Influence of an experimental Trypanosoma congolense infection and plane of nutrition on milk production and some biochemical parameters in West African Dwarf goats

Abstract

The interactions of trypanosomosis and plane of nutrition on health and productivity of multiparous and primiparous West African Dwarf (WAD) does were studied in a multifactorial experiment including diet (supplementation or basal diet) and infection (infected or control). Experimental does were infected with Trypanosoma congolense at the beginning of the second week post-kidding and monitored for 16 weeks after infection. Trypanosome infection significantly reduced PCV (control: 30.1 ± 0.3 % vs infected: 22.2 ± 0.3 %; P < 0.0001). Regardless of infection, the drop in PCV from the pre-infection period to the end of the experiment was more severe in animals under restricted diet (interaction diet * period: P < 0.001). Trypanosome parasitaemia tended to be higher in the supplemented group than in the basal diet group (P > 0.05) and multiparous animals had a higher parasitaemia (score: 2.6 ± 0.1) than primiparous animals (score: 2.2 ± 0.1) (P < 0.05). Trypanosome infection as well as dietary supplement had a significant effect on lactation length. Milk off-take from trypanosome-infected does was significantly lower than that from the uninfected control group (17.5 ± 3.2 l vs 35.5 ± 3.2 l, P < 0.001) and there was a positive effect of plane of nutrition (supplemented: 32.8 ± 3.2 l and basal diet: 20.2 ± 3.5 l, P = 0.01). The drop in milk off-take due to trypanosome infection was more severe in the supplemented group (control: 46.7 ± 4.7 l vs infected: 18.9 ± 4.2 l) than in the group receiving a basal diet (control: 24.2 ± 5.0 l vs infected: 16.1 ± 4.7 l) (interaction infection *diet, P = 0.04) due to the number of does from the supplemented group that were withdrawn from the experiment. The effect of trypanosome infection on doe's live-weight was only noticeable during the first 8 weeks of lactation and there was no significant effect on offspring growth rate unless the mother died.Plasma total protein, albumin and cholesterol concentrations were significantly reduced by the infection but were significantly increased by supplementation. Supplemented does had a higher level of cholesterol and a tendency for a higher parasitaemia. Does of high parity also had a higher cholesterol level than primiparous does and, based on the number of animals that were withdrawn from the experiment, they showed a lower resistance to the infection.

Serum biochemical parameters and cytokine profiles associated with natural African trypanosome infections in cattle

“…The decreased cholesterol levels observed in infected cattle in this study is consistent with findings in cattle [34], pigs [28] and sheep [35]. The high-energy demand of trypanosomes in infected animals and impaired synthesis or release of cholesterol from the liver, due to pathologic changes induced by trypanosome infection could be responsible for the decreased serum cholesterol levels [28, 36]. …”

The potential impact of native Australian trypanosome infections on the health of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

“…A significant regenerative anaemia was observed in a small number of koalas that were infected with a trypanosome as evidenced by the presence of abnormally increased numbers of reticulocytes and nucleated erythrocytes (normoblasts) supported by hypercellular bone marrow on prepared blood and bone marrow smears (A. Gillett, personal communication). Anaemia is commonly associated with human (Chisi et al 2004) and animal trypanosomiasis, reported in native African cattle breeds (Ellis et al 1987;Sekoni et al 1990;Akinbamijo et al 1998;Mahama et al 2004), horses (Silva et al 1995), pigs (Omeke and Ugwu, 1991), sheep (Katunguka-Rwakishaya et al 1992;Onah et al 1996), goats (Goossens et al 1998;Ogunsanmi and Taiwo, 2001;Faye et al 2005) and dogs (Onyeyili and Anika, 1990;Egbe-Nwiyi and Antia, 1993) and cats (Da Silva et al 2009). Anaemia is, however, not always noted with trypanosome infections, in part due to the fact that numerous trypanosomes are non-pathogenic and also due to the variable disease dynamics of pathogenic trypanosomes.…”

The Central Role of Macrophages in Trypanosomiasis-Associated Anemia:Rationale for Therapeutical Approaches

“…For instance, it has been shown that there is a correlation between the lack of nutrition and PCV levels, i.e. during dry seasons animals suffer from severe anemia which is correlated with poor nutritional conditions [11][12][13][14][15].…”