THE ACUTE-PHASE AND HEMOSTATIC RESPONSE IN DROMEDARY CAMELS ( CAMELUS DROMEDARIUS)

Acute-phase reactants indicate inflammation and are increasingly used in veterinary medicine to indicate and to monitor progression of disease. Hemostasis and inflammation have interconnected pathophysiologic pathways and influence each other on different levels. This study established observed normal ranges for acute-phase reactants and for coagulation and thromboelastographic (TEG) parameters in 49 dromedary camels ( Camelus dromedarius) and assessed the response to chronic and acute inflammation. Chronically infected animals suffering from lymph abscessation due to Corynebacterium spp. had significantly higher concentrations of the acute-phase reactants haptoglobin ( P < 0.005) and fibrinogen ( P < 0.013) and an increased clot strength characterized by an increase of the TEG parameters MA ( P < 0.039), representing the maximum amplitude of the clot strengths, and G, the global clot strength ( P < 0.022), compared to healthy animals. When the acute-phase and hemostatic responses of 10 males receiving a gonadotropin-releasing hormone vaccine and of 9 males that were surgically castrated over 7 days were studied, haptoglobin proved to be a minor positive acute-phase protein, with moderate levels in healthy animals. It increased significantly after both vaccination and castration and remained elevated 7 days postinsult. The negative reactant iron significantly decreased over the 7-day period after castration, whereas a similar decrease following vaccination lasted less than 3 days. Fibrinogen reacted as a positive, minor reactant, with a significant increase and a peak on days 3-5, with higher values seen after castration. Prothrombin time showed a slight shortening at days 5-7, and the TEG parameters MA and G showed significantly increased values, similar to fibrinogen. The acute-phase protein serum amyloid A showed poor repeatability, suggesting that the assay was not reliable.