Fundación Miguel Lillo, Instituto de Ecología, Comportamiento y Conservación, Miguel Lillo 251, T4000JFE, 4000, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.
Fundación Miguel Lillo, Instituto de Fisiología Animal, Miguel Lillo 251, 4000, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.
An Acad Bras Cienc. 2024 Jul 19;96(3):e20231175. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765202420231175. eCollection 2024.
Variations in hematological profile in reptiles can be caused by multiple factors, including parasites presence. Our goals were to identify and morphologically describe blood cells of Liolaemus pacha and analyze their relationship with sex, body condition, individual reproductive/post-reproductive period and mite infestation. Blood smear analyses do not indicate the presence of hemoparasites, suggesting that the mites Neopterygosoma do not serve as vectors for these organisms, as has been proposed for other genera of ectoparasitic mites. In post-reproductive period, there was a reduction in specimens' body condition and a higher leukocyte count in uninfected lizards. This could be a consequence of the testosterone effects, in higher concentration during the reproductive season, which can increase the metabolic rate, decreasing feeding rate. Infested and non-infested lizards showed no differences in body condition, as well as in leukocyte count, hence the host's immune system could be developing infestation tolerance. Infested specimens had a higher count of monocytes, thrombocytes, heterophils and lymphocytes. Based on cells function, mites' effect could be associated with inflammatory processes, allergic reactions or infectious diseases. These results suggested a complex interaction between lizards' hematological parameters and factors associated to ectoparasites or body conditions. We consider this work as a diagnostic tool for genus Liolaemus, to evaluate health quality, with relevance to the conservation or management of this lizard's genus.
爬行动物血液学特征的变化可能由多种因素引起，包括寄生虫的存在。我们的目标是识别和形态描述蜥蜴属 Liolaemus 的血细胞，并分析它们与性别的关系、身体状况、个体繁殖/繁殖后时期和螨虫感染。血液涂片分析并未表明存在血液寄生虫，这表明 Neopterygosoma 螨虫不作为这些生物体的载体，这与其他外寄生螨虫属的情况不同。在繁殖后时期，未感染的蜥蜴的身体状况和白细胞计数降低。这可能是由于繁殖季节睾酮浓度升高，导致代谢率增加、摄食率降低的结果。受感染和未受感染的蜥蜴在身体状况和白细胞计数方面没有差异，因此宿主的免疫系统可能正在发展对感染的耐受性。受感染的标本单核细胞、血小板、嗜中性粒细胞和淋巴细胞计数较高。根据细胞功能，螨虫的作用可能与炎症过程、过敏反应或传染病有关。这些结果表明，蜥蜴的血液学参数与外寄生虫或身体状况相关因素之间存在复杂的相互作用。我们认为这项工作是评估 Liolaemus 属蜥蜴健康质量的诊断工具，与这种蜥蜴属的保护或管理有关。
