Internal parasites (nematode) infestation in pure Arabian horses: Field study.
Abstract: Hematological and biochemical values are widely used in veterinary clinics for disease prognosis, nutritional and therapeutic monitoring, as well as in understanding the disease process in farm animals, including equines. This study aims to assess the alterations in hematological and biochemical parameters in pure Arabian horses infested with internal parasites. Samples of feces and blood were collected from 20 adult mares. Fecal samples were proceeded by flotation test. The blood samples were analyzed for hematological and biochemical parameters to determine their means ± standard error (M ± SE). We compared the M ± SE with the reference values cited. Infestation percentage was as (%) 3 (15%) and 17 (85%) mixed infestation, species with . The hematology of our Arabian horses shows a little variation of values compared to normal reference values, in hemoglobin level (g/dl), packed cell volume (%), red blood cell count (10/μl), and white blood cells count (10/μl), mean corpuscular volume (fl), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (pg) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (g/dl). In addition, their serum biochemistry showed blood glucose (mg/dl), urea (mg/dl), creatinine (mg/dl), albumin (g/dl), sodium, potassium, and chloride (mEq/l) within normal reference values. Our study did not show variation in hematology or chemical values compared to the normal values. We attributed this a result of the quantity and quality of nutrition given to the horses, which compensate for the damage caused by these parasites, so this study may provide useful diagnostic indices for Arabian horses.
Publication Date: 2023-04-21 PubMed ID: 37251259PubMed Central: PMC10219822DOI: 10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i4.10Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research study investigates blood and biochemical changes in pure Arabian horses infested with internal parasites. The study concludes that despite parasitic infestation, these horses show no significant variation from normal values in their blood and chemical profiles, possibly due to adequate nutrition.
Study Objective and Method
- The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of internal parasite infestation on the hematological (related to blood) and biochemical parameters of pure Arabian horses.
- The researchers collected fecal and blood samples from 20 adult mares for this purpose.
- The fecal samples were subjected to a flotation test to identify the presence and species of parasites.
- The blood samples were tested for various hematological parameters, which included hemoglobin level, packed cell volume, red and white blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration.
- The biochemical analysis of the serum included parameters like blood glucose, urea, creatinine, albumin, sodium, potassium, and chloride concentration.
- The measured parameters for each horse were compared to established normal reference values for these parameters in horses to assess the effect of parasitic infestation.
Research Findings
- The study found that 15% of the tested horses had an infestation of one species of parasite, while 85% had a mixed infestation of species.
- Despite the presence of parasites, there was not much variation in the hematological and biochemical values when compared to the normal reference values.
- The researchers did not see a significant deviation from the normal hemoglobin level, red and white blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume, hemoglobin, hemoglobin concentration or in the biochemical parameters like blood glucose, urea, creatinine, albumin, sodium, potassium, and chloride.
Conclusion and Application
- The study concluded that the nutrition provided to the horses might be compensating for the potential harm caused by these parasites. That’s why there was no significant variation observed in the hematological and biochemical values.
- From a clinical perspective, this suggests that adequate nutrition may play a vital role in the wellness of Arabian horses, even when they are infested with internal parasites.
Cite This Article
APA
Aboashia FA, Alatrag F, Elmarimi A.
(2023).
Internal parasites (nematode) infestation in pure Arabian horses: Field study.
Open Vet J, 13(4), 481-484.
https://doi.org/10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i4.10 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Zawia University, Zawia, Libya.
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Zawia University, Zawia, Libya.
- Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Horses
- Female
- Parasites
- Nematoda
- Feces / parasitology
- Animals, Domestic
Conflict of Interest Statement
All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
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Citations
This article has been cited 1 times.- Ullah A, Geng M, Chen W, Zhu Q, Shi L, Zhang X, Akhtar MF, Wang C, Khan MZ. Effect of Parasitic Infections on Hematological Profile, Reproductive and Productive Performance in Equines. Animals (Basel) 2025 Nov 14;15(22).
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