Correlations among serum glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate and urea concentrations in non-pregnant ewes

An observational investigation was designed to find out the correlations among serum glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) and urea concentrations in 26 non-pregnant ewe flocks and probable flock differences among parameters under study. A 501 blood samples were collected from Jugular vein. The average number of 19 apparently healthy ewes was selected from each flock. Glucose, BHBA and urea concentrations were assessed by spectrophotometer methods using commercial kits (Runbut, Zeist Chimi and Pars Azmon), respectively. The SPSS statistical program and case summarize, one way, factorial ANOVA and correlation tests were used where appropriate to analyze the data. Mean ± S.E.M. for serum glucose, BHBA and urea concentrations were 46.89 ± 0.77 mg/dl, 0.673 ± 0.03 and 4.87 ± 0.05 mmol/l, respectively. Mean comparison of glucose, BHBA and urea concentrations among flocks showed significant differences for glucose (F = 37.4, P < 0.001), BHBA (F = 15.5, P < 0.001) and urea (F = 3.2, P < 0.01) concentrations among flocks. The results of factorial ANOVA among glucose, BHBA and urea concentrations showed that BHBA and urea had significant effects (P < 0.001) on the glucose concentration of non-pregnant ewes. Spearman correlation tests of the results between glucose, BHBA and urea concentrations showed a negative correlation between glucose and urea concentrations (r = −0.32, P < 0.01) and positive correlation between BHBA and urea concentrations (r = 0.11, P < 0.05) while no correlation was observed between BHBA and glucose concentration. Thus, it is concluded that serum glucose, BHBA and urea concentrations at their normal range varied among flocks and the differences between them were significant. The presence of significant correlations among serum parameters in non-pregnant ewes could be useful to compare with values in late pregnant ewes in order to study pregnancy toxemia.