Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2021 Mar 22;53(2):219. doi: 10.1007/s11250-021-02662-x.
Naturally occurring Babesia bigemina infection in cattle is associated with changes in the status of oxidative stress, trace elements, sialic acid, and cholinesterase activity in blood. However, to date there is no description of hepatic damage in the infected animals. More importantly, the majority of the above-mentioned causative factors are synthesized or stored in the liver. Therefore, this study was undertaken to evaluate biomarkers of hepatic function, paraoxonase-1 activity, and lipid profile in 13 cattle infected with B. bigemina which did not respond to standard treatment. The animals were necropsied and the histopathology of the liver and DNA damage of hepatocytes were examined. Blood analysis revealed a significant parasitemia burden-dependent increase in the activities of hepatic enzymes and total bilirubin and a decrease in albumin concentrations in the infected cattle compared to the control ones. Paraoxonase-1 activity was remarkably lower in the infected animals than the control. A significant decrease in the blood concentrations of total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, and high density lipoprotein and a significant increase in the triglyceride concentration were observed in the infected animals. Severe oxidative damages were also recorded in the haptic tissue evidenced by significant alterations in the activities of antioxidant enzymes, suppression of total antioxidant capacity, and oxidation of biomolecules. Congestion of blood vessels, bile duct hyperplasia, and hepatocyte necrosis were the evident histopathologic findings. Our results revealed significant changes in the indices of liver function in the diseased cattle, leading to the conclusion that the parasite can potentially cause liver dysfunction.
天然感染双芽巴贝斯虫的牛的氧化应激状态、微量元素、唾液酸和胆碱酯酶活性会发生变化。然而，迄今为止，还没有描述感染动物的肝损伤。更重要的是，上述大多数致病因素是在肝脏中合成或储存的。因此，本研究旨在评估 13 头未对标准治疗产生反应的感染双芽巴贝斯虫牛的肝功能、对氧磷酶-1 活性和脂质谱的生物标志物。对动物进行剖检，检查肝脏的组织病理学和肝细胞的 DNA 损伤。血液分析显示，与对照组相比，感染牛的肝酶和总胆红素活性显著增加，白蛋白浓度降低，与寄生虫载量呈依赖性增加。与对照组相比，感染动物的对氧磷酶-1 活性显著降低。感染动物的总胆固醇、低密度脂蛋白和高密度脂蛋白血浓度显著降低，甘油三酯浓度显著升高。在肝组织中也记录到严重的氧化损伤，表现为抗氧化酶活性的显著改变、总抗氧化能力的抑制和生物分子的氧化。血管充血、胆管增生和肝细胞坏死是明显的组织病理学发现。我们的结果显示，患病牛的肝功能指标发生了显著变化，结论是寄生虫可能导致肝功能障碍。
