CITOLOGIA DE IMPRESSÃO DA SUPERFÍCIE OCULAR DE CÃES INFECTADOS NATURALMENTE POR Leishmania (L.) chagasi

Domestic dogs are considered to be the principal host reservoir of Leishmania infantum (= L. chagasi), the causative agent of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis (CVL) Hence, canine leishmaniasis has a particular importance not only for the clinical veterinarians, but also to public health. Among systemic signs includes ocular alterations as blepharitis, conjunctivitis, keratoconjunctivitis and keratouveitis. The aim of this study was to evalutate ocular surface disturbance in dogs with CVL whether with or without ocular signs accessed by impression cytology. This method has a non-invasive character, minimum induced trauma exam and good sample quality. Animals were divided in 3 groups: G1, consisting of 15 positive animals for CCL and showing signs of ocular uveitis; G2, consisting of 15 positive animals for CCL and without ocular signs uveitis and G3, consisting of 5 healthy animals. The ocular material was collected and processed; subsequently was carried out analysis to obtain information from each group. Animals with ocular and sistemic signs showed I high infiltrated polimorphonuclear cells and great amount of cellular debris with mucus in comparison to CVL carrying animals without ocular signs and the control group. In conclusion, impression cytology of dogs with ocular signs as uveitis caused leishmaniasis can be useful as CVL presuntive diagnostic although the parasitological and serological exams are essential for CVL diagnosis.