Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
11.1
Introduction
N -methylglucamine antimoniate is the treatment of choice for canine leishmaniasis
(CanL) (Mir` et al. 2008 ). In human medicine, there have been several cases of
immunosuppressed patients with acute pancreatitis that was associated with
meglumine antimoniate (MA) treatment of leishmaniasis (De Lalla et al. 1993 ;
Barthet et al. 1994 ; Liorente et al. 2000 ; Kuyucu et al. 2001 ; Lambertucci et al.
2004 ). However, this relationship has been questioned by other authors (Shahian
and Alborzi 2009 ). Veterinary data regarding this association are limited and the
findings are not consistent (Aste et al. 2005 ; Xenoulis et al. 2010 ). The objective of
this study was to further evaluate the possible association between pancreatitis and
MA therapy in dogs affected by CanL.
11.2 Materials and Methods
In the period between January 2006 and December 2008, 77 dogs with suspected
CanL were examined at the Department of Clinical Science of the University of
Teramo. Of these, 33 dogs were shown to have CanL based on recently published
guidelines (Paltrinieri et al. 2010 ). Of the 33 infected dogs, 13 dogs were excluded
from the study because of other concurrent severe diseases that would have required
treatment in addition to that for leishmaniasis (e.g. neoplastic, endocrine, hepatic,
renal, gastrointestinal, and respiratory diseases). Twenty dogs were enrolled in the
study. The following tests were performed for each dog: physical examination,
hemato-biochemical profile, urinalysis, urine protein to creatinine ratio (UP/UC),
and abdominal ultrasonography with particular attention on the evaluation of the
pancreas.
The treatment of leishmaniasis consisted of subcutaneous administration of MA
(Glucantime ® Merial) at a dosage of 75 mg/kg every 12 h for a period of 60
consecutive days. Each dog was examined before treatment ( T 0 ) and weekly for 9
consecutive weeks for a total of nine exams ( T 0 - T 9 ). At each examination, a clinical
exam, a hemato-biochemical profile, a serum-protein electrophoresis, a urinalysis,
and an abdominal ultrasound scan were obtained. Furthermore, serum specimens
were collected and stored at
80 C until they were sent to a reference laboratory
for pancreatic lipase immunoanalysis (Spec cPL TM Vet Med Lab IDEXX
Laboratories, s.r.l.). For interpretation of Spec cPL values, results between 0 and
200
g/L were considered normal, values greater than 400
g/L were considered
m
m
consistent with pancreatitis, and values between 201 and 399
g/L were considered
m
suspicious of pancreatic pathology.
Statistical analyses of the data were performed using F -tests (Variance Ratio
Tests) for an estimation of the equality of the variance ratio of the values of Spec
cPL among the different groups ( T 0 and T 1 - T 9 ). The Student's t -tests for paramet-
rically matched data and Wilcoxon tests for non-parametrically-matched data were
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