Modification of erythrogram, testosterone and prolactin profiles in jacks following experimental infection with Trypanosoma congolense

Equine trypanosomosis, a haemoparasitic disease leads to anaemia, low testosterone and prolactin levels. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of experimental Trypanosoma congolense (T. congolense) infection in jacks on erythrogram, testosterone and prolactin profiles. Four apparently healthy jacks aged 6–7 years, housed in fly-proof stables, were used for this study. To establish infection, they were, each, intravenously inoculated with 2 ml of blood from infected donor jack containing 2.0 × 10 trypanosomes. Daily rectal temperatures were measured, for 2 weeks pre-infection and 4 weeks post-infection. Parasitaemia was measured daily and scored. Blood of 3 ml was collected from jugular venipuncture, twice in a week at 09:00 h for 2 weeks pre-infection and 4 weeks post-infection and 1 ml is used for erythrogram analysis, while 2 ml was used for testosterone and prolactin assay using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits (ELISA). T. congolense infection, caused by variation of rectal temperatures, from day 4 post-infection, were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of pre-infection. Parasitaemia was detected on day 3 post-infection reaching peak on day 9 post-infection. There was a significant decrease in packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hgb) and red blood cell count (RBC) (P < 0.05) from pre-infection to post-infection. The average mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) decreased non-significantly (P > 0.05) from day 5 post-infection compared to pre-infection period. The mean average testosterone decreased significantly (P < 0.05) from day 5 post-infection, throughout the experimental period compared to pre-infection values; also the mean average prolactin increased significantly (P < 0.05) from day 5 post-infection compared to pre-infection values. It was concluded that experimental T.congolense infection in jacks altered testosterone, prolactin and erythrogram.