Correlation between anaplasmosis, anaemia and oxidative stress indices in goats of Thrissur, Kerala

Anaplasmosis is one among the most commonly encountered infectious diseases in goats, which causes considerable economic loss to farmers due to decreased milk yield, loss of body weight, abortion and eventually death of the animal. The study aimed to evaluate relationship between parasitemia due to Anaplasma spp., anaemia and oxidative stress markers in Thrissur district in Kerala state in the Indian subcontinent. Blood was collected from 16 female non-pregnant goats infected with Anaplasma species along with 8 healthy female animals as controls for evaluation of haematology and oxidative stress indicators. Percentage of parasitemia in diseased goats ranged from 1.5 to 7.2%. The values of total erythrocyte count (r = -0.94), haemoglobin (r = -0.97) and volume of packed red cells (r = -0.88) were decreased (p<0.01) whereas erythrocyte lipid peroxidation level (r = 0.84) was significantly (p<0.01) augmented in animals with parasitemia over control animals. In addition, levels of antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (r = -0.87), catalase (r = -0.81) and reduced glutathione (r = -0.82) were also considerably reduced (p<0.01). Also, erythrocytic LPO was negatively correlated with erythrocyte count (r = -0.81), haemoglobin (r= -0.90) and packed cell volume (r = -.74) (p<0.01). Erythrocytic SOD was positively correlated (p<0.01) with TEC (r = 0.78), Hb (r = 0.87) and PCV (r = 0.69). GSH and catalase values were also positively correlated (p<0.01) with TEC, Hb and PCV. From the current study, it can be suggested that anaplasmosis in goats is associated with parasitic load associated oxidative stress as indicated by poor antioxidant status and enhanced pro oxidants, which are contributed to severe anaemia.