Changes in Blood Proteins of Deer during Gestation and Suckling

Abstract

Quantitation of total serum proteins (TSP), albumin, and alpha-, beta-, and gamma-globulins was done for 22 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus): 7 pregnant does having 11 fetuses during 115-194 days gestation, and 2 pairs of twin male fawns from birth to 24 days of age (one pair was allowed [N+] and the other not allowed [N-] to suckle their dams). During gestation, mean TSP were approximately 54 and 30 mg/ml of serum in does and fetuses, respectively; TSP, albumin, and alphaglobulin of does tended to decrease during gestation but beta-globulin tended to increase. Does' gammaglobulin decreased significantly with gestation time. Fetal alphaand beta-globulin remained relatively constant throughout gestation, but fetal TSP and albumin tended to increase during gestation. Mean TSP in neonatal deer were 55.0 and 37.7 mg/ml for N+ and Nfawns, respectively. Corresponding respective values for albumin, alpha-globulin, and beta-globulin were 27.8 and 22.9, 6.3 and 7.2, and 8.5 and 15.2 mg/ml of serum. Gamma-globulin was absent from Nfawns. Mean gamma-globulin in N+ fawns was 12.3 mg/ml; it decreased exponentially from 26.6 mg/ml on day 1 to 2.9 mg/ml on day 24 and exhibited a half-life of approximately 13 days. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 39(2):346-354 The serum proteins have been studied in many animal species, and comparative qualitative and quantitative studies of these proteins have been done in adult animals. A study of the blood proteins of the adult white-tailed deer and the natural variation of blood proteins in this wild ruminant recently was presented by Miller et al. (1965). The serum proteins of fetuses and young growing animals also have been studied, and an excellent review has appeared (Kekwick 1959). For the white-tailed deer, an investigation of the blood composition of nursing deer fawns and the milk and blood of their dams was conducted by workers in Michigan (Youatt et al. 1965). Polymorphism was found to exist in the postalbumin portion of fawn serum protein (Seal and Erickson 1969). Polymorphisms in the hemoglobin of adult and juvenile white-tailed deer also were reported in the same paper. Detectable quantities of serum immunoproteins were shown to have been synthesized in the bovine fetus rather than to have c ossed the placenta (Miller and Hubbert 1972). However, this fetal biosynthesis was also shown to be nonsignificant quantitatively (Trevorrow and Washburn 1970). The principal part of immunoproteins found in the young animal, therefore, was either transferred in utero to the fetus or was absorbed from the colostrum. The type of placentation dictates whether the principal avenue is the in utero route. Multilayered syndesmochorial placentation in the deer (Harrison and Hamilton 1952), as in the sheep, dictates the principal avenue of absorption of immunoproteins in both species to be from the colostrum. Quantitation of changes in composition of blood proteins of the dam and fetus done longitudinally with gestation has not been reported, to our knowledge. Changes in 1 Authorizxed by the Director of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station for publication as Paper No. 4275 in the journal series. 'Present address: Virginia Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 24061. 346 J. Wildl. Manage. 39(2):1975 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.131 on Sat, 15 Oct 2016 04:16:53 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms BLOOD PROTEINS OF DEER * Hartsook et al. 347 concentration of plasma proteins of the fetal calf were reported by Baetz et al. (1971). Therefore, one purpose of this report was to provide data on blood protein changes for the dam and fetus of the white-tailed deer during the latter period of gestation. Changes with time in the concentration of serum proteins of normal deer fawns suckling their dams have been presented by Tumbleson et al. (1970). A second purpose of this report was to compare, qualitatively and quantitatively, the blood proteins of deer fawns either allowed or not allowed to suckle their dams from birth through 24 days of age. We wish to thank P. Briggs for assistance with electrophoretic separations and quantitations. MATERIALS AND METHODS