Clinical and laboratory alterations in dogs naturally infected by Leishmania chagasi

Abstract

Introduction: Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is a zoonotic disease with different clinical manifestations. Parasitism often occurs in bone marrow, but changes have been observed in peripheral blood and serum biochemical parameters. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hematological and biochemical parameters in dogs naturally infected by Leishmania chagasi. Methods: Eighty-five adult dogs of both sexes and various weights and ages from the Zoonosis Control Center of Fortaleza (CCZ) were used, selected by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and considered positive with IFA titers greater than 1:40 and by visualizing amastigotes of Leishmania chagasi in smears obtained by bone marrow aspiration. The dogs (n = 85) were grouped according to clinical signs: negative (CN = 7), subclinical (CS = 10), and clinical (CC = 68). Blood samples were collected for determination of hematological and biochemical serum values. The experimental protocol was approved by the CEUA/UECE. Results: The most frequent clinical signs were cachexia (77.9%), keratitis (61.8%), and lymphadenopathy (55.9%), and 86.8% of the animals showed more than one clinical sign characteristic of CVL. In CC were observed reductions in red blood cells (63%), hematocrit (72%), and hemoglobin (62%), as well as leukocytosis (33%), neutropenia (28%), thrombocytopenia (50%), uremia (45%), hyperproteinemia (53%, p<0.05), hypergammaglobulinemia (62%, p<0.01), and hypoalbuminemia (58%). Conclusions: Animals with the clinical form of the disease demonstrate hematological and biochemical changes consistent with anemia, uremia, hyperproteinemia, and hyperglobulinemia, which present themselves as strong clinical markers of visceral leishmaniasis associated with the signs previously reported. Keywords: Dogs. Canine visceral leishmanisis. Biomarkers. Anemia. Uremia. Hyperglobulinemia. RESUMO Introdução:A leishmaniose visceral canina (LVC) é uma zoonose com diferentes manifestações clínicas. O parasitismo ocorre frequentemente na medula óssea e têm sido relatadas alterações hematológicas e bioquímicas. Objetivou-se avaliar os parâmetros clínicos, hematológicos e bioquímicos de cães naturalmente infectados por Leishmania chagasi. Métodos: Utilizaram-se 85 cães adultos, ambos os sexos, peso e idade variados, oriundos do Centro de Controle de Zoonoses de Fortaleza, selecionados pela reação de imunofluorescência indireta (RIFI), sendo considerados positivos os animais com títulos de RIFI ≥ 1:40 e pelo exame parasitológico das formas amastigotas de Leishmania chagasi em esfregaços de medula óssea. Os cães foram agrupados conforme os sinais clínicos associados à doença: negativos (CN=7); subclínicos (CS=10) e clínicos (CC=68). Amostras de sangue foram coletadas para determinação dos parâmetros hematológicos e bioquímicos séricos. O protocolo experimental foi aprovado pelo CEUA/UECE, protocolo n° 08622833-1. Resultados: Os sinais clínicos mais frequentes foram caquexia (77,9%), ceratoconjuntivite (61,8%) e linfadenopatia (55,9%), sendo que 86, 8% dos animais aprese...

Efficacy of Amphotericin-B, Clinicopathologic Variables and Oxidative Stress Markers in three Staffordshire Bull Terrier Dogs with Visceral Leishmaniasis

“…Symptomatic dogs demonstrate severe anemia, with a significant decrease in the number of erythrocytes, hemoglobin, and hematocrit (Reis et al, 2006;Freitas et al, 2012). Similarly, in this study, decreases in erythrocyte, hemoglobin, and hematocrit level due to lipid peroxidation development in case 3 were detected before treatment regarding the infection.…”

Investigation of the bone metabolism in dogs with leishmaniasis

“…The researchers reported that the IFA technique was a quite sensitive and specific test for the determination of leishmaniasis, and upon evaluating the clinical findings and laboratory results together, the titrations between 1/40 and 1/1024 were diagnostic in seropositive patients and the titers above 1/40 were sufficient for the diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis (Freitas et al 2012). In our study, titers of 1/64 and above are accepted as positive.…”

“…Furthermore, anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, uremia, hyperproteinaemia, hypergammaglobulinemia, hyperalbuminemia, an increase in ALT, GGT, LDH and ALP levels, in urea and creatine level can be listed as mild or severe proteinuri a laboratory findings. The clinical findings may show variability depending on the course, phase and severity of the disease in Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) (Freitas et al 2012, Taher et al 2015.…”

Clinical and histopathological features of myocarditis in dogs with visceral leishmaniasis

“…According to Mancianti et al (1988), the host-parasite interaction may result in different clinical responses, which would explain the different responses observed. However, it is believed that hyperproteinemia in VLG dogs, as observed by Torrent et al (2005) and Silvestrini et al (2012), is due to hypergammaglobulinemia (Freitas et al, 2012), which in turn is due to a polyclonal lymphocyte response caused by the infection (Reis et al, 2009). …”