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Abstract. To investigate the ambience associated variations in endogenous antioxidants status of Marwari goat of arid tracts in India, blood samples were collected to harvest sera from male and female Marwari goats of varying age groups during moderate, extreme hot and cold ambiences. The endogenous antioxidants viz. glutathione, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin A and β carotene were analysed in the serum samples. The moderate mean values (µmol L-1) were 5.30±0.01, 4.67±0.03, 26.42±0.31, 2.12±0.003 and 2.46±0.002, respectively. The levels of all the antioxidants decreased significantly (P<0.05) during hot and cold ambiences as compared to moderate ambience. The extent of decrease was greater during hot ambience than cold ambience. In each ambience the effect of sex and age was significant (P<0.05) on each antioxidant. It was concluded that extreme ambiences produced oxidative stress in the animals which resulted in depletion of the level of each of the antioxidant.
Key Words: Ambience, antioxidants, cold, hot, Marwari goat.
Introduction. Oxidative stress is an active field of research in veterinary medicine and has been implicated in numerous disease processes. The understanding of the role of oxidants and antioxidants in physiological and pathological conditions is rapidly increasing. Clarity of understanding of the pathophysiology of oxidative stress in animals will allow the design of specific antioxidant therapies to be used in veterinary medicine. To help accelerate practical applications, the development of an oxidative stress index is gaining importance as an approach in veterinary medicine by the scientific community (Celi 2011).
Biochemical processes naturally lead to the formation of free radicals, which in excess can alter the way in which the cells code genetic material. When free radicals are produced at a faster rate, antioxidant mechanism is highly activated to neutralise them, however, an oxidative stress results. All animal cells protect themselves against free radical damage by endogenous antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, tocopherol and glutathione. Sometimes these protective mechanisms are disrupted by various pathological processes, and antioxidant supplementation becomes vital to combat oxidative damage. Recently, much attention has been directed towards the development of ethno medicines with strong antioxidant properties but low cytotoxicities (Hazra et al 2008).
Ambient stress is one of the factors causing oxidative stress by modulating metabolic reactions. Inactivation or transformation of these oxidants requires...