Haematological and acute-phase response of dogs with experimental skin Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection to treatment with antibiotic and parthenolide

Abstract

Changes in white blood cells, leukogram patterns, the positive acute-phase protein (APP) fibrinogen and negative APPs (albumin and arylesterase) were monitored to evaluate their potential as sensitive indicators throughout the course of therapy in canine skin Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. The study was performed on 15 male mixed-breed dogs, divided in three groups of 5 dogs each. Dogs from group A were injected subcutaneously with P. aeruginosa bacterial culture (1 × 108 CFU/mL) at a dose of 0.3 mL/kg and treated with enrofloxacin (5 mg/kg, s.c.) on post infection hour 48 for 10 consecutive days. Dogs from group B were infected and treated with a combination of enrofloxacin (at above-mentioned dose and intervals) and parthenolide (feverfew extract 90 mg, 0.7 % parthenolide). The schedule consisted of daily oral intake of two capsules of feverfew beginning on post infection hour 4 and continued for 6 days. The control group C included healthy dogs, injected s.c. with 0.3 mL/kg physiological saline. The haematological indices and APPs were assayed before infection and on 4th, 24th, 48th and 72nd hours and on 7th, 10th and 14th days after infection. Infected and antibiotic-treated dogs responded with significant leukocytosis, left shift, eosinopaenia and lymphopaenia between hours 24 and 72. In this group, fibrinogen increased substantially by post infection hours 24 (p < 0.01 vs 0 h; p < 0.05 vs group C), 48 (p < 0.001 vs 0 h; p < 0.05 vs group C) and 72 (p < 0.001 vs 0 h; p < 0.01 vs group C) while albumin reduction was marked by hours 48 (p < 0.05 vs 0 h) and 72 (p < 0.05 vs 0 h; p < 0.001 vs group C) and day 7 (p < 0.01 vs 0 h; p < 0.001 vs group C). The combination of enrofloxacin and parthenolide modified, at a significant extent, the deviations in studied parameters except for eosinophil percentage, which persisted low.