Haematological and serum biochemical values of West African dwarf does following superovulatory treatment with FSH+LH (Pergonal®)

Abstract

The effect of the administration of varying doses of FSH+LH (Pergonal^®, Ferring Labs, USA) for superovulation on the haematological and serum biochemical values of goats was evaluated using 16 clinically sound, parous, West African Dwarf does, aged 23 years. Four treatment groups were employed including, T₁ (administered with physiological saline as the control); T₂, T₃ and T₄ given 19.0 IU, 58.0 IU and 82.0 IU FSH+LH respectively, as intramuscular injections over 3 days. The results revealed significant differences (P<0.05) in all the haematological parameters except packed cell volume (PCV). PCV values ranged from 0.33 ± 1.53 in the T₁ group (control) to 7.6 ± 1.05 in the T₂ group (19.0 IU Pergonal). White blood cell counts were higher (P<0.05) in the T₁ (13.14 ± 0.12 x 10³/µl) and T₂ (12.63 ± 0.10 x 10³/µl) groups than the other two groups which were similar (P>0.05). Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) was lower (P<0.05) in the T₃ group (30.11±0.31 g/dl) than the other groups except the T₂ group (32.65 ± 0.20 g/dl). Results on serum biochemistry showed no significant difference between treatments (P>0.05) in serum urea levels. Goats on T₁ (control) showed lowest (P<0.05) bicarbonate levels 19.00 ± 1.00 mmol/L. The highest total serum protein (TSP) of 8.83 ± 0.15 g/dl was observed in goats on the control treatment, while the least was in the T₄ group (5.17 ± 0.16 g/dl). The albumin values followed the trend of TSP. The results of this study indicate that apart from PCV and serum urea, the haematology and serum biochemistry of WAD goats may be affected when 58.0 IU or more of pergonal are used per superovulatory treatment. Hence, even though the blood parameters observed fall within the ranges reported for goats, the variations observed suggest the need to constantly monitor these parameters during pergonal treatments in WAD does.

Keywords: superovulatory treatments, FSH & LH, WAD does, haematology and serum chemistry

International Journal of Agricultural and Rural Development Vol. 5 2004: 54-60