Effects of <i>Eimeria stiedae</i> parasitism in the liver of rabbits on blood parameters and histoarchitecture of organs

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to evaluate the parasitism effects on clinical parameters of laboratory animals.Materials and methods. The venous blood of 20 rabbits aged 1 year was taken to perform biochemical and general blood tests, for which purpose hematological analyzers were used. The animals were dissected using the Shor’s method. The topography of the organ complex was evaluated, and pathological material was collected and placed to 10% buffered formalin. For pathomorphological examination, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney samples were taken. To determine the histological pattern, paraffin-embedded samples on Thermo Scientific semi-automatic equipment were used. Histologic specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The histoarchitecture of the specimens was evaluated using an Axio A1.0 microscope, and photography was conducted with the AxioVision software.Results and discussion. The article presents the data of the general and biochemical blood tests of the blood from the rabbits intended to be used in the experiment. Further, the pathoanatomical picture of the liver was shown in animals infected with Eimeria spp., and the histological pattern was presented for parenchymal organs. We found that the main biochemical values that exceeded reference values were liver values, namely, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase. We also observed an increase in monocytes and granulocytes in the blood. Pathological and anatomical changes were only expressed in the liver, while no changes in the macro pattern were observed in other organs. Histological examination of parenchymal organs showed a significant pathology in the liver due to endogenous stages of oocysts occurred in its structure. Additionally, we observed a strong eosinophil response in the spleen and a high content of eosinophils in the pulmonary veins.