Serum biochemistry and heamatological changes associated with graded doses of experimental Arcobacter infection in rats.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND; Arcobacters have unusually wide range of habitats, and some species can be human and animal pathogens OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess the haematological and biochemical changes associated with experimental Arcobacter infection in adult albino rat. METHODS: The pathogenicity of Arcobacterbutzleri and A.cryerophilus, isolated from the caecal content of healthy chicken and confirmed by multiplex PCR was tested in albino rats (Rattusnovegicus). Seventy-five healthy adult male rats, subdivided into 5 rats per group, challenged orally with a single dose of 10⁻³ - 10⁻9 cfu/ml of bacterial strains and another group of five uninfected rats served as control. RESULTS: Experimental infection resulted in diarrhoea,electrolyte imbalance and alteration of heamatological values. The packed cell volume (PCV), platelets, neutrophils and lymphocytes of the experimentally infected albino rats were significantly higher than those of the control group. CONCLUSION: This study showed that Arcobacter could be a potential pathogen in albino rats while the selected haematological and electrolyte parameters may be good diagnostic indicators of the animal response to the bacterial infections.