Molecular prevalence, risk factors assessment and haemato-biochemical alterations in hepatozoonosis in dogs from Punjab, India

Hepatozoonosis caused by Hepatozoon canis is an important tick-borne disease of dogs in tropical and sub-tropical regions throughout the world. In the present study evaluation of blood samples collected from 225 dogs presented at Small Animal Clinics, GADVASU, Ludhiana, Punjab (India) was done for the presence of H. canis by PCR based assay targeting a portion of 18S rRNA gene. Of the total samples subjected to PCR, an amplicon of 666 bp was detected in 13.78% samples whereas, routine blood smear examination revealed gamonts in 5.78% samples. Furthermore, prevalence of H. canis infection was found to be significantly associated with season, being highest in summer and lowest in winter while other risk factors e.g. age, sex and breed showed non-significant association. In terms of various clinico-pathological parameters, significant drop in haemoglobin, total red blood cell count, packed cell volume and lymphocytes were recorded in positive cases whereas the total white blood cell count was non-significantly increased. The haematological alterations in the positive cases were lymphopenia, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, relative neutrophilia, neutrophilic leucocytosis, eosinophilia, monocytosis and lymphocytosis while the biochemical profile revealed hypoproteinemia and increased levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine (in positive cases) pointing towards renal failure.