Haemato-biochemical responses in Trypanosoma evansi infected indian elephants (Elephas maximus indicus)

• Published in: Biológia Vol. 77; no. 4; pp. 1089 - 1094
• Main Authors: Moudgil, Aman Dev, Singla, Lachhman Das
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-04-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agglutination; Antibodies; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell Biology; Elephants; Elephas maximus indicus; Hyponatremia; Life Sciences; Microbiology; Plant Sciences; Polymerase chain reaction; Short Communication; Trypanosoma evansi; Wild animals; Zoo animals; Zoological gardens; Zoology; Card agglutination test for trypanosomes; Haematological parameters; Biochemical parameters; Indian elephant
• ISSN: 0006-3088; 1336-9563
• DOI: 10.1007/s11756-022-01045-3

The present study was envisaged with an aim to evaluate the sero-positivity of
Trypanosoma evansi
antibodies in Indian elephants by using card agglutination test for trypanosomes (CATT/
T. evansi
) and to assess haemato-biochemical alterations in positive cases. The blood samples were collected from ear veins of elephants (
n
 = 12), kept at Mahendra Chaudhury Zoological Park, Chhatbir, Punjab. Agglutination patterns were scored as − (negative) and +, ++ or +++ (positive). One sample from female elephant was found strongly positive with +++ agglutination pattern, whereas one sample of male elephant was observed slightly positive (+). Significant hyperproteinaemia (
p
 < 0.01), hyperglobulinemia (
p
 < 0.05), leucocytosis (
p
 < 0.05), and hyponatremia (
p
 < 0.01) were amongst the haemato-biochemical alterations observed in sero-positive individuals. Molecular confirmation of
T. evansi
was also performed using polymerase chain reaction targeting VSG (RoTat 1.2) gene. The present study highlights the first record of card agglutination-based assessment of
T. evansi
in captive wild animals in India and also promulgates the haemato-biochemical responses in
T. evansi
sero-positive elephants.