Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Doxycycline effects on blood and immune cells in healthy
By Villaescusa, A et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2015·Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Spain·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Effects of doxycycline on haematology, blood chemistry and peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets of healthy dogs and dogs naturally infected with Ehrlichia canis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 20 dogs with a tick-borne infection called canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME) were treated with doxycycline, an antibiotic known for its ability to fight this disease. After treatment, both infected and healthy dogs showed improvements in their blood tests, including better red blood cell counts and platelet levels. Interestingly, doxycycline seemed to have benefits beyond just fighting the infection, as it also affected immune system cells in both groups. Overall, the dogs that received doxycycline showed positive changes in their health, suggesting it may help in ways other than just killing the bacteria.
People also search for: dog ehrlichiosis treatment · doxycycline for dogs · dog blood test results explained
Abstract
Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME), caused by Ehrlichia canis, is a vector-borne disease with a worldwide distribution. It has been proposed that the pathogenesis, clinical severity and outcome of disease caused by Ehrlichia spp. can be attributed to the immune response rather than to any direct rickettsial effect. Moreover, doxycycline, the antimicrobial of choice for the treatment of CME, has immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties associated with blood leukocyte proliferation function, cytokine synthesis, and matrix metalloproteinase activity. In order to assess the potential effects of doxycycline, dependent and independent of its antimicrobial activity, the present study compared changes in haematology, blood chemistry and circulating lymphocyte subpopulations in 12 healthy dogs and 20 dogs with CME after doxycycline therapy. Some changes were recorded only in the CME affected dogs, probably due to the antimicrobial effect of doxycycline. However, increases in mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, platelet count and α2-globulins, and decreased plasma creatinine were observed in both healthy and CME affected dogs. The absolute count of B lymphocytes (CD21(+)) increased initially, but then decreased until the end of the study period in both groups. A potential effect of doxycycline unrelated to its antimicrobial activity against E. canis is suggested, taking into account the results observed both in healthy dogs and in dogs with CME.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25957920/