Analysis of eyelid injuries in dogs with Visceral Leishmaniosis

Abstract

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum chagasi, which has the dog as the main reservoir of the parasite and is a source of infection for humans. In the dog, several organs were described with lesion related to the immunopathological effects of the chronic infection induced by this protozoan. Few studies describe the ocular lesions in dogs with LV, but in these the anterior chamber of the eye stands out with the main clinical and pathological alterations. The eye is one of the sites of immune privilege where immunotolerance is essential for the survival of non-regenerating cells. Because of this, the microenvironment of the anterior chamber of the eye is rich in soluble factors, cell membrane proteins and cells with immunosuppressive profile, among them the enzyme idoleamine dioxygenase (IDO). Therefore, the objective of this study will be to analyze the intensity and distribution of ocular lesions in dogs with VL and to immunostaining the IDO enzyme associated with these lesions. These results will be compared to the parasitic load in the ocular tissue, by immunohistochemistry. Therefore, we intend to use 25 naturally infected dogs from endemic area to VL and five non-infected dogs from non-endemic área. Both eyes of each dog will be submitted to histopathological and immunohistochemical analyzes. The parasite load (seropositive dog hyperimmune serum) and the presence of Ido enzime (Biorbyt, code orb18370) will be determined by the Peroxidase-bound Polymer Complex. It is hoped that these results may contribute to the understanding of the complex pathogenesis of canine VL, with focus on the ocular compartment. (AU)