Hematological and Biochemical Changes in Dogs Naturally Infected With.

Abstract

Subcutaneous dirofilariosis is a zoonotic disease emerging throughout Europe caused by the filarial nematode. Despite its increasing prevalence, there is a large gap in knowledge of the impact of the parasite on the host. Currently classified as being non-pathogenic, recent evidence suggests that skin dirofilariosis is associated with dermatological conditions including concomitant pruritus, neoplastic processes, inflammation, and even blindness in dogs and humans. The aim of this study was to determine if natural canineinfection leads to biological changes in the canine host. In a real-life veterinary clinic setting, animals are often presented to clinicians for unrelated issues, andis incidentally identified during inspection. As such, we compared hematological and biochemical parameters of 218 uninfected and 197 dogs naturally infected with. Interestingly, animals infected withhad lower numbers of lymphocytes (< 0.001), red blood cells (< 0.001), and thrombocytes (= 0.025), decreased hematocrit (< 0.001), and increased alkaline phosphatase (= 0.016) and creatinine activity (= 0.023) compared to uninfected dogs. We further selected a subpopulation of 214 dogs havinghematological and biochemical results within normal reference ranges to evaluate the effect ofinfections in seemingly healthy dogs. Among these patients, 93 dogs infected withhad lower numbers of lymphocytes (= 0.031), red blood cells (= 0.025), and hematocrit (= 0.002), higher glucose levels (= 0.023), and border line elevated alkaline phosphatase levels (= 0.054) compared to 121 uninfected animals. Despite being categorized as asymptomatic, we have observed hematological and biochemical changes associated withinfections in dogs, and our data suggest that dirofilariosis may induce a state of chronic stress. These results link the presence of skin dirofilariosis to biological changes in the canine host, suggesting a mechanism for pathogenicity and shedding new light on the host-parasite relationship.