Influence of dietary protein on the pathophysiology of haemonchosis in lambs given continuous infections

Mixed-sex groups of three-month-old Finn Dorset and Dorset Horn lambs were given complete diets containing either high or low protein. A trickle infection with Haemonchus contortus of 200 larvae, given three times a week, began one month later for a 17 week period. Erythrokinetic, metabolic, digestibility and balance studies were conducted with the male lambs during weeks 12 to 14 of the infection. Clinical signs of haemonchosis became evident only in the low protein diet group. The infection was characterised by severe macrocytic anaemia, hypoproteinaemia, hypoalbuminaemia, reduced survival, high egg counts and a significantly greater worm burden. In the high protein diet group many lambs developed resistance to further infection in contrast to the low protein group in which no resistance developed. Live-weight gain was not affected by infection in the high protein diet group but decreased in the lambs given the low protein diet compared with uninfected controls. However, infection did not appear adversely to affect the digestive efficiency, nitrogen retention or iron absorption in either dietary group although loss of appetite occurred in the low protein group. Examination of a sample joint from the carcases showed infection was associated with a marked reduction in muscle mass in lambs given the low protein diet relative to the control animals.