Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth Performances
The Barki sheep industry is becoming increasingly important in Egypt because of the high quality of their meat and wool. This sheep breed is also commonly known for its resistance to arid and harsh environmental conditions. Such characteristics can be exploited in solving the problematic situation o...
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/6/962 |
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| author | Ragab M. Fereig Rawia M. Ibrahim Atef M. Khalil Caroline F. Frey Fatma A. Khalifa |
| author_facet | Ragab M. Fereig Rawia M. Ibrahim Atef M. Khalil Caroline F. Frey Fatma A. Khalifa |
| author_sort | Ragab M. Fereig |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Barki sheep industry is becoming increasingly important in Egypt because of the high quality of their meat and wool. This sheep breed is also commonly known for its resistance to arid and harsh environmental conditions. Such characteristics can be exploited in solving the problematic situation of inadequate animal protein for human consumption, particularly under climatic changes. However, very few studies have investigated aspects of breeding, nutrition, and susceptibility to infectious or non-infectious diseases in Barki sheep. Herein, we propose to unravel the differences in the clinical and biochemical profiles among Barki sheep of different growth rates. We measured clinical and biochemical parameters in stunted (<i>n</i> = 10; test group) and in good body condition (<i>n</i> = 9; control group) Barki sheep. Animals subjected to this experiment were of the same sex (female), age (12 months old), and housed in the same farm with similar conditions of feeding, management practice, and vaccination and deworming regimens. Regarding clinical examination, stunted/tested sheep showed a significantly higher pulse and respiratory rate compared to sheep with a good body condition/control group. The appetite, body temperature, and digestion processes were the same in both groups. In biochemical investigations, nutritional biomarkers were reduced markedly in stunted sheep compared with the control sheep, including total protein (<i>p</i> = 0.0445), albumin (<i>p</i> = 0.0087), cholesterol (<i>p</i> = 0.0007), and triglycerides (<i>p</i> = 0.0059). In addition, the Barki sheep test group suffered from higher levels of urea and blood urea nitrogen than the control group. Consistently, growth and thyroid hormone levels were lower in stunted sheep than the control sheep, although the differences were not statistically significant (<i>p</i> > 0.05). No significant differences were detected in both groups for serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and zinc (<i>p</i> > 0.05). To detect the reasons for emaciation, certain debilitating infections were tested. All tested sheep showed negative coprological tests for gastrointestinal parasites, and had no obvious seropositivity to brucellosis, toxoplasmosis, neosporosis, or Q fever. This study demonstrates the useful biochemical markers for monitoring growth performance in Egyptian Barki sheep and unravels the usefulness of this breed in nationwide breeding and farming. |
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| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
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| spelling | doaj.art-256b7ea041454e36ac91adae7033ffca2023-11-17T09:10:19ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-03-0113696210.3390/ani13060962Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth PerformancesRagab M. Fereig0Rawia M. Ibrahim1Atef M. Khalil2Caroline F. Frey3Fatma A. Khalifa4Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, EgyptDivision of Clinical and Laboratory Diagnosis, Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, EgyptDivision of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology and Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, EgyptInstitute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 122, CH-3012 Bern, SwitzerlandDivision of Infectious Diseases, Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, EgyptThe Barki sheep industry is becoming increasingly important in Egypt because of the high quality of their meat and wool. This sheep breed is also commonly known for its resistance to arid and harsh environmental conditions. Such characteristics can be exploited in solving the problematic situation of inadequate animal protein for human consumption, particularly under climatic changes. However, very few studies have investigated aspects of breeding, nutrition, and susceptibility to infectious or non-infectious diseases in Barki sheep. Herein, we propose to unravel the differences in the clinical and biochemical profiles among Barki sheep of different growth rates. We measured clinical and biochemical parameters in stunted (<i>n</i> = 10; test group) and in good body condition (<i>n</i> = 9; control group) Barki sheep. Animals subjected to this experiment were of the same sex (female), age (12 months old), and housed in the same farm with similar conditions of feeding, management practice, and vaccination and deworming regimens. Regarding clinical examination, stunted/tested sheep showed a significantly higher pulse and respiratory rate compared to sheep with a good body condition/control group. The appetite, body temperature, and digestion processes were the same in both groups. In biochemical investigations, nutritional biomarkers were reduced markedly in stunted sheep compared with the control sheep, including total protein (<i>p</i> = 0.0445), albumin (<i>p</i> = 0.0087), cholesterol (<i>p</i> = 0.0007), and triglycerides (<i>p</i> = 0.0059). In addition, the Barki sheep test group suffered from higher levels of urea and blood urea nitrogen than the control group. Consistently, growth and thyroid hormone levels were lower in stunted sheep than the control sheep, although the differences were not statistically significant (<i>p</i> > 0.05). No significant differences were detected in both groups for serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and zinc (<i>p</i> > 0.05). To detect the reasons for emaciation, certain debilitating infections were tested. All tested sheep showed negative coprological tests for gastrointestinal parasites, and had no obvious seropositivity to brucellosis, toxoplasmosis, neosporosis, or Q fever. This study demonstrates the useful biochemical markers for monitoring growth performance in Egyptian Barki sheep and unravels the usefulness of this breed in nationwide breeding and farming.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/6/962Barki sheepparasitemineralbiochemicalclinicalprotein |
| spellingShingle | Ragab M. Fereig Rawia M. Ibrahim Atef M. Khalil Caroline F. Frey Fatma A. Khalifa Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth Performances Animals Barki sheep parasite mineral biochemical clinical protein |
| title | Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth Performances |
| title_full | Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth Performances |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth Performances |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth Performances |
| title_short | Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth Performances |
| title_sort | evaluation of clinical and biochemical traits in egyptian barki sheep with different growth performances |
| topic | Barki sheep parasite mineral biochemical clinical protein |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/6/962 |
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