ACUTE PHASE PROTEIN RESPONSE IN THE CAPYBARA (HYDROCHOERUS HYDROCHAERIS) Luis Bernal, 1 Mariane Feser, 2 Silvia Martı ´nez-Subiela, 1 Juan D. Garcı ´a-Martı ´nez, 1 Jose ´ J. Cero ´ n, 1 and Fernando Tecles 1,3 1 Animal Medicine and Surgery Department, University of Murcia, Hospital Clı ´nico Veterinario 4 a planta, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo (Murcia), Spain 2 Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Campus Canoas, Av Farroupilha 8001, Bairro Sao Jose ´ , Canoas/RS, Cep 92425- 900, Brazil 3 Corresponding author (email: ftecles@um.es) ABSTRACT: We evaluated the acute phase protein response in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). Three animal groups were used: 1) healthy animals (n530), 2) a group in which experimental inflammation with turpentine was induced (n56), and 3) a group affected with sarcoptic scabies (n514) in which 10 animals were treated with ivermectin. Haptoglobin (Hp), acid-soluble glycoprotein (ASG) and albumin were analyzed in all animals. In those treated with turpentine, Hp reached its maximum value at 2 wk with a 2.7-fold increase, whereas ASG increased 1.75-fold and albumin decreased 0.87-fold 1 wk after the induction of inflammation. Capybaras affected with sarcoptic scabies presented increases in Hp and ASG of 4.98- and 3.18-fold, respectively, and a 0.87-fold decrease in albumin, compared with healthy animals. Haptoglobin and ASG can be considered as moderate, positive acute phase proteins in capybaras because they showed less than 10-fold increases after an inflammatory process and reached their peak concentrations 1 wk after the induction of inflammation. Conversely, albumin can be considered a negative acute phase protein in capybaras because it showed a reduction in concentration after inflammatory stimulus. Key words: Acid-soluble glycoprotein, acute phase proteins, albumin, capybara, haptoglo- bin, sarcoptic scabies, turpentine. INTRODUCTION The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydro- chaeris) is the largest rodent in the world, and it is found in hot-weather regions extending from the Panama Canal in Central America south to central Argen- tina, excluding a wide strip of land along the Pacific Coast. The breeding of capy- baras in captivity can be lucrative, due to their highly valuable skin, which is appre- ciated for its resistance, elasticity, and smoothness, and flavorful meat (Costa et al., 2002). Because of the importance of the capybara in these geographic regions, strategies to assess the health and welfare of the animals are useful. Acute phase proteins (APPs) are pro- teins whose concentrations in serum change after an inflammatory stimulus (Conner and Eckersall, 1988). They are more sensitive markers of inflammation than traditional markers, such as fever, globular sedimentation rate, or leukocytes (Ramadori and Christ, 1999; Kogika et al., 2003). These proteins can be classified as positive or negative. Positive APPs in- crease in concentration in response to inflammation and can be divided into two categories depending on their degree of response to inflammatory stimulus. Those that increase their concentration between 10- to 100-fold are called major APPs; those with a 2- to 10-fold increase are called moderate APPs. Negative APPs include proteins that decrease their con- centrations in response to inflammation (Cero ´ n et al., 2005). Acute phase proteins may provide an alternative means for monitoring animal health. At the herd level, APPs can be used to identify diseased animals, allowing detection of animals with subclinical infections. In cases of identified infections, APPs help monitor treatment (Schultz and Arnold, 1990) and, because the magnitude and duration of the acute phase response reflects the severity of the infection, APPs can be used as prognostic tools (Petersen et al., 2004). Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 47(4), 2011, pp. 829–835 # Wildlife Disease Association 2011 829 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/doi/pdf/10.7589/0090-3558-47.4.829 by guest on 24 December 2021