Evaluation of clinical utility of serum enzymes of hepatic origin in clinically affected Marwari sheep of arid tract in India

The clinical utility of serum enzymes of hepatic origin was evaluated by determining their levels in the adult sheep of Marwari breed belonging to farmersʹ stock of arid tract of Rajasthan state, India. The animals were grouped into healthy and affected which comprised of fasciola infected, pneumonia affected, having enterotoxa122emia, and drought affected. The serum enzymes included were sorbitol dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase, ornithine carbamoyl transferase, gamma-glutamayl transferase, 5ʹnucleotidase, glucose-6-phosphatase, arginase, and aldolase. In clinically affected animals the levels of hepatic serum enzymes were significantly (p<0.05) higher as compared to respective healthy levels. In fasciola infected sheep the activities of all the enzymes were higher in comparison to healthy sheep. Degree of increase was least in pneumonia affected sheep. The G-6-Pase activity showed comparatively maximum change in fasciola infected animals as compared to other enzymes. As the activities of all the serum enzymes of hepatic origin were found increased in affected animals, it was concluded that they all had diagnostic significance exhibiting liver involvement. The increased activity was due to change of liver functions directly or indirectly.