Ascorbic acid and thiamine as adjunctive therapy for ovine pneumonia

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of ascorbic acid and thiamine as an adjunctive therapy with antibiotics in treatment of sheep affected with pneumonia. Twenty male lambs (8–12 months old) with clinical signs of pneumonia were randomly allocated into 1 of 4 treatment groups: A (antibiotics alone), B (antibiotics + thiamine), C (antibiotics + ascorbic acid), and D (antibiotics + thiamine + ascorbic acid). A separate group of five male healthy lambs, matching for weight and age served as the control group, received only distilled water. The primary outcomes were the rate of change in the severity of clinical signs of pneumonia and acute phase protein concentrations, assessed at days 1, 3, 6, and 14 after administration. All groups displayed clinical improvement, with groups C and D exhibiting faster resolution of dyspnea and nasal discharge. Serum total protein, ceruloplasmin, and haptoglobin decreased in all groups, with group D showing the fastest decline. Albumin levels increased significantly in all groups, especially in group D. Fibrinogen levels decreased most notably in D. WBC counts in group D converged with the control group on day 14. In conclusion, this study indicates that co-administration of thiamine and ascorbic acid alongside antibiotics may be more effective in treating pneumonia compared to antibiotics alone. Pneumonic animals receiving both thiamine and ascorbic acid displayed faster resolution of clinical signs and a more pronounced improvement in markers of inflammation compared to other treatment groups.