Copper and Zinc Levels in the Liver Tissue of Healthy Cattle Affected by Fasciola hepatica in a Slaughterhouse

Abstract

Fasciolosis is considered the most important liver disease in animals, the most notorious damages are caused by death, it causes a reduction in the production of meat, wool and milk, seizure of affected organs, secondary infections by bacteria, interference with fertility and expenses derived from its treatment. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship of Cu and Zn levels in the liver with the affectation by Fasciola hepatica in slaughterhouse cattle. Determinations of Cu, Zn, ash and dry matter were carried out using the atomic absorption spectrophotometry technique in healthy liver tissue affected by fasciolosis in 40 cattle slaughtered in the slaughterhouse. The association between possible risk factors for hepatic Cu and Zn values below the critical limit and the event of livers affected by F. hepatica was carried out in a retrospective case-control observational study. The levels of Cu and Zn in healthy livers affected by F. hepatica in cattle slaughtered in the municipal slaughterhouse of Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, Cuba are deficient and show low reserves of these microelements with values below the critical value. No association was found between Cu and Zn levels in liver tissue with liver involvement by F. hepatica in slaughterhouse cattle, although it was observed that slaughtered cattle with hepatic Zinc values lower than the critical limit are affected approximately two times more due to fasciolosis than bovines with normal hepatic zinc values.