Haematological and Biochemical Alterations in Enzootic Bovine Haematuria

Abstract

Prasad, M. C.: Haematological and Biochemical Alterations In Enzootic Bovine Haematuria. Acta vet. Bmo, 52, 1983: 157-161. Haematological and biochemical alterations in the serum of EBH cattle were studied. Haemogram was indicative of progressive anaemia and leukopenia. There was an increase in the levels of blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine on one h'md while on the other hand decreased levels of serum protein, blood sugar, cholesterol and cal­ cium were observed. The urine samples of these animals were positive for albumin, su­ gar, pus cells and casts. The condition was attributed to be of multifactorial etiology with the involvement of kidney and liver. Haemogram, blood chemistry, urine. Studies on haematological and biochemical alterations have often provided certain Clues on the etiopathogenesis of the ailments particularly those of etiology. Keeping this in view and considering the world-wide prevalence (enzootic pockets) of Enzootic Bovine Haematuria (EBH), its worst prognosis and obscure nature of etiological agent (s), an attempt has been made to study the various alterations in haematological and biochemical parameters in spontaneous cases. Materials and Methods Seven adult cattle (4 bullocks and 3 cows) of nondescript breed suffering from EBH were pur­ chased from Sundarkhal area (near Mukteswar) of Kumaon Hills. The animals were aged 7-10 years. Two adult bullocks of almost similar age group were used as healthy control. Both groups were fed standard ration prepared and supplied by the institute and ad lib. water. These animals were kept under observation for about a week before experimentation and during this period body temperature, pulse, respiration and general body condition were recorded and found to be well within normal range. Blood was collected from jugular vein and various haematological and biochemical estimations were carried out for seven and six consecutive months at monthly intervals in case of haematuric and control animals, respectively. Thus, a total of 49 observations were taken in haematuric animals and 12 in control animals (exCluding the initial observations taken prior to putting them under experiment). For different haematological parameters (total erythrocyte/leucocyte count, diffe­ rential leucocyte count, haemoglobin estimation, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration) the techni­ ques described by Coles (1974) were employed. Biochemical studies inCluded total protein (Biuret method - Wootten 1964), blood sugar (Folin and Wu 1920), blood urea nitrogen (Diacetyl monoxime, Delory 1966), serum creatiaine (Wootten 1964), inorganic phosphorus (Fisk and Subbarao 1925), calcium (Clark and Collip 1925) and total cholesterol (Wootten 1964) estimations. Simple arithmetical mean of these values was calculated. The urine samples were examined routinely at fortnightly intervals (Coles 1974).