Seric urea and creatinine levels in dogs naturally infected by Leishmania chagasi

Abstract

The Leishmaniasis is considered by the World Health Organisation as one of six priority endemic diseases in the world, and that dogs act as natural reservoirs of the parasite. One of the affected organs that is not part of the mononuclear phagocytic system are the kidneys, causing nefropathy and therefore to require special attention. The biochemical values of urea and creatinine are used to evaluate whether there are changes in the kidneys. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in serum urea and creatinine in dogs naturally infected with Leishmania chagasi showing different symptomatology to better understand the pathogenesis of the disease. We used 44 dogs donated by the Zoonosis Control Center of Uberlândia-MG. The animals were examined clinically prior to euthanasia, and blood was collected by jugular venipuncture for the measurement of serum urea and creatinine. The dogs were classified as asymptomatic (n = 4), oligossymptomatic (n = 23) and symptomatic (n = 17). There was no statistical difference between the mean levels of urea and creatinine in dogs with different clinical symptomatology.