Clinical parameters of goats infected with gastrointestinal nematodes and treated with condensed tannin

Small ruminants are affected by gastrointestinal nematodes that cause great economic losses in sheep and goat farming. Alternatives have been studied to control these parasites, such as the use of taniniferous plants; however, few studies have reported the effects of condensed tannins on blood parameters. This study aimed to verify the effect of condensed tannin for the treatment of goats infected by gastrointestinal nematodes on hematological, biochemical, and serum protein parameters. Blood samples were collected weekly from 24 six-month-old male Boer goats experimentally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes weighing 15 ± 2.5 kg live weight and reared in a feedlot system for 28 days. The animals were divided into four groups of six animals, one group was treated with Mimosa caesalpiniifolia condensed tannin (CT), the second group was treated with CT and polyethylene glycol (CT + PEG), the third group was treated with 5 mg kg-1 BW-1 monepantel (positive control), and the fourth group did not receive any treatment (negative control). The results obtained for erythrocytes, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and total plasma protein showed no statistically significant differences among the groups, and neither did the biochemical variables alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, urea, creatinine, glucose, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. Proteinogram data were evaluated, including total protein, albumin, ceruloplasmin, transferrin, haptoglobin, and ?1-acid glycoprotein. There was no statistically significant difference among the groups for ceruloplasmin, transferrin, haptoglobin, and ?1-acid glycoprotein. Therefore, the treatment of goats infected by gastrointestinal nematodes with M. caesalpiniifolia CT did not interfere in hematological, biochemical, and serum protein parameters.