title: Evaluation of oxidative stress via total antioxidant status, sialic acid, malondialdehyde and RT-PCR findings in sheep affected with bluetongue.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bluetongue (BT) is a non-contagious infectious disease of ruminants. The disease agent bluetongue virus (BTV) is classified in the Reoviridae family Orbivirus.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine serum malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidative stres (TAS), total sialic acid (TSA), ceruloplasmin, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), cholesterol, creatinine, albumin, and total protein levels in sheep with and without bluetongue (BT).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 13 Sakiz crossbreed sheep, aged 1-4 years and usually in the last stage of pregnancy, as the BT group and a control group consisting of 10 healthy sheep. All sheep were clinically examined before collecting blood samples. Serum ALT, AST, cholesterol, triglyceride, albumin, GGT, total protein, creatinine and TAS levels were measured using commercially available kits as per manufacturer's recommendations using a Biochemistry Auto Analyzer (Sinnowa D280, China). Serum lipid peroxidation was estimated through a previously described method in which MDA reacts with thiobarbituric acid (TBA) to form a coloured complex at a maximum absorbance of 535 nm. The TSA value was measured at 549 nm using the method described by Warren (1959): sialic acid was oxidised to formyl-pyruvic acid, which reacts with TBA to form a pink product. The ceruloplasmin concentration was measured according to Sunderman and Nomoto (1970): ceruloplasmin and p-phenylenediamine formed a coloured oxidation product that was proportional to the concentration of serum ceruloplasmin. Real time RT-PCR and conventional RT-PCR were performed as described by Shaw and others (2007).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Biochemistry analysis of serum showed that in the BT group, TSA, MDA, triglyceride and ALT and AST were higher and that ceruloplasmin and TAS were lower than in the control group. Serum albumin, cholesterol, creatinine, total protein and GGT did not differ significantly between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum triglyceride, ceruloplasmin, TSA, MDA and TAS concentrations may prove beneficial to the diagnosis, prognosis and biochemical analysis of BT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine , Balikesir University, School of Veterinary Medicine , Balikesir , Turkey.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aytekin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry , Balikesir University, School of Veterinary Medicine , Balikesir , Turkey.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aksit
authors.affiliation: Virology Laboratory , Pendik Veterinary Control Institute , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sait
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine , Balikesir University, School of Veterinary Medicine , Balikesir , Turkey.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology , Balikesir University, School of Veterinary Medicine , Balikesir , Turkey.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aksit
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Hygiene and Technology , Balikesir University , Balikesir , Turkey.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gokmen
authors.affiliation: Virology Laboratory , Pendik Veterinary Control Institute , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: A Unsal
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Baca
keywords: Bluetongue; Ewes; PCR