Comparison of the therapeutic efficacy of diminazene aceturate and isometamidium chloride in local dogs experimentally infected with Trypanosoma brucei

Abstract

The chemotherapeutic efficacy of diminazene aceturate (DA) and isometamidium chloride (IMC) were compared in dogs experimentally infected with Trypanosoma brucei. Twenty Nigerian local breeds of dogs were used for the study. They were divided into four groups of five dogs each. Dogs in group I served as uninfected untreated control, group II was infected untreated, while groups III and IV were the infected treated with DA and IMC respectively. Administration of DA and IMC effectively cleared the parasites from the blood stream of the treated dogs. However, the infection subsequently relapsed at days 28 and 49 post treatment (pt) in DA and IMC treated groups, respectively. The red cell parameters (PCV, HB, and RBC) decreased significantly (P<0.05) following infection. They were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in IMC treated group than the DA treated group comparable with the control. The infected groups had elevated total white blood cell counts. However, the DA treated, and IMC treated groups did not show any significant (P> 0.05) difference when compared together with the control. The mean activities of SAP, AST, and ALT increased significantly (P<0.05) in the infected groups compared with the control. The mean blood urea nitrogen (BUN) increased significantly (P<0.05) on days 21 and 28 post infection (pi) in the infected untreated group and IMC treated groups. The mean creatinine(CRT) was significantly (P<0.05) higher in all the infected groups on day 14 pi compared to the control. From day 35 pi the mean BUN and CRT levels returned to normal values. It was thus concluded from this study that IMC exhibited more chemotherapeutic therapeutic activity over DA, as evidenced from the result of relapsed infections post treatment and haematological changes. However, the serum biochemical parameters were significantly altered in both DA and IMC treated groups compared to the control.