Abstract

Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is an ovarian dysfunction in cows resulting in a serious economic loss in the dairy industry. This study was conducted to examine the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, serum total protein (TP), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) levels of Sudanese crossbred (Friesian x Kenana) cows with COD in semi-closed condition. Forty-five dairy cows were divided into two groups. Group A (n= 30) were the cows with COD, and group B (n= 15) were healthy normal cycling cows (NC) that served as healthy control. Diagnosis of COD was based on history of frequent prolonged signs of estrus and per rectal palpation. Per rectal palpation for the uterus and ovaries was done weekly. A cow having a large follicle in the ovary that remained at the same position for three successive palpations or more was considered having COD. Results of the blood analysis showed that the serum levels of P, Cu, Zn and Mn of cows with COD were significantly lower (P<0.05) than those of NC cows (5.2 ± 1.3 vs. 6.7 ± 2.5 mg/dl, 0.41 ± 0.3 vs. 0.72 ± 0.3 ppm, 0.5 ± 0.3 vs. 0.7 ± 0.3 ppm and 0.4 ± 0.2 vs. 0.6 ± 0.2 ppm, respectively). No differences (p > 0.05) in Hb concentration (7.5 ± 1.2 vs. 7.4 ± 1.1 g/dl), serum TP (6.8 ± 1.2 vs. 6.5 ± 0.7 g/dl) and Fe (3.7 ± 1.3 vs. 3.7 ± 1.9 ppm) were observed between the two groups. This study reported reduced serum minerals (P, Cu, Zn and Mn) levels in Sudanese crossbred dairy cows with COD as compared to NC cows. Future studies are still needed to highlight the contribution of these minerals in inducing COD.

Key words: Cystic ovarian disease, deficiency of minerals, dairy cow.