CLINICAL, HEMATOLOGICAL, AND SEMINAL ALTERATIONS AND PARASITEMIA OF MALE GOATS EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED WITH <italic>Toxoplasma gondii</italic>

• Autor(a) principal: Santana, Luís Fernando
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Gaspar, Roberta Cordeiro, Rossi, Gabriel Augusto Marques, Nascentes, Gabriel Antônio Nogueira, Rodrigues, Eliana Aparecida, Oliveira, Gilson Pereira De, Costa, Alvimar José Da
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1089-6891v16i326476; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/158193
• topic: experimental infection; IFI; reproductive diseases; small ruminant; toxoplasmosis; enfermidades reprodutivas; infecção experimental; pequenos ruminantes; RIFI; toxoplasmose

<title>Abstract:</title>Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease that affects reproductive performance in small ruminants. Although the <italic>Toxoplasma gondii</italic> life cycle is well understood since 1960s, several aspects related to its infection remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the effects of <italic>T. gondii</italic>experimental infection, and the influence on clinical, hematological, parasitemia and seminal parameters in male goats. Nine animals were selected and distributed in three groups: GI (n=3) &#8211; control group (placebo) orally inoculated with saline solution; GII (n=3) &#8211; subcutaneously inoculated with 1 x 106 tachyzoites of <italic>T. gondii</italic>; and GIII (n=3) &#8211; orally inoculated with 2 x 10⁵ oocysts of <italic>T. gondii</italic>. After that, clinical exams, serological tests, hemograms, parasitemia determination and semen evaluation were performed. Reciprocal serological titers had highest values of 4096 in both groups of goats infected with <italic>T. gondii,</italic>confirming the experimental infections. However, we could not observe clinical changes (except for mild hyperthermia on the 5^th DAI in one of the animals - GIII) or in hematimetric parameters. Although there were some statistically significant changes (P &lt;0.05) on the percentages of pathology and sperm concentrations in some of the dates between the infected and control animals, these changes were not associated with toxoplasmic infection. Infection was associated with animal handling methods and environmental factors.