Evaluation of cardiovascular biomarkers and histopathological alterations in cattle naturally infected by Babesia bigemina

Hemolytic anemia and secondary hypoxia are characteristics of naturally occurring Babesia bigemina infection in cattle. The anemic phase comes with cardiovascular insufficiency due to hypoxia-induced system dysfunction; but to date there is no description of cardiac damage in the infected animals. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbial pathogenesis 2021-12, Vol.161 (Pt A), p.105275-105275, Article 105275
Main Authors: Rasoulzadeh, Kamal, Esmaeilnejad, Bijan, Dalir-Naghadeh, Bahram, Asri-Rezaei, Siamak, Tehrani, Ali-Asghar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anemia
Animals
B. bigemina
Babesia
Babesiosis
Biomarkers
Cattle
Cattle Diseases
Heart
Histopathology
Parasitemia
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Summary:Hemolytic anemia and secondary hypoxia are characteristics of naturally occurring Babesia bigemina infection in cattle. The anemic phase comes with cardiovascular insufficiency due to hypoxia-induced system dysfunction; but to date there is no description of cardiac damage in the infected animals. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate hematological parameters, biomarkers of cardiac function and D-dimer in 13 cattle infected with B. bigemina which were unresponsive to standard treatment. The animals were necropsied and the cardiac tissue was examined for histopathologic alterations. A significant parasitemia burden-dependent increase in the cardiac biomarkers and D-dimer level were recorded in the infected cattle compared to the control animals. Thrombocytes count was also significantly lower in the infected animals than the control. Both macroscopic and microscopic hemorrhage, mononuclear infiltrates, and myocardial necrosis were the evident histopathologic findings. These findings suggest that B. bigemina infection can potentially induce cardiac dysfunction in cattle. Furthermore, mechanistic studies should be conducted to understand the mechanisms beyond cardiac complications. •Hemolytic anemia and secondary hypoxia are characteristics of naturally occurring Babesia bigemina infection in cattle.•The anemic phase comes with cardiovascular insufficiency due to hypoxia-induced system dysfunction.•A strong and positive correlation was detected between biomarkers of cardiac function and D-dimer with parasitemia.
ISSN:0882-4010
1096-1208
DOI:10.1016/j.micpath.2021.105275