ORIGINAL ARTICLE Serum protein profile of hookworm infection in dogs Elizabeth Moreira dos Santos Schmidt 1 & Camila Peres Rubio 1 & Gisele Junqueira dos Santos 1 & Luciano Barbosa 2 & Talita Fausto da Motta Santos 1 & Marcela Cristina de Cezaro 1 Received: 6 December 2014 /Accepted: 20 March 2015 /Published online: 11 April 2015 # Springer-Verlag London 2015 Abstract Hookworms are parasitic nematodes that cause anemia and intestinal infections in dogs, especially with large worm burdens. However, the serum protein profile of this parasitological disease is still poorly understood. The present study was design to evaluate 80 asymptom- atic dogs (age; 8 months–2 years) to detect the presence of the hookworm thin-shelled, morulated eggs in faeces using faecal flotation and to evaluate the serum protein fractions determined by means of sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Forty dogs had an elevated quantity of eggs in faeces (+++) (PD) and 40 dogs were healthy (HD). Infected dogs showed significant increases for IgG estimated concentra- tions (PD 1.79±0.8 g/dL and HD 1.44±0.72 g/dL, p = 0.04), for ceruloplasmin estimated concentrations (PD 19±15 mg/dL and HD 5±3.5 mg/dL, p =0.0001), for al- pha 1-acid glycoprotein estimated concentrations (PD 31.4±17.9 mg/dL and HD 13.5±12.1 mg/dL, p =0.0001) and for a non-identified protein of 23 kDa estimated con- centrations (PD 641.5±194.9 mg/dL and HD 519.8± 197.9 mg/dL, p =0.007). Dogs with hookworm infection showed significant differences in the serum protein profile when compared to healthy animals. Keywords Hookworm . Ancylostoma . Acute phase response . Electrophoresis . Dogs Introduction Hookworms are parasitic nematodes that live in the small intestine of their hosts. Infections are often subclinical or mild in adult dogs, but puppies with large worm burdens could develop anaemia due to severe intestinal infection. Dog hook- worms can cause eosinophilic pneumonitis, localized myosi- tis, folliculitis, erythema multiforme and eosinophilic enteritis and cutaneous larva migrans in humans (Weese et al. 2011). These parasites are common in tropical and subtropical coun- tries. In Brazil, the genus Ancylostoma is the most frequently found in adult dogs, where Ancylostoma caninum has a 100 % of occurrence in some regions of the country (Labruna et al. 2006; Dantas-Torres and Otranto 2014). The acute phase response (APR) is a systemic reaction of the organism to local or systemic disorders caused by the non- specific innate immune components involved in the restora- tion of homeostasis and the restraint of microbial growth in infections, tissue injury, trauma, neoplastic growth, and im- munological disorder (Murata et al. 2004; Eckersall 2008; Cray 2012). This response is detectable for several days after the stimulus, but the kinetics of the response depends on the extent of tissue damage (Petersen et al. 2004; Eckersall 2008). Serum acute phase proteins (APPs) are classified into two groups based on their response to the triggering event. Nega- tive APPs (e.g. albumin) are those whose levels are dimin- ished and positive APPs (e.g. C-reactive protein (CRP), alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), ceruloplasmin (Cp) and haptoglo- bin (Hp)) are those whose levels are increased when there is an APR (Cerón et al. 2005; Eckersall and Bell 2010). * Elizabeth Moreira dos Santos Schmidt bethschmidt@fmvz.unesp.br 1 Department of Veterinary Clinics—FMVZ, São Paulo State University BJúlio de Mesquita Filho^ (UNESP), Distrito Rubião Junior, s/n, 18.618-907 Botucatu, SP, Brazil 2 Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Bioscience—IBB, São Paulo State University BJúlio de Mesquita Filho^ (UNESP), Distrito Rubião Junior, s/n, 18.618-907 Botucatu, SP, Brazil Comp Clin Pathol (2015) 24:1463–1466 DOI 10.1007/s00580-015-2099-7