Background: Red blood cells (RBC) are uniquely susceptible to oxidative injury. Oxidative stress is both a cause for, and effect, of anemia in people but this has been minimally documented in dogs.
Objective: To describe direct and indirect markers of oxidative stress in anemic dogs.
Hypothesis: Anemic dogs will have oxidative stress when compared to healthy dogs.
Animals: Forty-seven dogs with anemia (10 with hemolytic anemia) and 70 healthy control dogs.
Methods: Prospective, cross-sectional study. Anemic dogs were identified from the patient population, and medical records were reviewed to classify the anemia as hemolytic or nonhemolytic. Flow cytometry was used to detect reactive oxygen species (ROS) in erythrocyte isolates. Reduced glutathione (GSH) concentrations were measured in both plasma and hemolysate samples, and vitamin E was measured in serum.
Results: Anemic dogs (both hemolytic and nonhemolytic) had significantly lower median RBC hemolysate GSH concentrations (3.1 μM [0.4-30.8]) when compared to healthy dogs (7.0 μM [0.5-29.7]; P = .03). Dogs with hemolytic anemia had significantly higher median plasma GSH (7.6 μM [0.4-17.8]) when compared to dogs with nonhemolytic anemia (1.6 μM [0.01-7.1]; P = .04) and healthy dogs (2.8 μM [0.1-29.9]; P < .0001). Reactive oxygen species were detectable in all samples, but there was no difference in ROS or vitamin E between groups.
Conclusions And Clinical Importance: Oxidative stress is present in anemic dogs. Derangements in biomarkers of oxidative stress are different in dogs with hemolytic anemia and nonhemolytic anemia.
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Dyrlaegevej 16, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
The presence of erythrocyte ghost cells (EG) in blood smears indicates intravascular haemolysis or in-vitro haemolysis. However, observer reliability in detection of EG has not been documented. Immediate blood smear preparation is advised but may not always be practical.
Background: In Europe, canine leishmaniasis is commonly caused by Leishmania infantum. Allopurinol is the main drug for long-term management of the disease, and clinical relapses of L. infantum infection treated with this drug are described.
Department of Animal Production and Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences- FMVZ, Infectious Diseases of Domestic Animals, Sao Paulo State University - UNESP, Botucatu, SP, 18618-681, Brazil.
Bacterial peritonitis infections comprise a life-threatening clinical condition in domestic animals that commonly lead to sepsis and high mortality. A set of bacterial pathogens have been identified in septic peritonitis in livestock and companion animals. Nonetheless, most descriptions are restricted to case reports or limited to only one domestic species, and a restrict number of comprehensive studies involving this infection has focused on a great number of domestic animals.
Three dogs were presented with a sudden onset of erythematous skin lesions, fever, and various extracutaneous signs, assigned to canine sterile neutrophilic dermatosis by clinical, laboratory, and histopathologic examination. This disease is very rare and comparable to Sweet syndrome in humans. According to the 4 forms of SS, the 1st and 3rd cases in this case report could be classified as classic/idiopathic SS.
Laboratório de Fisiologia de Insetos Hematófagos, Departamento de Parasitologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa postal 486, Belo Horizonte, MG CEP: 31270-901, Brazil. Electronic address:
* This study aimed to compare how well the complement systems in humans and dogs can kill L. infantum, showing that human serum was more effective than dog serum.
* Although dog serum was generally less effective, infected dogs had a stronger immune response than non-infected ones, highlighting that dogs are more susceptible to visceral leishmaniasis than humans.
