Rhabdomyolysis as a complication of canine babesiosis

Rhabdomyolysis was diagnosed in two dogs with babesiasis. The first animal presented with muscle pain and caramel-coloured urine, and had markedly elevated serum myoglobin and muscle enzymes. Acute renal failure complicated the clinical picture. The second dog exhibited muscle pain and tremors, together with neurological signs and pulmonary oedema, and died soon after admission. Muscle necrosis and haemorrhage were found at necropsy. In human malaria, a disease clinically similar to canine babesiosis, rhabdomyolysis is unusual, but clinically silent muscle damage appears to be common. Likewise, biochemical evidence of muscle damage is readily found in experimental bovine babesiosis. Muscle enzymes were mildly elevated in three dogs with severe babesiosis and pigmenturia but there was no obvious muscle damage, indicating that this might also apply to canine babesiosis. The pathogenesis of infection-associated rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure remains unclear, but inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide could play an important role.