The Effects of Hyperglycaemia on the Chemotherapy of Diminazene aceturate in Trypanosoma brucei-infected Dogs

Abstract

The effects of hyperglycaemia on the outcome of treatment with diminazene aceturate in dogs infected with Trypanosoma brucei was evaluated using the following parameters; parasitaemia, packed cell volume, red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration, total white blood cell count and differential counts, survivability, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, total protein, and cholesterol. A total of 12 Nigerian local dogs, of both sexes were used in this study. They were randomly, assigned into four groups of three dogs each. Group A was uninfected non hyperglycaemic non treated, group B infected non hyperglycaemic treated, group C infected hyperglycaemic non treated and group D infected hyperglycaemic treated. No mortality was recorded in group A, while groups B, C and D survived 33%, 100% and 67% mortalities respectively. There was total clearance of the parasites in the treated groups (B and D) on days 18 and 20 post infection (PI) respectively (days 6 and 8 post treatment). However, there was a relapse of infection in group D on day 22 PI (day 11 PT) and no relapse occurred in group B. Infections caused a significant decrease (p<0.05) in all the red cell parameters (PCV, Hb concentrations and RBC counts) in group C, but no significant (P>0.05) decrease was observed in groups C and D. The mean AST and ALT of group D were significantly (P<0.05) higher than the other groups, while the mean ALP of groups A and D did not show any significant (P>0.05) difference, but were significantly (P<0.05) lower than groups C and B. The mean total protein of group A was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the infected groups, while the infected groups C, B and D did not show any significant (P>0.05) difference. It was concluded from the study that, hyperglycaemic resulted in diminished effectiveness of diminazene aceturate in Nigerian local breeds of dogs