RHABDOMYOLYSIS AS A COMPLICATION OF CANINE BABESIOSIS

Rhabdomyolysis was diagnosed in two dogs with babesiasis. The first an imal presented with muscle pain and caramel-coloured urine, and had ma rkedly elevated serum myoglobin and muscle enzymes. Acute renal failur e complicated the clinical picture. The second dog exhibited muscle pa in and tremors, together with neurological signs and pulmonary oedema, and died soon after admission. Muscle necrosis and haemorrhage were f ound at necropsy. In human malaria, a disease clinically similar to ca nine babesiosis, rhabdomyolysis is unusual, but clinically silent musc le damage appears to be common. Likewise, biochemical evidence of musc le damage is readily found in experimental bovine babesiosis. Muscle e nzymes were mildly elevated in three dogs with severe babesiosis and p igmenturia but there was no obvious muscle damage, indicating that thi s might also apply to canine babesiosis. The pathogenesis of infection -associated rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure remains unclear, bu t inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide could play an important role .