Servey the blood level of some antioxidants in Dirofilaria immitis heartworm disease in Tabriz city

Abstract

The clinical signs of heartworm disease in dogs are variable and range from the asymptomatic stage to mild symptoms such as gradual weight loss, inactivity and premature fatigue, cough, dyspnea, increased body temperature, cyanosis, anemia, cardiac complications and death. The aim of this study was to investigate the blood level of some antioxidants in dogs with clinical dirofilariasis. For this purpose, from a total of 100 companion and herd dogs referred to the small animal clinic during a one year period, of which 50 dogs were apparently healthy and 50 dogs showed symptoms of lethargy and shortness of breath, blood samples were taken from the cephalic vein. The samples were first checked under the microscope for the presence of microfilariae and the blood of 16 dogs was recorded as positive samples. Then blood levels of antioxidants catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were measured by special diagnostic kits. The results indicated that the activity level of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and total antioxidant capacity was significantly decreased in affected dogs in comparison to control group (p<0.05) but the amount of malondialdehyde in affected dogs showed a statistically significant increase compared to the control dogs (p<0.05). The proliferation of Dirofilaria immitis as microfilariae can affect the heart, liver, kidneys and other organs causing cell membrane damage and consumption of antioxidant enzymes therefore the use of natural antioxidants is recommended during the treatment of heartworm disease in dogs.

Keywords

• antioxidant
• dirofilariasis
• dog
• oxidative stress.