INFLUENCE OF AGE, SEASON, AND PREGNANCY UPON BLOOD PARAMETERS IN AUSTRIAN KARAKUL SHEEP

During March 1988-March 1989, blood samples of 70 Karakul sheep from t wo farms in Lower Austria were taken in 2-month intervals. Normal rang es in EDTA-added blood were: erythrocytes (T/l) 7.3-12. 1; PCV (1/1) 0 .24-0.38; haemoglobin (g/l) 77-148; white blood cells (g/l) 7.6-19.7; lymphocytes (%) 33-84; segmented neutrophils (%) 10-62; band neutrophi ls (%) 0-4, eosinophils (%) 0-20; basophils (%) 0-1; and monocytes (%) 0-1. Serum reference values were for Ca (mmol/l) 2.0-2.6, P (mmol/l) 0.9-2.4, Mg (mmol/l) 0.7-1.2, total protein (g/l) 53-80, albumin (g/l) 21-38. aspartate aminotransferase (U/l) 35-80, alanine aminotransfera se (U/l) 5-18, gamma-glutamyltransferase (U/l) 26-51, alkaline phospha tase (U/l) 56-445, creatine kinase (U/l) 7-101, glutamic dehydrogenase (U/l) 3.7-23.9, total bilirubin (mumol/l) 0.7-3.8, cholesterol (mmol/ l) 1.1-2.3, urea nitrogen (mmol/l) 0.7-13.3, creatinine (mumol/l) 50-1 09. Sheep under 1 year showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher P, Ca, A LB, Hb, RBC, AP, CK, and GLDH levels than older sheep. Significant dif ferences between summer and winter levels were found for PCV, Hb, TP, ALB, CHOL, CREA, P, GGT, AP, CK, and GLDH. During the reproduction cyc lus significant changes were noted for TP, ALB, AST, GLDH, and urea. T hese investigations demonstrate the necessity to consider the influenc e of those factors upon haematological and serum parameters in the eva luation of laboratory findings.