The aim of this review was to understand the role of physiological, hematological, biochemical and hormonal variables of the blood of goats raised in adverse environments. Scientific work in recent years has allowed for the evaluation of how goats of various breeds respond to edaphoclimatic effects to maintain homeothermy according to adaptability to the environment. The exposure of goats to heat stress causes changes in the physiological functions with impact on production and productivity of the animals. There is evidence that the central nervous system is sensitive to temperature changes, and some cells are agiler in the cold than in heat. In conclusion, we say that regardless of the breed, the raising environment and its climatic variables can trigger physiological, biochemical, hematological and hormonal alterations that result in a reduction of the heat production for maintenance of homeothermy. All these changes have a substantial impact on production and productivity.

This study investigated the effect of season on the endocrine and adaptive profiles of a Brazilian Creole goat population in a semi-arid region of Brazil during the dry and the rainy season. We considered physiological, morphological, biochemical, haematological, hormonal and anatomical profiles. The experiment used 80 adult goats (2-to 5-year-old) and lactating (160 ± 14 days of lactation length) goats, with an average daily milk yield of 500.9 ± 13 g. Physiological parameters (rectal temperature, RT; respiratory rate, RR; heart rate, HR; skin temperature, ST) were high (p < .05) in the afternoon in both seasons. There was a significant effect of season (p < .05) on anatomical parameters (hair diameter, HD; hair length, HL; coat thickness, CT). Haematological, biochemical and hormonal parameters were also significantly affected by season (p < .05). We measured the biochemical and hormonal characteristics changes during different seasons; metabolism was reduced during heat stress and accelerated during cold stress. These hormones facilitate the physiological parameters involved in the adaptation process. Our results confirm that the adaptive capacity of the animals cannot be described solely by RT and RR.ARTICLE HISTORY

RESUMO:Esta pesquisa teve o objetivo de determinar os índices de conforto térmico em instalações para ovinos, analisar os parâmetros fisiológicos e o gradiente térmico de quatro grupos genéticos, na região semiárida paraibana. Foram utilizados 40 animais, dez por grupo genético, que foram: Cariri, Morada Nova, Barriga Negra e Cara Curta, todas fêmeas, alojadas aleatoriamente em quatro apriscos. Os índices ambientais dentro das instalações, principalmente das 11 às 15 h, ficaram acima da zona de conforto térmico para ovinos adultos, com exceção da umidade relativa do ar, que ficou com média diária de 67,5%. A temperatura retal dos animais esteve dentro da faixa normal, sendo o grupo genético Morada Nova o que apresentou menor valor (38,6 ºC). A frequência respiratória dos animais em cada grupo genético ficou acima do valor recomendado, porém o Morada Nova apresentou o menor valor (43,5 mov min -1 ); em contrapartida, o Cariri e o Barriga Negra apresentaram os maiores valores (48,0 e 47,3 mov min -1 , respectivamente). Os animais com pelagem mais escura e de maior porte, como os da raça Cariri, apresentaram maior gradiente térmico entre a temperatura do ar e a temperatura superficial. Os animais apresentaram alto índice de tolerância ao calor, ou seja, bem adaptados ao ambiente tropical, podendo o grupo genético Cariri ser caracterizado como o menos adaptado e o Morada Nova considerado o mais bem adaptado às condições experimentais. PALAVRAS-CHAVE:ambiência, conforto térmico, animais nativos.

This study was conducted to investigate the adaptive profile of the Garfagnina goat breed in two different seasons (spring and summer) through physiological, biochemical, haematological, and hormonal parameters. Fifty adult lactating females were studied twice a day (morning and afternoon) in each season. The air temperature, black globe temperature and air relative humidity was recorded using an automatic weather station. Physiological parameters recorded were rectal temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, skin temperature and rectalskin temperature gradient. The results of this study showed that there was a significant effect of season and period on all environmental variables. Physiological variables, rectal temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate and skin temperature showed higher values in the afternoon in both seasons. Both biochemical and hormonal parameters were significantly affected by season of the year. Biochemical and hormonal characteristics undergo changes during different seasons such that metabolism is reduced during heat stress and accelerated during cold stress; these metabolic changes are controlled by the thyroid hormones and cortisol. It has been shown from this study that these hormones facilitates the physiological parameters involved with the adaptation process confirming that adaptive capacity of animals cannot be described solely by rectal temperature and respiratory rate.

The Garfagnina goat is an endangered native goat population from Italy. This study aims to give a contribution to the milk quality assessment of the native goat during the two productive seasons, spring and summer, and to verify the relationships between some meteorological data and physiological and milk quality parameters. Individual milk samples were taken in the two seasons. Physiological parameters and meteorological data were also registered. All the milk samples were measured for volume and analysed for: dry matter, total nitrogen, casein, ash, lactose, fat, milk fatty acid (FA) composition, number and diameter of the fat globules, and rheological parameters. There were not differences in the average diameter of the milk fat globules (2.27 ± 0.28 lm) and in milk gross composition between the two seasons, except for lactose which was significantly lower in summer. During summer a significant increase in some longchain FAs such as CLA c9,t11, C18:1 t11, C18:0, C18:3 n3, C20:0, C22:0, C22:2 was observed, whereas short-chain FAs (C6:0, C8:0, C10:0), which are responsible for the development of unpleasant aromas, as well as monounsaturated C16:1, C17:1 c9, C20:1, C22:1 and polyunsaturated FAs C20:2, C20:3 n3 decreased. The average PUFA n6/PUFA n3 ratio was 1.7 and the lowest values were recorded in summer. In summer a worsening of the clot, which was less firm, was found. Environmental parameters were found to be linked to the milk FAs, while heart rate and skin temperature were negatively linked to milk yield and lactose, respectively. ARTICLE HISTORY

