Experimental Infection by Tripanossoma evansi in Rabbits: Levels of Sodium, Potassium, Calcium and Phosphorus in Serum
Silva, Aleksandro Schafer daCosta, Márcio MachadoMoreira, Clarissa MarquesZanette, Régis AdrielThomé, Gustavo RobertoOtto, Mateus AndersonFlores, Érico Marlon de MoraesLopes, Sonia Terezinha dos AnjosMonteiro, Silvia Gonzalez
Background: Trypanosoma evansi is the most widely distributed of the pathogenic African animal trypanosomes, affecting domestic livestock and wildlife in country. The animals presented clinical sings as anemia, emaciation, apathy, recurrent fever , enlarged lymph nodes, edema and abortion The minerals have different functions in the organism, and an imbalance, either by excess or deficiency, or a pathological condition, causes alterations in the respective serum levels, as well as in trypanosomosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of sodium, potassium, calcium and phosphorus in blood serum of rabbits experimentally infected with Trypanosoma evansi. Materials, Methods & Results: Twelve adult female Oryctolagus cuniculus, weighing average 3.9 kg, were used. Rabbits were divided into two groups, a control group with six animals (rabbits 1-6) and an infected group with six animals (rabbits 7-12). Animals from trypanosome-infected groups were inoculated intraperitoneally with 0.5 mL of rat blood containing 10 8 trypanosomes (Day 1). Control group received physiological solution by the same route. Parasitemia was estimated daily for 118 days post- inoculation (PI) by microscopic examination of smears. Blood samples for hematology and evaluation of serum minerals were collected at days 1, 5, 20, 35, 50, 80 and 118 PI. Hematocrit was evaluated for monitoring of the disease. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) was used to measure the levels of sodium, potassium, calcium and phosphorus. Hyporexia, edema and fever were clinical signs associated with change in the levels of the minerals. A decrease in the number of red blood cells was only observed at day 5 post-inoculation. Significant differences were observed among groups (P < 0.05) in minerals levels. Sodium and calcium were reduced at days 35, 50, 80 and 118 PI. [...](AU)
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