Correlations between serum fructosamine concentration, disease severity and recovery of sheep with gastrointestinal worm infestation

• Grant number: 25/11267-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2026
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Celidonio Pogliani
• Grantee: Carlos Eduardo Juliatto
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Brazilian and global sheep farming currently faces a major health challenge: gastrointestinal helminthiasis, responsible for considerable productive and economic losses, especially due to reduced weight gain and animal mortality. In addition, the increasing resistance of endoparasites to available anthelmintics complicates effective control strategies. Considering fructosamine, a molecule that reflects glycemic and protein changes over a previous period, the present study will investigate the behavior of serum fructosamine in healthy, infected, and diseased sheep, as well as during the clinical recovery process after treatment for gastrointestinal helminthiasis. This study aims to verify the correlations between fructosamine and disease intensity and recovery rate, contributing to the elucidation of alterations in energy metabolism involved in the pathophysiology of gastrointestinal helminthiasis in sheep, and potentially improving the treatment and recovery of affected animals. After animal screening, 20 healthy sheep (control group) and 20 infected and diseased sheep (experimental group) will be selected. The diseased animals will be treated and, together with the healthy ones, monitored through the determination of vital parameters, hematocrit, total protein, fecal egg Count (FEC), coproculture, blood glucose, and serum concentrations of albumin and fructosamine over a period of 60 days. The hypothesis is that animals with adequate fructosamine concentrations will exhibit less severe symptoms and a milder infection, as well as a faster response to treatment, with quicker recovery of body weight, hematocrit, albumin, and total protein levels. (AU)