Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6 as inflammatory biomarkers in dogs naturally infected with Ehrlichia canis

Vet World Vol.14 September-2021 Article-5

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(9): 2325-2331

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.2325-2331

Thanaporn Asawapattanakul¹, Tanagorn Pintapagung², Supawadee Piratae³, Siriluck Juntautsa⁴, and Pawarat Chancharoen⁴

1. Oxidative Stress Research Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44000, Thailand.
2. Veterinary Clinic Research Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44000, Thailand.
3. One Health Research Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44000, Thailand.
4. Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44000, Thailand.

Background and Aim: Canine monocytotropic ehrlichiosis (CME), a tick-borne disease, leads to a systemic inflammatory response syndrome; it is thus important to assess the intensity of inflammation in order to treat it appropriately. The current study was designed to evaluate hematological, biochemical, and inflammatory parameters in dogs naturally infected with Ehrlichia canis compared with those in healthy dogs. We also assessed the relationship among several inflammation-related parameters and considered these parameters for use as inflammatory biomarkers of CME.

Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight dogs were divided into two groups based on the results of nested polymerase chain reaction for detecting E. canis, comprising a healthy group (n=11) and an infected group (n=17). A blood sample was collected from each dog to evaluate hematological, biochemical, and inflammatory parameters, with the obtained results being statistically compared between the groups. Moreover, the correlations of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were investigated in the 28 dogs.

Results: In the infected group, the mean levels of red blood cells, hemoglobin, and hematocrit were significantly lower than in the healthy group, while the mean lymphocyte and monocyte counts were higher. The mean levels of ESR and CRP were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the infected group, whereas no significant differences were found in IL-6 levels between the two groups. In the correlation analysis, ESR and CRP levels were highly correlated (p<0.01, r=0.531).

Conclusion: Elevated ESR and CRP levels were found in dogs naturally infected with E. canis, which also presented mild to moderate inflammation in this study. Moreover, CRP was significantly correlated with ESR, so ESR and CRP may serve as inflammatory biomarkers for monitoring CME. Keywords: canine monocytotropic ehrlichiosis, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, interleukin-6.

Keywords: canine monocytotropic ehrlichiosis, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, interleukin-6.

How to cite this article: Asawapattanakul T, Pintapagung T, Piratae S, Juntautsa S, Chancharoen P (2021) Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6 as inflammatory biomarkers in dogs naturally infected with Ehrlichia canis, Veterinary World, 14(9): 2325-2331.

Received: 11-05-2021 Accepted: 29-07-2021 Published online: 04-09-2021

Corresponding author: Thanaporn Asawapattanakul E-mail: thanaporn.a@msu.ac.th

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.2325-2331

Copyright: Asawapattanakul, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.