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Concentrations of l-ergothioneine in follicular fluids of farm animals

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of l-ergothioneine in follicular fluid of some domestic farm animals, such as mare, sheep, goat, sow, and unweaned lamb. The group of unweaned lambs was the cluster with the lowest mean concentration (0.12 ± 0.06 μmol/L), while the mares showed the highest mean values (3.16 ± 1.27 μmol/L). The mean levels in the sheep and goats were similar (0.72 ± 0.21 vs. 0.73 ± 0.50 μmol/L), while the mean values in the sows were slightly higher (1.04 ± 0.37 μmol/L) than the other two groups. Except for sheep vs. goats, the differences in the concentrations of l-ergothioneine between animal groups were statically significant. After grouping data according to the follicular diameter, a not statistically significant trend of increase of l-ergothioneine levels with the rise of follicular diameter was observed in sheep, goats, and unweaned lambs while an opposite tendency was observed in mares.

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the Fondazione Banco di Sardegna, Sassari, Italy, and by the Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca, Italy.

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There is no conflict of interest for all authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B -I-07100, Sassari, Italy

    Salvatore Sotgia, Angelo Zinellu, Elisabetta Pisanu, Gianfranco Pintus & Ciriaco Carru

  2. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    Gina Vlahopoulou, Federica Ariu, Sergio Ledda & Luisa Bogliolo

Authors
  1. Salvatore Sotgia
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  2. Angelo Zinellu
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  3. Elisabetta Pisanu
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  4. Gina Vlahopoulou
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  5. Federica Ariu
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  6. Sergio Ledda
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  7. Gianfranco Pintus
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  8. Ciriaco Carru
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  9. Luisa Bogliolo
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Correspondence to Salvatore Sotgia.

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Sotgia, S., Zinellu, A., Pisanu, E. et al. Concentrations of l-ergothioneine in follicular fluids of farm animals. Comp Clin Pathol 24, 1261–1265 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-015-2098-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-015-2098-8

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