Alterações hematológicas em cães verticalmente infectados por Leishmania infantum

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an anthropozoonosis in the New World, primarily caused by Leishmania infantum. L. infantum transmission to the vertebra blood-feeding activities of infected sand flies belonging to the Lutzomyia genus, which makes a dog an important domestic reservoir. On the other hand, vertical transmission of Leishmania parasites is documented in both humans and dogs across numerous regions globally, but there is still no consensus on this transmission model in Brazil. We hypothesize that dogs born from Leishmania-infected mothers, develop bone marrow commitment, causing the evolution of anemia and hematological alterations. Thus, this study aims to characterize the symptomatology of dogs born to Leishmania-infected females taking into account hematological status and Leishmania infection. Three pregnant female dogs were recruited by Zoonoses Control (UVZ - Natal), based on positive serology for Leishmania parasites. These female dogs were brought to a screened and sandfly free kennel at UVZ - Natal, their comorbidities were analyzed and allowed to labor. For possible evidence of hematological alterations on offspring, we conducted a longitudinal study with hemogram analysis performed by the ProCyte Dx analyzer (IDEXX), focusing on the red blood series. Puppies in general had a reduced amount of Erythrocytes, Hematocrit (HCT) and Hemoglobin (HGB). Concomitantly with the analysis of erythrocytes counts, it was observed that the experimental dogs developed hematological alterations not typically found in dogs with CVL. In general, they exhibited reduced mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV). In conclusion, we demonstrated that puppies born from Leishmania infected mothers showed bone marrow impairment shown in hematological alterations not typically found in canine visceral leishmaniasis.