ORIGINAL ARTICLE Complete blood count, total plasma protein, neutrophil oxidative metabolism, and lipid peroxidation in female dogs with pyometra associated with Escherichia coli Mauren Picada Emanuelli & Danieli Brolo Martins & Patrícia Wolkmer & Alfredo Quites Antoniazzi & Tatiana Emanuelli & Agueda Castagna de Vargas & Sonia Terezinha dos Anjos Lopes Received: 23 February 2010 / Accepted: 25 August 2010 / Published online: 14 September 2010 # Springer-Verlag London Limited 2010 Abstract Pyometra is a common uterine disease found in adult female dogs during diestrus and it typically presents with several systemic abnormalities. The aim of this study was to evaluate complete blood counts (CBC), neutrophil oxidative metabolism, and lipid peroxidation in female dogs diagnosed with pyometra associated with Escherichia coli (E. coli). Twenty adult female dogs, from 2 to 14 years old, were allocated into two different groups. Animals placed in group 1 (G1) (n =12) were diagnosed with pyometra associated with E. coli and animals placed in group 2 (G2) (n =8) were clinically healthy female dogs. Red blood cell (RBC) count, packed cell volume, and hemoglobin were significantly lower in G1 than in G2. A significant increase in total plasma protein and white blood cell count (segmented neutrophils, band neutrophils, and monocytes) occurred in G1 when compared to G2. The neutrophil oxidative metabolism was also increased in G1, but lipid peroxidation showed no difference between the two groups. CBC results revealed a normocytic, normo- chromic anemia and leukocytosis characterized by a neutrophilia with a left shift in adult female dogs with pyometra associated with E. coli. Additionally, neutrophil oxidative metabolism showed an increase in its activity without producing lipid peroxidation, which possibly indicates that the anemia in canine pyometra is not related to oxidative stress. Keywords Anemia . Leukocytosis . Uterus . Bacterium . Oxidative stress . Canine Introduction Pyometra is the most common uterine disease in adult female dogs undergoing diestrus. It is caused by an intrauterine bacterial infection that results in mild to severe bacteremia and toxemia, leading to possible systemic alterations. The repeated and chronic exposure to proges- terone during diestrus increases endometrial growth and glandular secretions, which in turn provides an environment favorable to bacterial growth (Feldman 2004). Vaginal bacterial flora provides the main source of this infection, with Escherichia coli (E. coli) as the most common microorganism associated with pyometra (Dhaliwal et al. 1998; Noakes et al. 2001; Fransson and Ragle 2003; Coggan 2004). Hematologic abnormalities characterized by inflammatory white blood cell (WBC) counts with leukocytosis typified by M. P. Emanuelli : D. B. Martins : P. Wolkmer : S. T. dos Anjos Lopes (*) Department of Small Animal Clinic, Graduate Program in Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 97015-900 e-mail: sonia@smail.ufsm.br A. Q. Antoniazzi Department of Large Animal Clinic, Graduate Program in Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 97015-900 T. Emanuelli Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 97015-900 A. C. de Vargas Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 97015-900 Comp Clin Pathol (2012) 21:309–313 DOI 10.1007/s00580-010-1097-z