Please cite this article in press as: Dagnachew, S., et al., Comparative biochemical changes in young Zebu cattle experi- mentally infected with Trypanosoma vivax from tsetse infested and non-tsetse infested areas of northwest Ethiopia. Vet. Parasitol. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2014.08.031 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model VETPAR-7380; No. of Pages 9 Veterinary Parasitology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Veterinary Parasitology jo u r nal homep age: www.elsevier.com/locate/vetpar Comparative biochemical changes in young Zebu cattle experimentally infected with Trypanosoma vivax from tsetse infested and non-tsetse infested areas of northwest Ethiopia Shimelis Dagnachew a,∗ , Getachew Terefe a , Getachew Abebe b , Dave J. Barry c , Bruno M. Goddeeris d a Addis Ababa University, CVMA, P.O. Box: 34, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia b Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia c University of Glasgow, CMVLS, 120 University Place, G12 8TA Glasgow, United Kingdom d Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, 30 bus 2456, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 17 February 2014 Received in revised form 16 August 2014 Accepted 28 August 2014 Keywords: Trypanosoma vivax Zebu cattle Biochemical values Northwest Ethiopia a b s t r a c t Trypanosomosis is a vector-borne protozoan disease of animals and humans in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ethiopia, particularly the northwest region is affected by both tsetse and non- tsetse transmitted trypanosomosis. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects and compare differences in virulence of Trypanosoma vivax infection between tsetse and non-tsetse infested areas of northwest Ethiopia on the basis of serum biochemi- cal values in Zebu cattle. Eighteen cattles purchased from trypanosome free area and aged between 9 and 12 months were assigned into three groups of six animals (Group TT = infected with T. vivax from tsetse infested area, Group NT = infected with T. vivax from non-tsetse infested area and Group C = non-infected control). For each experimen- tal animal 3 ml of blood from naturally infected cattle was inoculated intravenously at 10 6 trypanosomes/ml except the control. Blood sample was collected once a week for 8 con- secutive weeks for analyzing serum biochemical values (glucose, total cholesterol, total protein, albumin, and enzymes including GOT, GPT and ALP) using a Humastar 80 clin- ical chemistry analyzer. Both T. vivax parasites caused an acute infection with parasites appearing in circulation on 6 and 12 days post-infection for NT and TT cattle, respec- tively. A significant reduction (P < 0.001) in glucose levels was observed in infected groups compared with the control with mean values of 33.8 ± 3.6 mg/dl for TT, 34.3 ± 3.6 mg/dl for NT and 70.9 ± 3.0 mg/dl for control groups. A similar reduction was also seen in total cholesterol values (P = 0.001) with 70.4 ± 10.6 mg/dl for TT and 78.0 ± 10.6 mg/dl for NT groups compared to 139.5 ± 8.7 mg/dl for the control group. No difference was observed for total serum protein between the three groups (P = 0.260) whereas the mean albumin ∗ Corresponding author at: Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Department of Pathology and Parasitology P.O. Box: 34, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Tel.: +251 921681563; fax: +251 114339933. E-mail addresses: dagne2121@gmail.com, nigatusd2424@gmail.com (S. Dagnachew). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2014.08.031 0304-4017/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.