Taenia Hydatigena Cysticercus and Its Toxic Effects on Liver and DNA Profile in Sheep

Abstract

Cysticercosis of farm and wild animals is caused by the larval stages (metacestodes) of cestodes (tapeworms). Damage to tissues has been described in the cells of host infected with different species of Taenia. This damage is due to the increased amount of reactive oxygen radicals, which cause oxidative stress. Lipids, hepatocytic proteins and DNA are among the structures that are mostly affected by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species; resulting in functional and structural abnormalities, particularly in the liver. The objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of T. Hydatigena on oxidative modifications of hepatocytes in sheep. Liver samples were taken from domestic and imported sheep slaughtered in local abattoirs in Saudi Arabia. The effect of oxidative stress on hepatic tissue was studied by measuring biochemical parameters such as: glutathione, malondialdehyde, catalase activity, and glutathione S-Transferase assays. In addition, RAPD-PCR was carried out using three primers (AP1, AP2 and AP3) to investigate the changes in DNA fingerprints due to parasitic infection. Percentage of genetic variations were measured in the different sheep samples, which showed that the DNA profile of infected sheep were different from health sheep between 51-62%. Generally local sheep were more affected than imported ones.