a b s t r a c tThe aim of this study was to characterize the adaptive profile and identify variables with great discriminatory power of the Brazilian Azul goat population and Italian Garfagnina population, through the use of principal component and canonical discriminant analysis. A total of 110 Garfagnina milking females (60 in winter and 50 in summer) and 80 Brazilian Azul (40 in winter and 40 in summer) were considered. Air temperature ( • C), black globe temperature (BGT) and relative humidity (%) were measured with the aid of an automatic weather station. Some physiological parameters (rectal temperature -RT, respiratory rate -RR, skin temperature -ST and heart rate -HR), some anatomical parameters (hair diameter -HD and hair length -HL), some hematological parameters (erythrocyte -RBCs, packed cell volume -PCV and mean corpuscular volume -MCV), some blood biochemical parameters (glucose -GLI, cholesterol -COL, triglycerides -TRI, creatinine -CRE, urea -URE, total protein -PRT, albumin -ALB, globulin -GLO, albumin and globulin ratio -A/G, gamma -glutamyl transferase -GGT and aspartate aminotransferase -AST) and some stressed hormones (thyroxine -T4, triiodothyronine -T3 and cortisol -COR) were measured. The variables with greater discriminant power were T3, ST, COR, T4, GGT, HD, GLO, HL and PCV to Garfagnina population and PRT, MCV, PCV, ALB, T4, ST, HL, RBCs, TRI and GGT in the Azul Brazilian population. Classification of the animals was more accurate when considering morphological, physiological, hematological, biochemical and hormonal variables jointly.

RESUMO -Utilizaram-se dados de 689 lactações de 225 cabras Pardo Alpina x Gurguéia filhas de 18 bodes, controladas de 1988 a 1996, criadas na Fazenda Carnaúba, Taperoá-PB, com os objetivos de estudar os efeitos ambientais e estimar parâmetros genéticos para as características produção de leite (PL) e duração da lactação (DL). Os efeitos ambientais foram estimados por meio de um modelo estatístico que incluiu o efeito aleatório de bode, os efeitos fixos de grupo contemporâneo, tipo de parto e idade da cabra ao parto e duração da lactação, para PL, como covariáveis. Os parâmetros genéticos foram estimados por intermédio do programa MTDFREML, sob modelo animal, contendo os efeitos fixos e covariáveis utilizados no modelo anterior. As características foram influenciadas pelo efeito fixo de grupo contemporâneo. A idade da cabra influenciou apenas a característica PL. As médias obtidas para PL e DL foram 257,71 ± 54,73 kg e 185,56 ± 46,87 dias, respectivamente, equivalendo à produção média diária de 1,38 kg de leite/dia. As estimativas de herdabilidade e repetibilidade foram, respectivamente, de 0,23 e 0,35 para PL e 0,20 e 0,24 para DL. A correlação genética estimada entre as características foi de 0,96. Em razão de as herdabilidades das características serem de média magnitude e limitadas ao sexo, sugerese o teste de progênie como método de seleção mais eficaz para os bodes.Palavras-chave: caprinos leiteiros, nordeste, parâmetros genéticos, semi-árido Genetic and Environmental Effects that Affect Milk Production and Lactation Length of Crossbred Goats in the State of ParaibaABSTRACT -Records of 689 lactations of 225 Alpine x Gurguéia goats, progenies of 18 buck, controlled from 1988 to 1996, raised at Carnaúba Farm, Taperoá-PB, were analyzed with the objective of study environmental effects and estimate genetics parameters for Milk Production (MP) and Length of Lactation (LL). The environmental effects were analyzed by an statistical model that included buck random effects and the fixed effects of contemporary groups, type of kidding and age of dam at kidding and length lactation as covariate. The genetic parameters were estimated using MTDFREML program, under animal model, including fixed effects and covariates through a described model before. The traits were influenced by contemporary groups. The age of dam at kidding influenced only MP trait. The means for MP and LL were 257.72 ± 54.73 kg and 185.54± 46.87 days, respectively, giving a daily mean production of 1.38 kg of milk/ day. The heritability and repeatability estimates were, respectively, 0.23 and 0.35 for MP and 0.20 and 0.24 for LL. The genetic correlation estimate between MP and LL was 0.96. Due to the traits heritability are of average magnitude and sex-limited, it is suggested to use the progeny test as method of more effective selection for bucks.

A raça caprina Marota é parte do patrimônio genético do Brasil, formada por animais altamente adaptados ao semi-árido nordestino. Este estudo avaliou a estrutura genética do núcleo de conservação da raça Marota, mantida pela Embrapa Meio Norte. SUMMARYMarota breed goat is part of the Brazilian genetic patrimony, consisting by animals highly adapted to semi-arid region. This study evaluated genetic structure of Marota breed from Embrapa Meio Norte conservation nucleus. Pedigree records of 663 animals, which were born from 1995 to 2003, were used for population parameters estimation. Inbreeding coefficient (F) and average relationship coefficient (AR) of the population were 0.11% and 0.84% respectively. Generation interval (IEG) was 5.28 years and average effective size (N e ) per generation was 222 animals; being the effective number of founder animals ( ) and ancestral ( ) was the same (48). Among 214 ancestors evaluated, just 22 of them were responsible for 50% of the population genetic variability, which indicate loss of original genes. This study shows low contribution of the founder animals among the generations. Wright inbreeding coefficient indicates population subdivision in lineages. Inbreeding and average relationship coefficient (AR) are low in the evaluated herd.