Veterinary Research Communications, 20(Suppl. 2) (2005) 301–303 DOI: 10.1007/s11259-005-0067-4 C  Springer 2005 Real-Time PCR in Dogs Treated for Leishmaniasis with Allopurinol M.G. Pennisi 1,∗ , S. Reale 2 , S. Lo Giudice 1 , M. Masucci 1 , S. Caracappa 2 , M. Vitale 2 and F. Vitale 2 1 Department of Veterinary Medical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Messina, Polo Universitario dell’Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy; 2 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia “A. Mirri”, Via G. Marinuzzi, 90129 Palermo, Italia ∗ Correspondence: E-mail: MariaGrazia.Pennisi@unime.it Pennisi, M.G., Reale, S., Lo Giudice, S., Masucci, M., Caracappa, S., Vitale, M. and Vitale, F., 2005. Real-time PCR in dogs treated for leishmaniasis with allopurinol. Veterinary Research Communications, 29(Suppl. 2), 301–303 Keywords: allopurinol, dog, leishmaniasis, real-time PCR Abbreviations: A/G, albumin/globulin ratio; BID, bis in die; IFAT, immunofluorescent antibody test; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; PO, per os INTRODUCTION The difficulty of pharmaceutical treatment for canine leishmaniasis (Pennisi, 2000) means it is necessary to monitor its effects both during and after therapy. For this purpose, the antibody titre and serum protein pattern are routinely monitored. The determination of the amount of parasitic DNA using real-time PCR can be used to estimate the parasitic loads in the samples (Nicolas et al., 2002) and can therefore contribute to the assessment of the efficacy of treatment (Bossolasco et al., 2001). The aim of the present work was to apply quantitative real-time PCR in blood, lymph node and skin samples during the clinical follow-up of dogs with symptomatic natural infection assuming allopurinol. MATERIALS AND METHODS Six adult dogs (five mongrels and one beagle; three males and three females, weighing between 15 and 27 kg) affected by leishmaniasis (i.e. with pathognomonic clinical signs of the disease and diagnosis confirmed by both antibody titre IFAT and PCR) were enrolled for this study. The animals started their treatment with allopurinol (10 mg/kg BID PO) at time 0. The severity of the disease was expressed according to a score of clinical signs (score from 1 to 3) by considering nutritional condition, appetite, sensorium, rectal temperature, cu- taneous lesions, eye lesions, lymphadenomegaly, epistaxis, albuminaemia, globulinaemia, haemoglobinaemia and IFAT. On the first and the 90th day of treatment, the clinical score was determined, a blood sample was taken, fine-needle aspiration from a lymph node and a cutaneous biopsy were performed. The cutaneous biopsy was always performed in the left shoulder with a 3 mm biopsy punch, in a zone with no evident cutaneous lesions. 301