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The effect of
lactose-in-saline infusion on packed cell volume variation
during trypanosoma vivax – induced anaemia of cattle
I. A. Umar1*, I. O. Igbokwe2, J. J.
Omage3, D. A. Ameh1, H. O. Kwanashie4
and K. A. N. Esievo5
1Department
of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria,
2Department
of Veterinary Pathology, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri,
Nigeria.
3Department
of Animal Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
4Department
of Pharmacology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
5Department
of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Ahmadu Bello
University Zaria, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
smaumar@yahoo.com.
Tel: +234-802-3586896.
Accepted
21 March, 2008 |
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The effect of intravenous infusion of a solution of
lactose-in-normal saline on the course of Trypanosoma
vivax induced anaemia in Zebu yearlings was
investigated. The animals were infected with 11 x 106
trypanosomes by jugular venipuncture and lactose-in-normal
saline infusion started on day 6, post-infection (p.i).
Three four-hourly doses of 0.5 g lactose/kg body weight were
administered to each infected yearling in the experimental
group daily for five days, while the infected control
yearlings received no lactose-infusion. The experiment was
terminated on day 13, p.i. Parasitaemia in the
lactose-infused yearlings was scorable throughout the
duration of experiment while parasites could not be detected
in the blood of the infected control yearlings between days
7 and 9, p.i. Serum free sialic acids (FSA) concentration
was also consistently higher in the lactose-infused
yearlings than in the lactose-free ones. In the before
lactose infusion (BL) period the PCV of the lactose-infused
group dropped at a significantly (P < 0.05) faster rate than
in the lactose-free one. In the DL (during lactose infusion)
period, the rate and magnitude of decline in PCV was
significantly lower in the lactose-infused yearlings than in
the lactose-free animals. When lactose infusion was stopped
(AL) the rate and magnitude of PCV decline became greater in
the lactose-infused yearlings than in the lactose-free ones.
It was thus concluded that lactose ameliorated anaemia, by
inhibiting the sequestration of desialylated erythrocytes
from the blood stream of T. vivax-infected yearlings.
This manifested in the reduced magnitude and rate of
decrease in PCV in the lactose-infused infected yearlings.
Key
words:
Trypanosoma vivax, trypanosomosis, anaemia, lactose,
erythrophagocytosis. |
