Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cytokines and parasite levels in lymph nodes of dogs with Leishmania
By Guerra, Juliana M et al.·Published in Veterinary immunology and immunopathology·2021·Instituto Adolfo Lutz, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cytokine profile and parasite load in lymph nodes of dogs naturally infected with Leishmania infantum from distinct epidemiological scenarios in São Paulo State, Brazil.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 83 dogs in Brazil was diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a serious disease caused by a parasite. The dogs showed signs of illness but were classified as stage II, meaning their symptoms were moderate. Researchers found that dogs from the northwest region had a significantly higher parasite load compared to those from the southeast, which may explain the differences in disease severity in these areas. Understanding these variations can help veterinarians better manage and treat VL in dogs.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · visceral leishmaniasis treatment in dogs · high parasite load in dogs
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an important zoonotic vector-borne disease and domestic dogs are considered the main domiciliary and peri-domiciliary reservoir of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum in South America. Distinct eco-epidemiological scenarios associated to the prevalence of the disease, clusters of parasite genotypes and chemotypes of vectors population are described in Brazil, especially in the state of São Paulo (SP). In this context, the purpose of the present study is to evaluate the clinical signs, histopathological lesions, parasite load and cytokine profile by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in popliteal lymph nodes of canines naturally infected with L. infantum, from different municipalities of the state of SP. Eighty-three dogs with VL, 61 from northwest SP (NWSP) and 22 from southeast SP (SESP), were clinically classified in stage II, with no babesiosis and ehrlichiosis. Subcapsular inflammatory infiltration and histiocytosis were significantly higher in the SESP group (p = 0.0128; 0.0077, respectively). On the other hand, dogs from NWSP revealed 4.6-fold significantly higher parasite burden (p = 0.0004) and higher IHC scores of IL-1β (p = 0.0275) and IL-4 (p = 0.0327) in the popliteal lymph node tissues, which may be associated with the susceptibility and progression of the disease in these dogs. Differences in immune response profile associated with higher parasite load in dogs can also contribute to explain the distinct eco-epidemiological patterns of VL in specific geographic regions.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33548792/