Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Nitroblue tetrazolium test checks immune cells in dogs
By Gómez-Ochoa, Pablo et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2010·Animal Pathology Department, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The nitroblue tetrazolium reduction test in canine leishmaniasis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with leishmaniasis, a disease caused by parasites, was tested to see how their immune cells reacted compared to healthy dogs. The study included 40 healthy dogs and 40 dogs with varying severity of leishmaniasis. The results showed that dogs with mild leishmaniasis had a much higher immune response than those with severe disease, suggesting that their immune systems were still active. While more research is needed, this test could help veterinarians assess the condition of dogs with leishmaniasis and guide treatment decisions.
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Abstract
The nitroblue tetrazolium reduction test (NBT) is a quick, easy and cheap assay based on the activation percentage of neutrophils in peripheral blood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the NBT on healthy dogs and in dogs affected by different degrees of leishmaniasis (Stages I and IV). Forty healthy dogs, 20 dogs in Stage I and 20 dogs in Stage IV were included in the study. Three millilitres of blood were extracted from all the dogs via jugular venipuncture in tubes with EDTA. Incubation with NBT was performed depositing 0.05 ml of the leukocyte suspension in the same quantity of 0.1% concentration NBT. The results of the test were reported as NBT reduction rate which represents the percentage of the total of neutrophils evaluated that presented cytoplasmatic accumulations of formazan, meaning a positive NBT reduction. The mean NBT reduction rate for the healthy dogs group was 4.57%, 34% for Stage I dogs (mild disease) and 3.7% for dogs in Stage IV (severe disease), showing that dogs affected with leishmaniasis but with no clinical development of disease have a significantly higher neutrophil reactivity (p<0.01). Although more studies evaluating the correlation of NBT with other tests prior to and during treatment are needed, NBT could be a good assay in canine leishmaniasis evaluation.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20483539/