Serum pepsinogen and gastrin concentrations in South American camelids with and without gastrointestinal nematode infection

Abstract

Abstract Endoparasitosis is one of the major health problems in South American camelids (SACs) often leading to massive damage of the gastric or intestinal mucosa. In ruminants this damage results in increased gastrin and pepsinogen concentrations in the peripheral blood. These values have been used as diagnostic parameters for subclinical gastrointestinal nematode infections in ruminants but have not been systemically studied in SACs. Serum pepsinogen and gastrin concentrations of 183 clinically healthy SACs with and without detectable parasitic egg excretion and the occurrence of occult blood in the faeces were determined. The median (1st/3rd quartile) of serum pepsinogen and gastrin were 1899.4 (1483.1/2749.4) ng/ml and 184.8 (121.8/340.5) pg/ml for alpacas; 1642.0 (1182.3/2608.7) ng/ml and 191.8 (142.2/287.6) pg/ml for llamas respectively. A sensitivity of 80.1 % and a specificity of 11.1 % for gastrin (cut off 402 pg/ml) and a sensitivity of 64.1 % and specificity of 88.9 % for pepsinogen with endoparasitosis (cut off 1996 ng/ml) were calculated. Based on our results, albeit on quite small numbers, determination of serum gastrin concentration does not seem to be a useful test for the detection of endoparasitic infection in SACs. In contrast, for pepsinogen a correlation was found between serum concentration and animals with and without endoparasitosis. Nevertheless further studies are necessary in order to investigate the diagnostic potential of pepsinogen serum concentration in relation to subclinical endoparasitosis.