Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood parasite levels and heart infection in Beagle dogs
By Veloso, Vanja M et al.·Published in Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz·2008·Departamento de Ciê·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Trypanosoma cruzi: blood parasitism kinetics and their correlation with heart parasitism intensity during long-term infection of Beagle dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of Beagle dogs infected with the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite were monitored over two years to see how the parasite affected their blood and heart. During the initial phase of infection, the parasite was easily found in their blood, but it became harder to detect as time went on. The study found that the type of T. cruzi strain influenced how often the parasite was detected in both blood and heart tissue samples. Overall, the heart tissue tests were more reliable for detecting the parasite compared to blood tests, especially for certain strains.
People also search for: Beagle dog heart problems · Trypanosoma cruzi symptoms in dogs · dog blood test results for parasites
Abstract
The goals of the present study were to evaluate the kinetics of blood parasitism by examination of fresh blood, blood culture (BC) and PCR assays and their correlation with heart parasitism during two years of infection in Beagle dogs inoculated with the Be-78, Y and ABC Trypanosoma cruzi strains. Our results showed that the parasite or its kDNA is easily detected during the acute phase in all infected animals. On the other hand, a reduced number of positive tests were verified during the chronic phase of the infection. The frequency of positive tests was correlated with T. cruzi strain. The percentage of positive BC and blood PCR performed in samples from animals inoculated with Be-78 and ABC strains were similar and significantly larger in relation to animals infected with the Y strain.Comparison of the positivity of PCR tests performed using blood and heart tissue samples obtained two years after infection showed two different patterns associated with the inoculated T. cruzi strain: (1) high PCR positivity for both blood and tissue was observed in animals infected with Be-78 or ABC strains; (2) lower and higher PCR positivity for the blood and tissue, respectively, was detected in animals infected with Y strains. These data suggest that the sensitivity of BC and blood PCR was T. cruzi strain dependent and, in contrast, the heart tissue PCR revealed higher sensitivity regardless of the parasite stock.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18949320/