Evaluation of antioxidant status and oxidative stress in cattle naturally infected with Theileria annulata

To assess the antioxidant status and oxidative stress in bovine theileriosis due to Theileria annulata blood samples were collected from 35 clinically affected cattle referred to Veterinary Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran. Complete blood count, piroplasm parasitemia percentage, erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities, malondialdehyde concentration, osmotic fragility test and median corpuscular fragility were determined and the results were compared with those of 50 healthy controls. Of 35 affected cattle, 12 (34.28%) had severe anemia and 23 had mild to moderate anemia and parasitemia varied from 5 to 40%. The activities of erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were significantly lower (P < 0.0001) and the activity of catalase was significantly higher in the affected cattle than in healthy ones (P < 0.001). Malondialdehyde concentration in erythrocytes of affected cattle was significantly more than those of healthy cattle (P < 0.001). The affected cattle showed increased fragility of erythrocytes, so that median corpuscular fragility (MCF) in affected group was significantly lower than those of healthy group (P < 0.0001). Median corpuscular fragility showed a positive correlation with the severity of parasitemia (r = 0.81, P < 0.0005) and a negative correlation with the activities of GSH-Px (r = −0.78, P < 0.0001), SOD (r = −0.71, P < 0.0005), catalase (r = −0.53, P < 0.018) and G6PD (r = −0.58, P < 0.0005). The results of this study suggest that oxidative damage to RBCs may contribute to the pathogenesis of anemia in bovine theileriosis.