Acute-phase proteins and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in cattle infected with subclinical parasitic infections

Sevimli, Feride KırcalıKuş, Fatma Selcan

Background: The acute phase response (APR) has been well documented for clinical infections. There are relatively few reports regarding the potential uses of acute phase proteins (APP) for the recognition of subclinical infection. Until now, There have been no reports published on the development of the APR in subclinical infection with parasites. Haptoglobin (Hp) and serum amyloid A (SAA) are important APPs for cattle. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is considered a major immune and inflammatory mediator and the principal regulator of most APPs. This study was carried out to ascertain the levels of SAA, Hp and IL-6 in cattle infected with low levels of various parasites.Materials, Methods & Results: Thirty six slaughtered cattle (20 male, 16 female) of varying ages were used. Clinical findings such as pain, redness, slackness, diarrhoea or fever were not seen in these cattle. Blood samples were taken into vacutainers without heparin during slaughter, the internal organs of the cattle were examined postmortem for possible infections and faecal samples were collected. For detection, Benedects sedimentation was used for trematode infections, saturated water flotation was used for cestode and nematode infections, and the Baermann - Wetzel method was used for lungworm infections. A total of 28 cattle with parasitic infection were evaluated as the study group and eight parasitologically...(AU)

1. parasitic infections
2. cattle
3. haptoglobin
4. interleukin-6
5. serum amyloid A