International Journal of Histology and Cytology

ISSN 2756-3707

International Journal of Histology and Cytology ISSN 2447-9535 Vol. 4 (11), pp. 359-367, November, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

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: [email protected]. Tel: +234-802-3586896.

Accepted 09 February, 2017

Abstract

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.