In this study, SAA concentrations in lambs with
Cryptosporidium were found as (20.62±4.83 ng/mL) in pre-treatment and (12.93±3.27 ng/mL) in post-treatment stage while in the control group, SAA concentration was determined as (10.07±2.49 ng/mL) (Table 1).
In the light of these findings, SAA measurements of lambs showed statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between pre-treatment (20.62±4.83 ng/mL) and post-treatment (12.93±3.27 ng/mL) and the control group (10.07±2.49 ng/mL) while there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between the post-treatment (12.93±3.27 ng/mL) and the control group (10.07±2.49 ng/mL) (Table 1). Whereas Hp concentration was determined as (2.63±0.77 µg/mL) in pre-treatment and as (1.59±0.73 µg/mL) in post-treatment stage, it was found as (1.03±0.59 µg/mL) in the control group (Table 1). These findings indicated a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between pre-treatment (2.63±0.77 µg/mL) and post-treatment (1.59±0.73 µg/mL) and the control group (1.03±0.59 µg/mL); even though there was a numerical difference between the control group (1.03±0.59 µg/mL) and the post-treatment group (1.59±0.73 µg/mL), there was not a correlation that would sum up to statistical difference (p>0.05). Regarding the pre-treatment group (2.63±0.77 µg/mL), the measured values were higher than both in the control group (1,03±0,59 µg/mL) and in post-treatment group (1.59±0.73 µg/mL); however, this significantly increased value in lambs returned to normal levels with the applied treatment (Table 1).
It has been reported that the concentrations of antibody (IgG and IgM) and APPs significantly increase in neonatal lambs with
Cryptosporidium (Ortega-Mora et al., 1993; Dinler et al., 2017; Niine, et al., 2018). Dinler et al., (2017) reported that following the experimental infection of lambs with
Cryptosporidium spp., serum concentrations of SAA and Hp increased significantly. The same study demonstrated that serum concentrations of both SAA and Hp were much higher in the lambs infected with
Cryptosporidium than healthy control group
(Dinler et al., 2017). In the study where experimental infection was developed with
Cryptosporidium, there was a moderately positive correlation between serum Hp concentration and oocyst excretion number while no meaningful correlation was observed with serum SAA concentration
(Dinler et al., 2017). Similarly in our study it was determined that SAA and Hp concentrations were high in 3 to 15-day-old lambs with
Cryptosporidium in pre-treatment stage. We suggest that this could be related to acute phase reaction against oocyst excretion. Another study reported that serum SAA concentration increased from the first day of life to the fifth day, the highest level was on the day after birth and then decreased until the second week of life
(Kilpi, 2015). In some studies which were conducted on sheep and goats, the researchers found that the SAA and Hp concentrations in healthy animals were quite low in the APP examination
(Iliev and Georgieva, 2018; Dinler et al., 2020). Similarly in our study, SAA and Hp concentrations of post-treatment and control groups were lower than the concentrations of pre-treatment. Hence, it has been concluded that the therapy is effective. Also, the fact that SAA and Hp concentrations were in close values to each other in control and post-treatment groups is another indicator of the success of the treatment. To conclude, the fact that SAA and Hp concentrations were found to be low in healthy animals in some studies
(Iliev and Georgieva, 2018; Dinler et al., 2020) supports the hypothesis.
In the literature, although there were a few studies on lambs naturally infected with
Cryptosporidium, we generally found prevalence studies
(Walter et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2020). On the other hand, in the experimental
Cryptosporidium studies on lambs, it was reported that APP measurements were made and SAA and Hp values increased due to acute phase reaction
(Dinler et al., 2017). It was also reported that similar results were derived in the studies on calves
(Ulutaş et al. 2011; Albayrak and Kabu, 2016;
Niine et al., 2018). We had two priorities in our study; firstly, to determine the acute phase response in lambs naturally infected with
Cryptosporidium and secondly, to evaluate the treatment for
Cryptosporidium with clinical findings as well as acute phase response. Similar to previous studies, SAA and Hp values in lambs naturally infected with
Cryptosporidium were found to be high in our study, as well
(Dinler et al., 2017; Niine et al., 2018). Thus, it was associated to inflammation caused by
Cryptosporidium. After the treatment, SAA and haptoglobin concentrations decreased almost to the values of the control group which consisted of healthy animals. The study proves the efficacy of treatment.
