Electrophoretic separation of canine haemoglobin in dogs with babesiosis

Venous blood was collected from clinically healthy (n = 5) and B. canis (n = 5) infected dogs. Parasitised red blood cells were not removed from blood samples prior to preparation. The erythrocytes were washed, lysed, the haem ring removed from the haemoglobin molecule and the globin chains denatured by breaking disulphide linkages between amino acids. These haemolysates were then subjected to electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels containing acid, urea and the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100. In all 5 B. canis infected dogs a protein band was observed above the beta chain of haemoglobin. This band was absent in all 5 healthy dogs. It is postulated that this band represents a fragment of the globin chain that remains after proteolysis caused by the B. canis parasite. Further study is needed to exclude the possibility that the electrophoretic band might be of parasitic origin.