title: Increased concentration of serum TNF alpha and its correlations with arterial blood pressure and indices of renal damage in dogs infected with Babesia canis.
abstract: Canine babesiosis is a tick-borne disease caused by parasites of the genus Babesia. Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a cytokine that plays a role in the pathogenesis of canine babesiosis. In this study, the authors determined the concentration of serum TNF-α in 11 dogs infected with Babesia canis and calculated Spearman's rank correlations between the concentration of TNF-α and blood pressure, and between TNF-α and indices of renal damage such as: fractional excretion of sodium (FE(Na(+))), urinary creatinine to serum creatinine ratio (UCr/SCr), renal failure index (RFI), urine specific gravity (USG) and urinary protein to urinary creatinine ratio (UPC). The results demonstrated statistically significant strong negative correlations between TNF-α and systolic arterial pressure (r = -0.7246), diastolic arterial pressure (r = -0.6642) and mean arterial pressure (r = -0.7151). Serum TNF-α concentration was also statistically significantly correlated with FE(Na(+)) (r = 0.7056), UCr/SCr (r = -0.8199), USG (r = -0.8075) and duration of the disease (r = 0.6767). The results of this study show there is an increase of serum TNF-α concentration during canine babesiosis, and the increased TNF-α concentration has an influence on the development of hypotension and renal failure in canine babesiosis. This probably results from the fact that TNF-α is involved in the production of nitric oxide and induction of vasodilation and hypotension, which may cause renal ischaemia and hypoxia, and finally acute tubular necrosis and renal failure.
authors.affiliation: Division of Parasitology, Department of Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786, Warsaw, Poland, wojciechzygner@yahoo.pl.
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zygner
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gójska-Zygner
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bąska
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Długosz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000145:classification; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007668:Kidney / Q000503:physiopathology; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D008297:Male; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D003404:Creatinine