Occurrence of oxidative stress in sheep during different pregnancy periods

The objective of this paper was to evaluate oxidative stress during different pregnancy stages in Lohi sheep reared in Libya. Investigations were carried out on Lohi sheep between 1.5 and 5 years of age. A total of 40 sheep were sub-grouped into various stages of pregnancy along with non-pregnant controls as follows: non-pregnant (n=10), early pregnancy (n=10), mid pregnancy (n=10), and late pregnancy (n=10). Blood samples were collected from pregnant sheep and preserved at -20°C and further used for evaluating the concentrations of total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and paraoxonase (PON-1). In pregnant sheep, TAS, TOS, MDA, SOD, CAT, and PON-1 values were significantly (P < 0.05) different. TOS and MDA increased from non-pregnant ewes to early, mid and late stages of pregnancy whereas TAS, SOD, CAT, and PON-1 significantly (P < 0.05) decreased with the progression of pregnancy. The study suggests that the use of oxidant and antioxidant markers along with the blood metabolic profile should be the recommended procedure for monitoring health status during pregnancy to evade reduced productive performance and economic losses.