Heavy metal bioaccumulation and its potential relation with incidence of Canine Parvovirus infection in Golden Jackals, North Iran

BACKGROUND: Heavy metal toxicity has been confirmed to be a critical threat to animals’ health. It has been proved that heavy metals can cause immunosuppression. Although, it is said that damage of immune function plays a contributing role in the increasing incidence of infectious diseases. The increasing use of rural habitats by jackals makes them suitable to monitor the anthropogenic activities impact on the health status of the animals. OBJECTIVES: We examined whether exposure to immunosuppressive heavy metals is associated with infectious disease in golden jackals (as representative of wild canids). So mercury and lead concentrations, frequency of CPV-2 infection and the relation between heavy metal concentrations and CPV-2 infection incidence were analyzed in golden jackals. METHODS: 30 Road-killed golden jackals were necropsied. Concentrations of Pb and Hg were measured by AAS in kidney and liver samples. VP2 gene of the CPV genomic DNA was applied to detect CPV-2 infection in fecal samples by PCR. RESULTS: Mean concentrations (mg/kg wet weight) of Hg and Pb were 0.15 ± 0.11 and 0.25 ± 0.18 in kidneys, and 2.8 ± 0.91 and 4.7 ± 1.03 in livers. CPV-2 was detected in 8 (24%) samples. Mean concentrations of Hg and Pb were meaningfully higher in the jackals that were CPV-2 infected compared to non- CPV-2 infected jackals. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study has linked heavy metals bioaccumulation to viral infection. Further work is required to estimate the exact role of heavy metals in susceptibility of jackals to CPV-2 infection.