Determination of beta-carotene and vitamin A contents of serum and liver of sheep slaughtered in Ahvaz abattoir during different seasons of the year
Subject Areas : Veterinary Clinical Pathology
نگار Hedayat
1
(Post Graduate Student of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.)
علیرضا Ghadrdan Mashhadi
2
(Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.)
علی Shahriari
3
(Associate Professor, Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran)
مهدی Zarei
4
(Associate Professor, Department of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid
Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran)
Keywords: Sheep, Vitamin A, Ahvaz, Beta-carotene,
Abstract :
Because of the particular role of vitamin A in different tissues and organs, various clinical signs are seen in its deficiency. Additionally, marginal deficiency of vitamin A without the presence of clinical signs leads to performance defects such as infertility. In this study, the seasonal changes of β-carotene and vitamin A of serum and liver of slaughtered sheep in Ahvaz abattoir were investigated. A total of 360 sheep were sampled from October 2013 to June 2014. Spectrophotometry was used for measuring values. The results were analyzed statistically with student t-test. The mean ±SE concentration of β-carotene and vitamin A of serum and liver were 209/9±1/5, 98±0/9 (µg/dl), 19/8±0/4, 32/3±0/8(µg/g), respectively. Although there wasn't significant difference in levels of the measured parameters in two age groups(sheep only with immature teeth and sheep with a minimum mature tooth) but there was a significant difference in vitamin A of serum and liver in the two sexes. The serumic levels of vitamin A in male sheep was more than the females while the concentration of vitamin A in the liver of female sheep was more than the males. The difference between seasons in vitamin A of serum was also statistically different with higher concentrations observed in warm seasons in comparison to milder seasons.