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Biochemical profiles of Indian donkey population located in six different agro-climatic zones

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Abstract

To establish normal values of blood biochemical indices for different indigenous local donkey population available in various agro-climatic zones, blood samples were collected from 233 adult and apparently healthy donkeys. The samples were analysed for metabolites (albumin, total serum protein, direct bilirubin, total bilirubin, cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, urea, uric acid, triglyceride, creatinine) and minerals (calcium, phosphorus) to evaluate significant difference within and between populations. Confidence limit of each biochemical indices showed a close range as compared to their actual range observed under varied geographic areas. All the metabolites and minerals showed significant variations in their levels within and between donkey populations which could possibly be due to the differences in the nutritional status of donkeys, their managemental aspects and biochemical metabolism. In agro-climatic zone 1 (Spiti and Leh areas), having low vegetation cover with poor nutritious grasses for a limited period, levels of most of the biochemical profiles in donkey populations belonging to these areas were significantly lower than those in other zones (VI, IX, XII, XIV). This study indicated that normal biochemical values of different indices for a particular population should not be used as such for disease prognosis, diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of other donkey population belonging to other agro-climatic zone having different nutritional and managemental practices.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge their gratitude to the Director, ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), Hisar, Haryana, India for providing all the necessary facilities for conducting this study. This study was being funded from NRCE institutional research budget.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Centre on Equines, Sirsa Road, Hisar, 125001, Haryana, India

    A. K. Gupta, Sanjay Kumar, Parvati Sharma, Yash Pal, Anuradha Bhardwaj, Ajay Raut & S. C. Yadav

  2. Equine Production Centre, NRCE, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India

    R. K. Dedar & Jitender Singh

  3. National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Baramati, Pune, India

    Manoj Brahmane

  4. Bihar Veterinary College, Patna, Bihar, India

    Birendra Kumar

Authors
  1. A. K. Gupta
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  2. Sanjay Kumar
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  3. Parvati Sharma
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  4. Yash Pal
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  5. R. K. Dedar
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  6. Jitender Singh
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  7. Anuradha Bhardwaj
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  8. Manoj Brahmane
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  9. Ajay Raut
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  10. S. C. Yadav
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  11. Birendra Kumar
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Correspondence to A. K. Gupta.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical statement

The study involved drawing of ∼5 ml blood from jugular vein aseptically from horses with the consent of the animal owners. As such, no ethical approval was mandatory for this purpose.

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Gupta, A.K., Kumar, S., Sharma, P. et al. Biochemical profiles of Indian donkey population located in six different agro-climatic zones. Comp Clin Pathol 25, 631–637 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-016-2242-0

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