Abstract
Aim: The study explores the time-course of serum and wound fluids, interleukin (IL)-10 in dogs with cutaneous wounds and their relationship with some haematologic parameters.
Methods: The study comprised two groups of adult apparently healthy male and female dogs. The control (n = 6) dogs were intact (wound free) while the experimental (n = 6) dogs had surgically induced cutaneous wounds on the mid-lateral aspect of the right antebrachium. Whole blood, harvested serum and wound fluids samples, pre- and sequentially over 324 hours post-surgery, were utilised for Leucogram evaluation and Interleukin (IL)-10 assay.
Results: Levels ofIL-10 in the experimental groups was higher than the corresponding control levels. The Circulatory level of IL-10 (1.67 ± 0.33 ng/mL) was significantly (P < 0.001) higher than those in wound fluid (0.87 ± 0.03 ng/mL) and control serum (0.94 ± 0.17 ng/mL) at 156 h. Haematocrit and total Leucocyte counts remained within normal reference limits, with minimal changes in differential cellular activities of the experimental and control groups. Significant correlations of serum IL-10 with lymphocytes (r = 0.946; P < 0.05) was observed in injured dogs.
Conclusion: These findings indicate that IL-10positively modulated the inflammatory processes following cutaneous wounds with variable but significant impacts on circulatory lymphocytes count. It provided evidence that further investigations into the expression patterns of IL-10 in cutaneous wound may improve the quality of wound management.

Key words: Cutaneous wound, Inflammation, Interleukin-10, Lymphocytes, Dog.