A report on biochemical changes in the cerebrospinal fluid of Zebu cattle experimentally infected with Clostridium chauvoei/Nove spoznaje o biokemijskim promjenama u cerebrospinalnoj tekucini Zebu goveda pokusno zarazenih bakterijom Clostridium chauvoei

The mechanisms by which blackleg occur need to be thoroughly investigated for effective treatment, prevention and control. A study was conducted to investigate the biochemical changes in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of Zebu cattle experimentally infected with Clostridium chauvoei, in an attempt to determine the role of neuraminidase in the pathogenesis of blackleg. The experimental design specified the use of a total of 14 Zebu bull-calves. These were allocated into 4 experimental groups namely: C. chauvoei-infected (n = 4), toxin-administered (n = 3), neuraminidase-administered (n = 4) and control (n = 3) groups respectively. Mean neuraminidase activity was very high in the C. chauvoei-infected and neuraminidase-administered groups, compared to the toxin-administered and control groups (P < 0.05). Mean free sialic acid concentrations in the CSF also followed a similar pattern to the neuraminidase activity. The variation in mean total protein concentration in the CSF and mean pyruvic acid levels and the significance of these findings in the pathogenesis of blackleg and the effect of the disease on food security are discussed. Key words: biochemical changes, cerebrospinal fluid, Zebu cattle; Clostridium chauvoei Istrazene su biokemijske promjene u cerebrospinalnoj tekucini Zebu goveda pokusno zarazenih bakterijom Clostridium chauvoei radi odredivanja uloge neuraminidaze u patogenezi sustavca. Pokus je bio proveden na 14 muske teladi, koja je bila podijeljena u cetiri skupine. Prva skupina (n = 4) bila je zarazena bakterijom C. chauvoei, teladi druge skupine (n = 3) primijenjen je toksin, trece skupine (n = 4) neuraminidaza, a cetvrta (n = 3) je bila kontrolna skupina. Srednja aktivnost neuraminidaze bila je vrlo jaka u zarazene teladi i teladi kojoj je bila primijenjena neuraminidaza u usporedbi sa skupinom kojoj je bio primijenjen toksin i kontrolnom supinom (P < 0, 05). Srednja koncentracija slobodne sijalinske kiseline u cerebrospinalnoj tekucini bila je slicna neuraminidaznoj aktivnosti. Razmatrane su promjene srednje koncentracije ukupnih proteina u cerebrospinalnoj tekcini, srednje razine pirogrozdane kiseline, kao i znacenje njihovih nalaza u patogenezi sustavca i ucinak bolesti na sigurnost hrane. Kljucne rijeci: biokemijske promjene, cerebrospinalna tekucina, Zebu govedo, Clostridium chauvoei