Renal involvement in visceral leishmaniasis dogs

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a zoonosis that affects both animals and man. Dogs are the etiological agent’s main reservoir. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical laboratory aspects and renal histopathology of VL dogs. Thirty-four symptomatic (case) and 17 asymptomatic (control) VL seropositive dogs of different breeds, sexes, and ages from Teresina, Piauí State, Brazil, were used. Diagnosis was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and indirect immunofluorescence test. Clinical and laboratory tests included blood cell count and renal function analysis (urea and creatinine). Animals were subjected to euthanasia and necropsy. Renal fragments were prepared by the usual histological techniques and stained with hematoxylin-eosin and periodic acid-Schiff. Physical examination showed that lymph node hypertrophy (85.29%) and skin lesions (35.29%) were frequent in the case group. Anemia was found in 55.88% of the case and in 11.76% of the control group. There was a significant difference between groups by Fisher’s exact test. Two case-group dogs showed azotemia. Renal histopathological evaluation showed that 61.76% case and 17.65% control-group dogs had membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis was seen in 32.35% case and 64.70% control-group animals. There was a significant difference for both types of glomerulonephritis between groups. Amastigote forms of Leishmania were found in the renal parenchyma, in the inflammatory infiltrate of one case-group dog. We concluded that, in canine VL, regardless of the clinical signs at physical examination, the kidneys are frequently compromised.