Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via dell'Università 6, 26900, Lodi, Italy.
Parasit Vectors. 2021 Mar 15;14(1):154. doi: 10.1186/s13071-021-04626-4.
Besnoitia besnoiti is an Apicomplexan protozoa causative of bovine besnoitiosis, a chronic and debilitating disease of cattle, with a variety of pathological findings that could alter some laboratory parameters. A study was conducted in a bovine besnoitiosis endemically infected dairy herd located in Italy characterized by high intra-herd seroprevalence and cattle with clinical signs of the disease. In the study, alterations in laboratory parameters, i.e. hematological and biochemical parameters, enzyme activities and serum cortisol levels, in Besnoitia besnoiti naturally infected cows were investigated in depth.
Laboratory parameters in 107 cows, of which 61 were seronegative and 46 were seropositive to B. besnoiti, including 27 with clinical signs of bovine besnoitiosis, were compared. Generalized linear models were used to evaluate the effect of Besnoitia infection on the considered laboratory parameters.
Hematological analyses revealed that B. besnoiti infection determined a significant alteration to the leukocyte differential, with a higher percentage of granulocytes and a lower percentage of lymphocytes in seropositive and clinically affected animals (Mann-Whitney U-test, P = 0.022); erythrocyte and platelet counts did not show any difference between the considered groups of cows. Biochemistry tests evidenced that the parasite infection influenced serum protein values in seropositive cows and glutamate dehydrogenase values in clinically affected animals. No or only slight differences were revealed for all of the other biochemical and enzyme activity parameters in B. besnoiti-infected animals. In addition, despite the lack of statistical significance, seropositive and clinically affected cows evidenced higher concentrations of serum cortisol values compared to seronegative animals.
Although physiological, pathological and farm-related factors could have influenced the results in investigated animals, further studies involving more animals from different farms would be advisable to infer the role of B. besnoiti on these alterations, since laboratory parameters could help veterinarians in the diagnosis of bovine besnoitiosis in cattle.
贝氏巴贝斯虫是一种顶复门原虫，可引起牛巴贝斯虫病，这是一种慢性且使牛衰弱的疾病，具有多种可能改变某些实验室参数的病理发现。在意大利一个牛巴贝斯虫病地方性感染的奶牛场进行了一项研究，该奶牛场的血清阳性率很高，且有临床症状的牛也很多。在该研究中，深入研究了贝氏巴贝斯虫自然感染牛的实验室参数变化，即血液学和生化参数、酶活性和血清皮质醇水平。
比较了 107 头奶牛的实验室参数，其中 61 头为血清阴性，46 头为血清阳性感染贝氏巴贝斯虫，包括 27 头有牛巴贝斯虫病临床症状的牛。使用广义线性模型评估贝氏巴贝斯虫感染对所考虑的实验室参数的影响。
血液学分析表明，贝氏巴贝斯虫感染导致白细胞分类发生显著变化，血清阳性和临床感染动物的粒细胞百分比更高，淋巴细胞百分比更低（Mann-Whitney U 检验，P=0.022）；红细胞和血小板计数在考虑的牛群之间没有差异。生化测试表明，寄生虫感染影响血清蛋白值在血清阳性牛中，以及谷氨酸脱氢酶值在临床感染动物中。在贝氏巴贝斯虫感染动物中，所有其他生化和酶活性参数几乎没有差异或仅显示轻微差异。此外，尽管没有统计学意义，但血清阳性和临床感染的牛与血清阴性动物相比，血清皮质醇值较高。
尽管生理、病理和农场相关因素可能影响了所研究动物的结果，但进一步的研究涉及来自不同农场的更多动物，将有助于推断贝氏巴贝斯虫在这些变化中的作用，因为实验室参数可以帮助兽医诊断牛巴贝斯虫病。
