Effect of experimental Trypanosoma congolense infection on serum profiles of lipid and cholesterol in pack donkeys

The effect of experimental Trypanosoma congolense (T. congolense) infection on serum concentrations of lipids in donkeys was investigated. To establish the infection, four apparently healthy pack donkeys were, each, intravenously inoculated with blood (1 ml) from an infected donor donkey containing 1 x 106 T. congolense organisms. Following this, 5 ml of blood was collected from each of the experimental animals, starting from day zero and then every other day throughout the experimental period and used for haematological and serum biochemical analyses. Levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) in the serum were measured over a 28-day experimental period, using commercial test kits. The infection with T. congolense caused significant (P<0.05) decreases in serum concentrations of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in the experimental animals. Decreases were also observed in the serum concentrations of triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol but were not significant (P>0.05). With the indispensable roles of lipids as integral parts of cell membrane structures and in other metabolic processes in the mammalian hosts, it could be inferred that T. congolense infection-induced alterations in serum concentrations of lipids might be contributory pathophysiological mechanisms of some of the reported disorders in trypanosome-infected animals.Keywords: Donkey, Cholesterol, Triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterolTrypanosoma congolens