Bronchoalveolar lavage as a tool for evaluation of cellular alteration during Aelurostrongylus abstrusus infection in cats1

Ribeiro V.M., Barçante J.M.P., Negrão-Correa D., Barçante T.A., Klein A. & Lima W.S. 2014. Bronchoalveolar lavage as a tool for evaluation of cellular alteration during Aelurostrongylus abstrusus infection in cats. Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira 34(10):990995. Setor de Preventiva, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Campus Universitário, Lavras, MG 37200-000, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected] Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a procedure that retrieves cells and other elements from the lungs for evaluation, which helps in the diagnosis of pulmonary diseases. The aim of this study was to perform this procedure for cellular analysis of BAL fluid alterations during experimental infection with Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in cats. Fourteen cats were individually inoculated with 800 third stage larvae of A. abstrusus and five non-infected cats lined as a control group. The BAL procedure was performed through the use of an endotracheal tube on the nineteen cats with a mean age of 18 months, on 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 and 270 days after infection. Absolute cell counts in the infected cats revealed that alveolar macrophages and eosinophils were the predominant cells following infection. This study shows that the technique allows us to retrieve cells and first stage larvae what provides information about the inflammatory process caused by aelurostrongylosis.