Abstract:
In order to explore the inflammatory response in cats caused by Toxoplasma gondii infection, twenty-five domestic cats aged 0.5 to 2, uninfected(uninfected group) and infected(infected group) with Toxoplasma gondii were selected. After taking blood from the vein, two groups of white blood cell indexes(total number of white blood cell, percentage of eosinophils, absolute value of eosinophils, percentage of intermediate cell group, absolute value of intermediate cell group, percentage of lymphocyte, absolute value of lymphocyte, liver and kidney function(serum aspartate aminotransferase AST and alanine aminotransferase ALT activity and creatinine CRE and urea UA content), serum cytokine levels(TNF-α, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 content), serum antioxidant level(SOD activity and MDA content) and serum amyloid A content were determined. The results showed that compared with the uninfected group, the total number of white blood cells, percentage of eosinophils, absolute value of eosinophils, absolute value of intermediate cell group and absolute value of lymphocytes in the infected group were significantly increased(P<0.05). The percentage of intermediate cell group and percentage of lymphocyte were not significantly different(P>0.05). The activities of AST and ALT and the contents of CRE and UA in serum were significantly increased(P<0.05). The contents of TNF-α and IL-6 in serum were significantly increased(P<0.05), while the contents of IL-2 and IL-10 were significantly decreased(P<0.05). The activity of SOD in serum was significantly decreased(P<0.05), while the content of MDA was significantly increased(P<0.05). The content of SAA in the infection group was significantly increased(P<0.05). These results indicated that Toxoplasma gondii infection could cause inflammatory response and liver and kidney function damage and oxidative damage in cats.