dc.contributor.author | Mutayoba, BM | |
dc.contributor.author | Gombe, S | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2013-06-25T05:37:06Z | |
dc.date.available | 2013-06-25T05:37:06Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1989-11 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Res Vet Sci. 1989 Nov;47(3):315-8. | en |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hinari-gw.who.int/whalecomwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/whalecom0/pubmed/2595089 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/39295 | |
dc.description.abstract | Changes in plasma cortisol and thyroxine (T4) levels were measured weekly in female goats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma congolense. Values for plasma cortisol (range 10 to 25 nmol litre-1) and T4 (range 65 to 120 nmol litre-1) were within normal ranges in all goats before infection and in control animals throughout the 24 weeks of study. Cortisol/T4 ratios of 0.23 to 0.15 (or 1:4 to 1:7) were obtained. In the infected goats a significant increase in cortisol and decline in T4 were simultaneously observed within one week of the onset of parasitaemia and fever. A peak cortisol/T4 ratio of 2.0 (2:1) was obtained four weeks after infection when cortisol levels rose to 59.0 +/- 8.9 nmol litre-1 and T4 declined to 29.4 +/- 2.2 nmol litre-1. Thereafter the mean levels fluctuated but remained high (over 30 nmol litre-1) for cortisol and low (under 50 nmol litre-1) for T4 up to 18 weeks after infection. Both hormones tended to return to normal levels towards the end of the study. The changes in mean cortisol levels showed a significant inverse correlation with changes in T4 (r = -0.57, P less than 0.001, n = 26). It is suggested that in trypanosomiasis, hypothalamic stress causes increases in plasma cortisol levels and at the same time suppresses the activity of the thyroid gland. | en |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.publisher | University of Nairobi. | en |
dc.title | Effect of African trypanosomiasis on plasma cortisol and thyroxine concentration in goats. | en |
dc.type | Article | en |
local.publisher | Department of Animal Physiology | en |