Iraqi Journal of Veterinary Sciences, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2022 (753-760)
753
Iraqi Journal of Veterinary Sciences
www.vetmedmosul.com
The beneficial effects of resveratrol supplementation on parasitemia,
oxidative stress and serum biochemical parameters in Trypanosoma
brucei infected dogs
P. O. Akpa
1
, C.S. Ukwueze
2
, R.I. Odo
3
, C.J. Aronu
4
and B.M. Anene
1
1
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka,
2
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Michael Okpara
University of Agriculture, Umudike,
3
Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Nigeria,
4
Department of Animal Health and Production, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Article information Abstract
Article history:
Received October 9, 2021
Accepted April 6, 2022
Available online June 10, 2022
This study investigated the effect of resveratrol supplementation on parasitemia,
oxidative stress and serum biochemical changes in the Trypanosoma brucei infected dogs.
The mean pre-patent period (MPP) of infection was 5.75±0.96 (5-7) days and 9.00 ± 0.82
(8-10) days between infected un-supplemented and supplemented respectively, which
differed significantly (p<0.05). There was a significant increase (P<0.05) in the activities
of malondialdehyde (MDA) post infection (pi) on the infected untreated group compared
with the infected treated groups and the control. The mean serum alanine
aminotransaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were significantly
(P>0.05) higher than the infected treated groups. The mean ALT of infected treated with
both resveratrol and diminazene aceturate (DA) was significantly (P<0.05) lower than
other infected treated groups. The mean creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels
were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the infected untreated group. The creatinine level of
the infected treated with both resveratrol and DA was significantly (P<0.05) lower than
other infected treated groups, whereas the BUN did not differ significantly (P>0.05)
within the infected treated groups when compared with the control. The mean albumin and
total protein were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the infected untreated group, but the
infected treated groups did not show any significant (P>0.05) difference. However, the
total protein was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the infected treated with resveratrol than
in other infected groups. It was concluded that pretreatment with resveratrol is beneficial
in managing T. brucei infection, as it delays the onset of parasitemia and restores damages
done to the liver and kidneys when combined with diminazene aceturate.
Keywords:
Resveratrol
Supplementation
Trypanosoma brucei
Parasitemia
Oxidative stress
Correspondence:
C.S. Ukwueze
ukwueze.chigozie@mouau.edu.ng
DOI: 10.33899/ijvs.2022.131843.2009, ©Authors, 2022, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Mosul.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license ([available at]://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Introduction
African animal trypanosomosis is a debilitating disease
of humans and animals, often caused by T. brucei, and T.
congolense in dogs (1,2). The disease is widespread and
essential in Africa and sub-saharan African countries and
affects a wide range of animals (3,4), leading to massive
impact on economic losses, not only in dogs but in other
animals as well, manifested as mortalities, reduced meat
and milk yield in food animals and cost of treatment (5).
Oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions have been
suggested to play significant roles in the pathogenesis of
trypanosomosis (6,7). Free radicals and many peroxides
generated by trypanosomes and activated by mononuclear