Eight, 90 days old pigs, of the Wessex lineage all castrated male were used in experiment, divided into two groups of four animals. Biochemical alterations in the serum of the animals were analyzed in both groups during 36 days. Control (Group I) received 5.0mL of a 0.9% sterile sodium chloride solution by intracranial vein injection; Group II animals were inoculated by the same way with 5.0mL of a cell culture containing 1.0x10(8)cells/mL of Leptospira interrogans sorovar wolffi, wild strain L-10, isolated from a wild especies of brazilian "armadillo" (Dasypus novemcinctus). Three days after inoculation, blood was collected without anticoagulant; the same process was repeated at 72 hours intervals during eighteen days in both, control and experimental groups. Quantitative biochemical parameters were direct, indirect and total bilirubin, fatty acids and serum proteins. The experimental animals showed an increase of direct bilirubin three days after inoculation. Increases in indirect and total bilirubin were, also, observed after six days. Glucose, fatty acids and serum proteins decreased after the third day of inoculation. In conclusion, the increase in bilirubin levels could be due to acute hemolysis; hypoglycemia, hypolipidemia and hypoproteinemia that could be related to hepatic lesions and septicemia. All parameters returned to normal levels after fifteen days, in all animals tested.
Leptospirosis; swine; experimental infection; biochemical tests
