ORIGINAL ARTICLE Ameliorative effects of alpha-lipoic acid and imidocarb dipropionate on clinico-haematological changes induced by experimental Babesia canis vogeli infection in dogs Ajoke Modupeoluwa Ehimiyein 1 & Shehu Usman Abdullahi 1 & Joseph Olusegun Ayo 2 & Oluyinka Oluseyi Okubanjo 3 & Emmanuel Oludare Balogun 4 Received: 9 November 2018 /Accepted: 25 March 2019 # Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of imidocarb dipropionate and alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on clinico-haematological parameters of dogs inoculated with Babesia canis vogeli. Twenty-one dogs were divided into uninfected untreated (n = 4), infected untreated (n = 6), infected and treated with imidocarb dipropionate (6 mg/kg subcutaneously) alone (n = 3), infected and treated with ALA (15 mg/kg orally) alone (n = 5), and infected and treated with both imidocarb dipropionate and ALA (n = 3). Molecularly identified Babesia canis vogeli was experimentally inoculated into the infected groups, and treatment commenced at day 12 post- inoculation (PI). Behavioural events and blood samples were obtained and analysed before inoculation, at days 11 PI, 8, 15, and 43 post-treatment (PT). Behavioural events including vocalisation, licking/grooming, and tail wagging decreased post-inoculation. Treatments with imidocarb and ALA alleviated the clinical manifestations of dry muzzle, ocular discharge, and splenomegaly. At days 15 and 43 PT, imidocarb + ALA recorded the highest packed cell volume (41.13 ± 2.96%; 47.40 ± 3.72%) and erythrocyte count (6.10 ± 0.44 × 10 12 /L; 6.99 ± 0.56 × 10 12 /L) compared to other infected groups. The haemoglobin concentration at day 15 PT (13.80 ± 0.91 g/dL) increased in the imidocarb + ALA group. Thrombocytopenia was recorded in all the infected groups at day 11 PI. In conclusion, co-administration of imidocarb with ALA acted synergistically and also ameliorated the clinico-haematological changes in experimental canine babesiosis, and the agent may be a promising and potent drug in the management of canine babesiosis. Keywords Babesiosis . Dog . Alpha-lipoic acid . Anaemia Introduction Canine babesiosis, also known as ‘malignant jaundice or bilious fever’ (Penzhorn 2011; Penzhorn et al. 2017), has been documented worldwide (Schaarschmidt et al. 2006). It was reported to be an emerging infectious disease in Europe (Solango-Gallego and Baneth 2011) caused by two distinct species of intra-erythrocytic parasites (Kučer et al. 2019) belonging to the genus Babesia, (Solano- Gallego and Baneth 2011). The parasites are morphologi- cally characterised as large (2.5–5.0-μm-sized Babesia canis) and small including (1.0-to-2.5-μm-sized B. gibsoni and B. conradae) (Singh et al. 2014; Laha et al. 2015; Zygner et al. 2015). Babesia canis is further divided into sub-species (Duarte et al. 2011; Torti et al. 2014): B. canis canis transmitted by the tick, Dermacentor reticulatus in Europe; B. canis vogeli (Barker et al. 2012; Halos et al. 2013) transmitted by Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Lavan et al. 2018) in tropical and sub-tropical regions; and * Ajoke Modupeoluwa Ehimiyein ajokeeo@gmail.com Shehu Usman Abdullahi suabdullahi@yahoo.com Joseph Olusegun Ayo ayojo94@yahoo.com Oluyinka Oluseyi Okubanjo sokubanjo2002@yahoo.com Emmanuel Oludare Balogun oludareus@yahoo.com 1 Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 2 Department of Veterinary Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 3 Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 4 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria Comparative Clinical Pathology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-019-02946-7