Increased leptin mRNA expression in the blood of dogs naturally infected by Leishmania infantum

Antonio Di Loria; Caterina Squillacioti; Adriana De Luca; Vincenzo Veneziano; Nicola Mirabella; Jacopo Guccione; Domenico Santoro

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.10.010

Increased leptin mRNA expression in the blood of dogs naturally infected by Leishmania infantum

Vet J. 2014 Dec;202(3):634-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.10.010. Epub 2014 Oct 20.

Authors

Antonio Di Loria¹, Caterina Squillacioti², Adriana De Luca², Vincenzo Veneziano², Nicola Mirabella², Jacopo Guccione², Domenico Santoro³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Science, University of Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro 88100, Italy.
² Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples "Federico II", 80137 Naples, Italy.
³ Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. Electronic address: dsantoro@ufl.edu.

PMID: 25458880
DOI: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.10.010

Abstract

Canine leishmaniosis (CL) is a severe and potentially fatal zoonosis caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum. Severe forms of CL are commonly associated with a non-protective, humoral immune-response and high parasitic loads. Leptin, a 16 kD hormone mainly secreted by adipocytes, regulates both the innate and adaptive immunity. The goal of this study was to evaluate leptin mRNA expression levels in blood samples from privately owned dogs with CL (n = 11) and healthy controls (n = 10) using quantitative, real-time polymerase chain reaction. Blood samples from dogs with CL expressed significantly higher leptin mRNA levels (two-fold) compared to healthy controls (P = 0.018). The results suggest a possible involvement of leptin in the pathophysiology of Leishmania infection in dogs and the possible use of leptin as a biomarker for CL. Future studies investigating the immunological role of leptin in dogs with CL are warranted.

Keywords: Biomarker; Dogs; Immunity; Leishmaniosis; Leptin.

MeSH terms

Animals
Case-Control Studies
Dog Diseases / genetics*
Dog Diseases / metabolism
Dog Diseases / parasitology
Dogs
Female
Gene Expression Regulation*
Leishmania infantum / physiology
Leishmaniasis, Visceral / genetics
Leishmaniasis, Visceral / metabolism
Leishmaniasis, Visceral / parasitology
Leishmaniasis, Visceral / veterinary*
Leptin / blood
Leptin / genetics*
Leukocytes / metabolism*
Male
RNA, Messenger / genetics
RNA, Messenger / metabolism
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / veterinary
T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / metabolism*

Substances

Leptin
RNA, Messenger