Aspectos hemato-bioquímicos do uso da auto-hemoterapia em equinos hígidos.

Abstract

Autohemotherapy (AH) is an alternative therapeutic technique used in human and veterinary medicine, which consists of the application of autologous blood with the aim of stimulating the immune system to aid in the treatment of diseases. Due to the scarcity of studies that clarify the mechanism of action as well as the beneficial and adverse effects of this technique, the objective here was to analyze the hematological and biochemical effects of three applications of HA in horses. The experimental design was carried out with twenty healthy adult animals raised on stud farms in the city of Alexandria - RN, with the same sanitary and dietary management, divided into two groups: Control Group (receiving no treatment) and Autohemotherapy Group. No changes were observed in the serum biochemical parameters evaluated within the same experimental group for the proposed moments, which rules out injury or dysfunction of the hepatobiliary, nephrourhinal and muscular systems during the performance of HA. However, hematological data in the AH group demonstrated a statistical difference (p≤0.05) between the moments with elevation of red blood cells, hemoglobin and hematocrit as well as total leukocytes, one week after the first application. In comparison with the untreated group, a significant elevation of platelets and reduction of muscle injury markers were observed throughout the three applications. Finally, Autohemotherapy did not cause adverse effects due to the absence of measurable physiological, nephrouricular, muscular and hepatobiliary damage, being a safe technique. Furthermore, an increase in the immunological activity of the animals was noted due to the elevation of the number of leukocytes, total proteins and the albumin/globulin ratio.