Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High parasite levels link to severe symptoms in dogs with visceral
By Reis, Alexandre B et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2006·Laborató, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Parasite density and impaired biochemical/hematological status are associated with severe clinical aspects of canine visceral leishmaniasis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 40 dogs infected with the Leishmania parasite showed varying symptoms of visceral leishmaniasis, with 16 dogs experiencing severe clinical signs. Blood tests revealed that dogs with more severe symptoms had higher levels of the parasite in their bodies, particularly in the bone marrow. As the disease progressed from mild to severe, the dogs also showed significant changes in their blood and overall health. Monitoring these factors could help veterinarians assess treatment effectiveness and vaccine responses in the future.
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Abstract
We have performed a detailed investigation in 40 dogs naturally infected with Leishmania infantum (syn. chagasi), subdivided into three groups: asymptomatic (AD = 12), oligosymptomatic (OD = 12) and symptomatic (SD = 16), based on their clinical features. Twenty non-infected dogs (CD) were included as control group. Serological analysis, performed by IFAT and ELISA, demonstrated higher antibodies titers in SD in comparison to the AD. A positive correlation was found between parasite density in the spleen and skin smears as well as the bone marrow parasitism with clinical status of the infection. We observed that the progression of the disease from asymptomatic to symptomatic clinical form was accompanied by intense parasitism in the bone marrow. It is likely that this led to the impaired biochemical/hematological status observed. Finally, we believe that the follow-up of these parameters could be a relevant approach to be used as markers during therapeutic and vaccine evaluations.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16288789/