Heat stress induced changes in metabolic regulators of donkeys from arid tracts in India

Abstract

To find out heat stress induced changes in metabolic regulators of donkeys from arid tracts in India, blood samples were collected to harvest the serum during moderate and extreme hot ambiences. The metabolic enzymes determined were sorbitol dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase, ornithine carbamoyl transferase, gammaglutamayl transferase, 5’nucleotidase, glucose-6-phosphatase, arginase, and aldolase. The mean values of all the serum enzymes increased significantly (p≤0.05) during hot ambience as compared to respective values during moderate ambience. It was concluded that increased activity of all the enzymes in the serum was due to modulation of metabolic reactions to combat the effect of hot ambience on the animals. Activation of gluconeogenesis along with hexose monophosphate shunt and urea cycle probably helped the animals to combat the heat stress.

Keywords

• Donkeys
• heat stress
• gluconeogenesis
• hexose monophosphate shunt
• metabolic enzymes