ACUTE PHASE PROTEIN RESPONSE IN THE CAPYBARA (HYDROCHOERUS HYDROCHAERIS)

• DOI: 10.7589/0090-3558-47.4.829
• Publication Date: 2013-10-01T03:05:18Z
• Authors: Luis Bernal; Mariane Feser; Silvia Martínez-S...; Juan D. García-Ma...; José J. Cerón; Fernando Tecles
• Keywords: Inflammation; Male; Haptoglobins; Turpentine; Rodentia; 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences; 3. Good health; Rodent Diseases; 0403 veterinary science; Random Allocation; Scabies; Animals; Female; Sarcoptes scabiei; Biomarkers; Serum Albumin; Acute-Phase Proteins; Glycoproteins

We evaluated the acute phase protein response in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). Three animal groups were used: 1) healthy animals (n=30), 2) a group in which experimental inflammation with turpentine was induced (n=6), and 3) a group affected with sarcoptic scabies (n=14) in which 10 animals were treated with ivermectin. Haptoglobin (Hp), acid-soluble glycoprotein (ASG) and albumin were analyzed in all animals. In those treated with turpentine, Hp reached its maximum value at 2 wk with a 2.7-fold increase, whereas ASG increased 1.75-fold and albumin decreased 0.87-fold 1 wk after the induction of inflammation. Capybaras affected with sarcoptic scabies presented increases in Hp and ASG of 4.98- and 3.18-fold, respectively, and a 0.87-fold decrease in albumin, compared with healthy animals. Haptoglobin and ASG can be considered as moderate, positive acute phase proteins in capybaras because they showed less than 10-fold increases after an inflammatory process and reached their peak concentrations 1 wk after the induction of inflammation. Conversely, albumin can be considered a negative acute phase protein in capybaras because it showed a reduction in concentration after inflammatory stimulus.