Cellular immunity indicators of dogs with epilepsy with different viral and toxoplasmosis antigenic load

The study aimed to determine how the immunity indicators of dogs with epilepsy change in conditions of different antigenic loads of canine distemper virus and Toxoplasma gondii. Stabilized blood was used for the study, which was taken from the subcutaneous vein of the forearm. After laboratory tests of the blood indicators, the dogs were divided into four groups, depending on the presence of antibody titers against canine distemper virus and toxoplasmosis in the blood serum. 23 animals were involved in the experiment, the second group turned out to be the largest, namely, high titers of antibodies against CDV were detected in the blood samples of these dogs. In addition, IgG to this virus was also detected in the blood of dogs of the fourth group in a complex with IgG to toxoplasmosis. This indicates that this virus has a high prevalence among dogs and this is also proven in our study. Analysis showed that no significant difference was found in the absolute number of leukocytes in dogs of different groups depending on the antigenic load. Thus, in dogs of the first group, this indicator was 0.16 G/l (3 %) less than in the second and third groups and 0.24 G/l (4 %) more than in the fourth group. The absence of significant changes was also found in the absolute number of neutrophils in dogs of different groups. A significant (P < 0.05) difference was found between the first and fourth groups in the absolute number of monocytes. In the first group of dogs, where immunoglobulins G against CDV and toxoplasmosis were not found in the blood, the content of monocytes was on 0,06 G/l (14 %) higher than in the fourth group, where the corresponding immunoglobulins were found in the blood of dogs. Unlike monocytes, the absolute number of lymphocytes in the fourth group was higher, compared to other groups of animals, the significance (P < 0.05) was found between the fourth and first groups. No correlation was found when analyzing the content of lymphocyte subpopulations in the blood of dogs of different groups. It was found that in the fourth group of experimental dogs their absolute number was 1.35 ± 0.17 G/l, which is 6 % more than in the first group and 2 % and 5 % more than in the second and third groups, respectively. Also, no significant difference was found between the absolute number of T-helper cells in dogs of different groups. A certain pattern was found between the seropositivity of dogs to toxoplasmosis and the degree of lymphocyte sensitization to the neuroantigen. Thus, in the third and fourth groups of experimental dogs, the degree of sensitization to the neuroantigen was 8,8 %. But in the first group of animals, where seropositivity to CDV and toxoplasmosis neuroinfections was not established, this indicator was 12 %. It has been proven that there is a correlation between seropositivity to CDV and toxoplasmosis in dogs with epilepsy and the state of the cellular immunity and the degree of sensitization of T-“active” lymphocytes to antigens. Thus, with seropositivity for both CDV and toxoplasmosis in dogs, there is a significantly lower level of monocytes and phagocytic activity of neutrophils, a higher content of T-lymphocytes due to the T-cytotoxic subpopulation.