Bandouchova et al. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2011, 53:2 http://www.actavetscand.com/content/53/1/2 Page 5 of 13 Figure 2 Plasma albumin in European brown hares on individual days post-inoculation with F. tularensis. See Figure 1 for a detailed description of groups. glycoprotein, a2-macroglobulin, a1-antitrypsin, C reac- tive peptide and complement factor C3. An increase in fibrinogen, an acute phase reactant, was also observed in tularemic European brown hares [33]. Other proteins such as albumin decrease. It is clear that F. tularensis- inoculated hares in this experiment responded to the tularemic sepsis via the above-described changes in pro- tein metabolism. As shown in Figure 3, glucose in F. tularensis-inocu- lated hares decreased to about 60% of the normal level on day 8 post-infection. The control glucose levels were consistent with published data [34]. A similar response was found in BALB/c mice and common voles infected with tularemia. Glucose levels in these two species of rodents significantly decreased from day 1 post-infec- tion, which is characteristic of severe sepsis as well as hepatocellular damage [18]. Figure 4 demonstrates the significant decrease in amy- lase in F. tularensis-inoculated hares, declining to nearly 35% of the normal level. This enzyme catalyses the hydrolysis of polysaccharides and is associated with gly- cemia [35]. The decrease in both glucose and amylase demonstrates impairment of the energetic metabolism as tularemic sepsis develops. There was an increase in urea on days 2 to 6 post- infection (cf. Figure 5). This may be attributed to the fever and increased catabolism, as reported previously [18,32]. As shown, however, there was also a decrease in urea on days 14 to 24 post-infection that may have been due to hepatic insufficiency. Impaired hepatic function was also responsible for the nearly two-fold increase in total bilirubin on day 6 post-infection (p < 0.05). Tularemia in F. tularensis-inoculated hares induced an almost four-fold elevation of lactate dehydrogenase of statistical significance on days 4 and 6 (cf. Figure 6). It is known that lactate dehydrogenase may be used to fol- low the progress of liver disease because it changes quickly. In an experimental study on the responses of BALB/c mice and common voles to tularaemia, lactate dehydrogenase started to rise earlier than aspartate ami- notransferase and alanine aminotransferase and was considered an important indicator of acute hepatocellu- lar damage in tularemia [18]. In the European brown hare, however, statistically significant increases in both aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were demonstrated at an earlier stage, i.e., from day 2 post-infection (cf. Figures 7 and 8). The elevation of aspartate aminotransferase levels in tularemic hares was