Levamisole enhances global and diferential leukocyte numbers in peripheral blood of dogs with ehrlichiosis

Abstract

Ehrlichiosis is a disease caused by Ehrlichia , a genus of obligatory intracellular bacteria that parasitize leukocytes and provokeseveral hematological alterations. In this work, we investigated the efect of levamisole associated with doxycycline on peripheralleukocytes in dogs PCR-positive for ehrlichial DNA. Twenty-one Ehrlichia -infected dogs were randomly distributed in 2 groups: acontrol group (n = 10) and a levamisole-treated group (n = 11). Blood samples were collected from each animal for hematological andDNA analysis both before initiating the experiment and 5 days later. All dogs were treated with doxycycline (10 mg/kg body weight),cimetidine (5 mg/kg of body weight), and fuid therapy for 5 consecutive days. In addition to receiving antibiotic therapy, the levamisole-treated dogs received a single subcutaneous injection (1 mg/kg body weight) of levamisole on the frst day of the experiment. Te resultsshow that levamisole associated with doxycycline signifcantly enhanced global leukocyte, lymphocyte, and monocyte numbers in theperipheral blood of dogs with ehrlichiosis. Tose data suggest that the combination of doxycycline with levamisole may improve canineehrlichiosis treatment through impairment of leukopenia, which is not controlled by antibiotic therapy alone.