Clinico-biochemical examination of pregnant toxemic goats with special emphasis on the enzymatic and hormonal pattern

Abstract

Pregnancy toxemia (PT) is a metabolic stress syndrome, occurring in does during the late stage of gestation; especially those with twins or triplets. This study was aimed to evaluate the biochemical and hormonal alterations associated with clinically pregnant toxemic goats. Forty clinicallyhealthy and toxemicpregnant goats were used. Pregnant goats with early toxemia had anorexia, depression, dullness and scanty feces, with pronounced acetone odor from the mouth, recumbency, and nervous manifestations were noticed in the untreated and progressed cases. Striking metabolic alterations in goats with PT showed a significant decrease in the serum glucose level while beta-hydroxybutyrate (ßHB) showed a significant increase. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) showed a significant increase. Also, goats with PT showed a significant increase in the blood urea nitrogen and creatinine levels. Moreover, the hormonal profile showed a significant increase in the serum cortisol and insulin, while triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and growth hormone were decreased significantly in pregnant toxemic goats. Histopathologically, the liver showed fat globules distending the nuclei of the hepatocyte to the periphery with moderate lipidosis. These results suggest that the main cause of death among goats with PT may be due to the hepato-renal dysfunction. The increase in energy metabolites and hormonal alterations constitutes an important tool for the diagnosis and determination of the magnitude of clinically pregnant toxemic goats.