Adaptive profile of Garfagnina goat breed assessed through physiological, haematological, biochemical and hormonal parameters

Abstract

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.

Effects of the dry and the rainy season on endocrine and physiologic profiles of goats in the Brazilian semi-arid region

“…They have adjusted RBC to survive both food and water shortages as well as high temperatures. The values obtained in this study are in agreement with those reported in previous studies (Kaneko et al 2009;Piccione et al 2010;Carlos et al 2015;Ribeiro et al 2016). These changes are likely adaptive and have been acquired over the years as a result of the environmental conditions of the studied region.…”

“…The lower levels of T3 and T4 during the dry season are consistent with other studies (Helal et al 2010;Abdel-Fattah 2014;Costa et al 2015;Ribeiro et al 2016) in which an inverse correlation was observed between thyroid hormone concentration and AT (À0.55; p < .05) in goats. These findings suggest that this decrease is also an adaptive mechanism to reduce heat (Starling et al 2005;Helal et al 2010;Costa et al 2015, Ribeiro et al 2016.…”

“…There are many studies on the effect of season on biochemical blood parameters (Sejian et al 2010;Ribeiro et al 2016). In our study, these parameters were significantly different between seasons (p < .05).…”

“…The concentrations of thyroid hormones depend on various genetic, environmental and nutritional factors (Todini et al 2007). The thyroid and adrenal glands play key roles in the adaptation mechanism; well-adapted animals respond quickly to environmental changes through physiological adjustments (Uribe-Velasquez et al 1998;Starling et al 2005;Coelho et al 2008;Sejian 2013;Ribeiro et al 2016).…”

“…Animals respond differently to drastic temperature changes by altering several aspects of their physiology and behaviour Ribeiro et al 2016). These changes include alterations in physiological parameters (rectal temperature, RT; heart rate, HR; respiratory rate, RR; surface temperature, ST) (Marai et al 2007), the erythrogram (Al-Eissa et al 2012), blood biochemical parameters (Abdelatif et al 2009;Ribeiro et al 2016), and cortisol and thyroid hormones (Helal et al 2010).…”