Abstract
Aim:The present research work was undertaken to study the diagnostic importance of hematobiochemical changes in naturally occurring ehrlichiosis in dogs of Anand region, Gujarat irrespective of their age, breed, and sex.Materials and Methods:Blood samples from a total of 29 dogs of Anand region of Gujarat state were screened for detection of anti-Ehrlichia canis antibodies using Immunocomb® rapid diagnostic kit (Biogal Galed Laboratories, Israel) and subjected to estimation of hematobiochemical parameters by auto hematology analyzers at College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anand. Statistical analysis, interpretation and comparison of hematobiochemical changes with scientific literature was carried out in order to understand the pathophysiology of the disease.Results:Of 29 dogs, 18 were positive for naturally occurring ehrlichiosis based on the presence of anti-E. canis antibodies while 11 were negative. Haematology evinced that the mean values of hemoglobin, total erythrocyte counts, platelet count and packed cell volume in dogs with ehrlichiosis decreased significantly (p<0.01) in comparison to healthy dogs. Among differential leucocyte count, mean values of lymphocytes decreased, neutrophils increased, eosinophils decreased and basophils decreased significantly (p<0.05) in dogs with ehrlichiosis in comparison to healthy dogs while statistically non-significant (p>0.05) difference was observed in values of monocytes in dogs with ehrlichiosis and healthy dogs. Among various red blood cells indices, the mean values of mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration increased significantly (p<0.01) in dogs with ehrlichiosis in comparison to healthy dogs. Serum biochemistry revealed significant (p<0.01) increase in serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and creatinine levels as well as decrease in total protein levels in dogs with ehrlichiosis as compared to healthy dogs.Conclusion:Clinical importance of hematobiochemical changes in 18 natural cases of ehrlichiosis in dogs of Anand region, Gujarat irrespective of their age, breed and sex is discussed, which would aid new insights in diagnosis and therapeutic management.
Highlights
Ehrlichiosis is one of the major tick-transmitted diseases of dogs and can lead to a wide variety of clinical signs
Serum biochemical parameters were analyzed by auto-chemistry analyzer using commercial diagnostic kits procured from Crest Biosystem (A Division of Coral Clinical System, Goa) at Department of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anand with standard laboratory protocols, viz., estimation of serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) by Reitman and Frankel’s method, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) by modified IFCC method, serum total protein by direct biuret method as well as estimation of serum creatinine by Modified Jaffe’s alkaline picrate method
Eighteen out of 29 dogs were positive for naturally occurring ehrlichiosis with high titers of anti-E. canis antibodies and the overall incidence of 62.07% while 11 dogs were negative
Summary
Ehrlichiosis is one of the major tick-transmitted diseases of dogs and can lead to a wide variety of clinical signs. It is described by the cellular tropism of the infecting organisms, i.e., Ehrlichia canis (a small, Gram-negative, coccoid bacterium), which parasitizes cytoplasm of the circulating monocytes in form of distinct clusters termed as “Morulae” [1]. The disease is mainly transmitted by the brown tick of dogs i.e., Rhipicephalus sanguineus which passes the organism into blood following bite and is characterized by high fever (104-105°F), anorexia, weakness, lymphadenopathy and epistaxis and edema of dependent parts especially in chronic cases. Once the dog is infected, the course of ehrlichiosis can be divided into three phases, viz., acute, subacute and chronic. Subclinical infections of naturally occurring ehrlichiosis in dogs are more common. The chronic stage includes distinct clinical findings with changes in hematological indices
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