Clinical Studies on Serum Protein Changes in Canine Filariasis

V (1). Changes in Serum Protein, Serum Compound Protein, and Ascitic Protein

Abstract

Changes in serum protein, serum compound protein, and ascitic protein were investigated in dogs infected with Dirofilaria immitis by using paper electrophoresis.
Changes in serum protein which occurred in a great number of infected dogs consisted of a decrease in albumin and an increase in beta-and gamma-globulin. They usually included an increase in total protein concentration. In the severe case with an accumulation of ascitic fluid, there were a striking rise in gamma-globulin and a significant decrease in albumin. Also there was a tendency for the alpha- and beta-glycoprotein fractions and the beta-lipoprotein fraction to be elevated in many cases. These exhibited a markedly great increase in accordance with the progress of the disease. On the other hand, the protein patterns of the ascitic fluid resembled those of the serum, but the albumin composition of the former showed a higher percentage than that of the latter.
In general, no notable changes were observed in the proteins in roundworm, tapeworm, and whipworm carriers which manifested no clinical symptoms of parasitism. Whereas albumin and alpha-2-, beta-, and gamma-globulin underwent remarkable changes in the severe case of hookworm disease, such changes were not distinctly evidenced in these carriers. On the other hand, remarkable changes were found in many heartworm carriers, which exhibited a protein response similar to that obtained in the chronic form of schistosomiasis.
Therefore, it was presumed that the serum protein pictures in canine filariasis were characteristic not of the specific disease but of the host's reaction to the infection and injury.