Efeito da suplementação com complexo homeopático no perfil imunológico sérico de ovelhas gestantes e cordeiros

Claudia Dias Monteiro-Toma,Hugo Shisei Toma,Marcelo Diniz Dos Santos,Jéssica Núbia Da Silva Almeida,Lívia Saab Muraro,Eunice Oba,Armando De Mattos Carvalho,Fabiola Cristiane De Almeida Rêgo

doi:10.21708/avb.2021.15.3.10004

Abstract

Few information is available about the optimal period for colostrum absorption in the bowel of newborn lambs. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of using supplementation with commercial core homeopathic during pregnancy and early lactation on 18 pregnant Santa Inês ewes presenting body condition score ≥ 2.5. Pregnant animals were randomly divided in two groups; one was used as control (control group) and the other was supplemented on a daily basis with 30 g of homeopathic product with Natrum muriaticum 10-60, Calcium carbonicum 10-30, Silicea terra 10-400 and Hypothalamus 10-30 per animal, mixed to the concentrate during pregnancy and early lactation (treatment group). The Total Protein (TP) and globulin (GLB) values found in ewes and lambs belonging to the treatment group were higher than and different from those recorded for the control group. The serum albumin (ALB) concentration did not differ between groups of ewes but was different in lambs. TP and GLB evolution in lambs and ewes throughout the seven experimental days showed the animals in the treatment group trend to present higher TP and GLB values in all experimental periods; supplemented animals showed trend to progressive increase in both variables until day 3; whereas non-supplemented animals showed such trend until day 2 (when they reached their peak). The commercial core homeopathic to the animals during pregnancy and early lactation resulted in higher TP and GLB concentrations in the serum samples collected from ewes and lambs.

Highlights

The immunity of lambs in early life is directly associated with their body development
After the 30-day pregnancy was diagnosed through ultrasound examination, pregnant ewes were randomly divided in two groups, namely: the control group comprising nine females supplemented on a daily basis with 300 g of ovine concentrate containing 16% of Crude Protein and free of homeopathic complex, during the last four pregnancy and early lactation months; and the treatment group comprising nine females supplemented on a daily basis with 30 g of homeopathic complex “Homeobase ConvertH® (Homeopathic Veterinary Laboratory Real & Cia Ltda, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil) added and mixed with 300 g of ovine concentrate containing 16% of Crude Protein, during the last four pregnancy and early lactation months
Table 1 presents the mean of body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS) and Body Mass Index (BMI) of the ewes in both groups, throughout the experimental period

Summary

Introduction

The immunity of lambs in early life is directly associated with their body development. Improved immunity may enable better slaughtering conditions; it increases the sheep meat production profitability. One of the major concerns about sheep farming in Brazil, as well as in other countries worldwide, lies on the high mortality rate recorded for lambs in their first days of life, fact that decreases production gains (ROOK et al, 1990). Little is known about the optimal period for colostrum absorption in the bowel of ovine neonates. There have been reports of increased serum immunoglobulin levels when colostrum intake happens in the first hours of life, as well as of significant absorption decrease 24 hours after delivery. It happens due to the intestinal cell maturation process, or rather, because the initial intestinal cells are exchanged by the first generation of mature adult cells, which are characterized by their impermeability to macromolecules (KINDLEIN et al, 2008)

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