Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Leishmania parasite levels linked to disease severity in dogs
By Manna, Laura et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2009·Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Veterinarie, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evidence for a relationship between Leishmania load and clinical manifestations.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 56 dogs with visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a serious disease caused by the Leishmania parasite, were studied to see how the amount of the parasite in their bodies related to their symptoms. The researchers found that dogs with more Leishmania DNA in their lymph nodes had more severe symptoms. This suggests that the higher the parasite load, the worse the clinical signs of the disease. Understanding this relationship can help veterinarians assess the severity of leishmaniasis in dogs and guide treatment decisions.
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Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a life-threatening disease of medical, social and economic importance in endemic areas. Dogs are the main reservoir of Leishmaniainfantum. In this study, the authors investigated a group of 56 natural infected dogs to establish the relationship between parasite load and various clinical forms of leishmaniasis. The sick dogs were monitored at the beginning from clinical and physiological point of view. Leishmania load was measured by real-time PCR assay on whole blood samples and lymph node aspirates, collected at the time of diagnosis. Our results indicate that a higher quantity of Leishmania DNA was found in the lymph nodes of dogs characterized by maximum clinical score. This interesting finding indicates the presence of a positive relationship between Leishmania load and clinical manifestations in dogs showing a severe clinical form of leishmaniasis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19178919/