Nutritional adjuvants with antioxidant properties in the treatment of canine leishmaniasis.

Clinical improvement of dogs treated for canine leishmaniasis (CanL) requires reducing Leishmania infantum loads, which depend on intracellular oxidant compounds to destroy the parasite. However, oxidative species' excess and antioxidants consumption can culminate in oxidative stress, resulting in increased, widespread inflammation. We aimed to evaluate if early or late addition of nutritional adjuvants (NAs) - omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and B vitamins - to anti-Leishmania drugs (ALDs) in the treatment of CanL would be clinically beneficial. For that, serum biomarkers including oxidative stress parameters were analyzed during 12 months in dogs allocated to two treatment groups: (G1) NAs administered from 30 days prior to the beginning of ALDs; and (G2) NAs administered from 61 days after the beginning of ALDs. Both G1 and G2 continued to receive NAs until the 12th month. The ALDs administered were metronidazole associated with ketoconazole (40 days), followed by allopurinol from day 41 until the 12th month. G1 exhibited superior inflammation control, with reduced globulins (p = 0.025), specific anti-Leishmania immunoglobulins (p = 0.016), total protein (p = 0.031), and an increased serum albumin/globulin ratio (p = 0.033), compared to G2. The early use of NAs associated with ALDs is clinically beneficial in treating dogs with CanL.