Study of Haematological and Biochemical Alterations in Clinical Cases of Canine Ehrlichiosis to Understand the Clinical Picture of the Disease

Aims: To study the effect of Ehrlichia canis infection on various haematological and biochemical parameters as compared to the normal healthy animals in order to understand the disease in dogs.

Study Design: Dogs who comes to the veterinary hospital with symptoms of ehrlichiosis were included in the study. Haematological and biochemical parameters of dogs found positive for ehrlichiosis were analysed. The values of these parameters were subsequently compared to healthy animals in order to identify any significant difference caused by ehrlichiosis.

Place and Duration of Study: The studied was conducted at Department of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary University Mathura, India. The investigation involved collecting samples from February 2023 to March 2024.

Methodology: 119 dogs infected with Ehrlichia canis were studied for changes in biochemical parameters like blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, alanine transaminase, aspartate amino transferase, total leucocyte count, total erythrocyte count, haemoglobin, haematocrit, erythrocyte indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC), differential leucocyte count, platelet count and platelet indices (MPV, PDW, PCT). Student's t-test in Graphpad Prism was used to compare these values to healthy animals.

Results: The study confirms that ehrlichiosis leads to significant haematological and biochemical changes in dogs. Infected dogs have lower Hb, TEC, and PCV than healthy animals, indicating anaemia. Thrombocytopenia and leukopenia were also observed in the infected animals. Non-significant differences in MCV, MCH, and MCHC between healthy and infected dogs indicate normocytic, normochromic anaemia. Anisocytosis is indicated by significant RDW-CV increases in infected dogs compared to healthy dogs. Increased liver-specific enzymes like ALT, AST, and ALP and kidney-related enzymes like BUN and CRT suggest hepatic and renal involvement in disease pathophysiology.

Conclusion: The results indicate that clinicians can use standard haematological and biochemical markers obtained upon admission of diseased animals to predict and assess the risk of ehrlichiosis. These findings can be utilized to improve the diagnosis and treatment of canine ehrlichiosis.