
Glutamine is concentrated within skeletal muscle, where it has been proposed to play a regulatory role in maintaining protein homeostasis. The work presented here addressed the hypothesis that glutamine would be the most abundant free alpha-AA in plasma and skeletal muscle in the foal during the first year of life. Glycine, however, was the most ab...