Effect of De-Odorase on blood urea and blood ammonium levels in hay-fed sheep

This study was carried out to determine the effect of the Yucca shidigera p lant extract, De-Odorase, on blood urea and blood ammonium Levels in sheep fed hay ad libitum. Blood samples were taken for analysis as follows: contr ols after 14 days of feeding on hay only; tests after supplementation with De-Odorase (250mg/sheep/day) for 10 days; and posttests 10 days after withd rawing De-Odorase supplementation. The paired Student two-tail t-test revea led that the mean blood urea values (mmol/L +/- SEM; n=18) for test samples and for post-test samples were significantly different from that for contr ol samples: control, 5.19 +/- 0.25; test, 6.65 +/- 0.28 (p<0.0005); post-te st, 6.38 +/- 0.30 (p<0.0005), In contrast, De-Odorase had no significant ef fect on blood ammonium, In eight of these sheep the post-test Level of bloo d urea after 20 days had decreased to 5.80 +/- 0.27, which was significantl y Lower (p<0.05) than the 10-day post-test Level for these sheep (6.61 +/- 0.53) but significantly higher (p<0.01) than their initial value, 4.93 +/- 0.39. The remaining 10 sheep were then given De-Odorase (500mg/sheep/day) f or a second period of 10 days and the mean urea level (mmol/L) increased to 6.66 +/- 0.37; which was not significantly different from the 10-day post- treatment Level, 6.20 +/- 0.35, De-Odorase caused a significant increase in blood urea, and the Levels remained higher than the controls for up to 20 days after withdrawing the treatment. This finding is in contrast to those in other species, such as rats and poultry, where it has been shown that De -Odorase reduced blood urea.