Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1,001. Col. Chamilpa, 62209, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70228, México, DF, 04510, Mexico.
Vet Parasitol. 2019 Dec;276:108964. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2019.108964. Epub 2019 Oct 24.
Parasites induce behavioral changes in the host and obesity is a health problem affecting different animal species. Cysticercosis caused by Taenia pisiformis affects some behavior of rabbits and reproductive behavior of does. Rabbits do not escape from metabolic disorders, being long-live animals useful in breeding, research and companion animals. Here, we addressed the interaction between parasitosis and obesity, and studied how these conditions or the comorbidity affect behavioral and productive parameters in bucks infected with 3000 T. pisiformis eggs. We found that the chronic infection reduced locomotor activity by 28.5% in obese, 18.5% in infected and 47% in obese-infected group (comorbid). The exploratory activity reduced by 42% in obese, 48% in infected and 68% in comorbid rabbits (P ≤ 0.001). Chinning was not affected by obesity, while infection decreased it by 25%. Behavioral reproductive parameters like response time, the mount latency and number of ejaculates were affected by infection and obesity. Furthermore, obesity seems to increase the parasite load promoting the formation of liver granulomas (16% granulomas compared with normal weight), with a higher number of cysticerci in obese animals (86% more than normal weight). Infection decreases body weight, body mass index and the zoometric index BW/LV in obese and normal weight rabbits. In conclusion, infection with T. pisiformis altered behavioral and productive parameters, and obesity magnifies the impact caused by the infection. Also, obesity leads to major susceptibility to infection with T. pisiformis.
寄生虫会引起宿主的行为改变，而肥胖是影响不同动物物种的健康问题。由带绦虫引起的囊尾蚴病会影响兔子的某些行为和母兔的生殖行为。兔子不会逃避代谢紊乱，它们是长寿动物，在繁殖、研究和伴侣动物中很有用。在这里，我们研究了寄生虫病和肥胖之间的相互作用，以及这些情况或合并症如何影响感染 3000 个带绦虫虫卵的公兔的行为和生产参数。我们发现，慢性感染使肥胖组的运动活性降低了 28.5%，感染组降低了 18.5%，肥胖感染组（合并症）降低了 47%。肥胖组的探索性活动降低了 42%，感染组降低了 48%，合并症组降低了 68%（P ≤ 0.001）。肥胖对咂嘴行为没有影响，而感染使咂嘴行为减少了 25%。行为生殖参数，如反应时间、交配潜伏期和射精次数，都受到感染和肥胖的影响。此外，肥胖似乎增加了寄生虫负荷，促进了肝肉芽肿的形成（与正常体重相比，肉芽肿增加了 16%），肥胖动物中的囊尾蚴数量增加（比正常体重增加 86%）。感染降低了肥胖和正常体重兔子的体重、体重指数和体尺指数 BW/LV。总之，感染带绦虫改变了行为和生产参数，而肥胖则放大了感染造成的影响。此外，肥胖会导致对带绦虫的易感性大大增加。
