Studies regarding the clinical management optimization in babesiosis in dogs

Abstract

The diagnosis of canine babesiosis is based, most of the times, on the patients’ clinical signs, correlated with the ticks’ parasitism, the emergence season, but the most important clue is performing the laboratory exams.The manifestations of the disease had, in most of the studied individuals, as a characteristic, the well- known clinical tetrad: fever, icterus, anemia and hemoglobinuria, mentioning that for the diagnosis confirmation it was necessary to perform the blood smear microscopic examination and to detect the intracellular parasites or the damaged erythrocytes.In the group of dogs with babesiosis, the haematological examination revealed a distinctly significant (p<0.01) decrease of the mean number of erythrocytes, indicating a severe haemolytic anemia caused by their massive destruction due to the parasites’ mechanical and toxic actions, that along with the destruction of the immature erythrocytes (reticulocytes) - an indicator of regenerative erythropoiesis, ultimately causes tissue hypoxia. There is also found a statistically significant decrease (p<0.05) of the mean values of the haemoglobin and haematocrit. In dogs with babesiosis was noticed a statistically significant increase (p<0.05) of the urea’s mean value and an increase (but not significant - p>0.05) of the creatinine’s mean value, compared with those of the control group. Thus, a major role in the pathogenesis of the renal function impairment in dogs with babesiosis can be attributed to the septic-toxic state induced by the intraerythrocytic parasites. The mean value of the bilirubin in the group of dogs with babesiosis was distinctly significant higher (p<0.01) compared to the control group, a sign of massive erythrocytes’ degradation, which stands at the basis of the haemolytic anemia diagnosis and thus the liver function decrease, translated by the significant increase (p<0.05) of the hepatocellular injury specific enzymes activity (ALT). Another biochemical change was hypoglycaemia. In this context, the association between severe anemia and hypoglycaemia may be explained by the effect of hypoxia on the glycolysis and by the fact that the severity of the anemia is closely related to the disease severity and the inflammatory response intensity, which may lead to an intensification of metabolic processes and, consequently, to an excessive glucose consumption.