Extended Abstract

Haematology and Serum Biochemical Profile of Weaner Rabbits Fed Yam Peels at Graded levels as a Replacement for Maize
Mohammed, L. and ⃰Y. Garba
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bayero University, PMB 3011, Kano.
Corresponding author email: lukman10000@gmail.com
⃰ Centre for Dryland Agriculture Bayero Unoversity Kano.
Abstract
Serum haematology and biochemical profile of weaner rabbits fed graded levels of yam peels replacing maize were evaluated. The experiment which lasted fifty-six days using 15 weaner rabbits was laid in a randomized complete block design using five dietary treatments with three replications each. The dietary treatments evaluated were 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 0% inclusion level of yam peels replacing maize. Results revealed significant (p<0.05) differences in all the parameters evaluated except for the white blood cells, lymphocytes and globulin. The results obtained did not follow any pattern except chloride levels which had significant (P<0.05) decrease across all the treatments (88.00 – 72.00 mmol/L). Higher values were obtained from the control-based diet in the haematological and serum electrolytes profile. While higher values were obtained in animals fed 20% inclusion of the test ingredient for globulin (32.00 g/L), total cholesterol (3.00 mmol/L), high density lipoproteins (1.00 mmol/L), alkaline phosphatase (3.50 U/L), alanine amino transferase (8.00 U/L) and aspartate amino transferase (10.00 U/L). It is concluded that there is no adverse effects of the yam peels diet on the experimental animals across all dietary treatments. It is however recommended that more studies should be carried out on the optimum inclusion levels and its suitability in other classes of rabbit.
Key words: serum haematology, serum chemistry, weaner rabbits, yam peels, , serum electrolytes.
Introduction
The problem of animal protein insufficiency in Nigeria and other developing nations has attained a deplorable status which calls for urgent remedy to avert the imminent protein malnutrition. This problem has been attributed to high cost of conventional ingredients for feed making which has made monogastric animal feed a major cost of production (Agbakoba et al., 1995).
Iyeghe-Erakpotobor et al. (2002), reported that increased rabbit production is one sure way of meeting the animal protein requirements of the Nigerian populace and increased production of fryers and breeders. This can be ensured through proper nutrition and feeding of weaner rabbits.
Rabbit production is promising because as monogastric herbivores, they do not compete directly with Man for both cereal and legume grains. Rabbit is also favoured because of its high fecundity, low cost of investment, short generation interval, as well as ability to utilize diverse forages (Taiwo et al., 2004). The animal protein shortage facing Nigeria cannot be solved by large animals with their slow production cycle.
Rabbit farming is growing in many countries today, hence feeding problems associated with poultry and pig farming are now being encountered by rabbit breeders who depend solely on pellets and concentrates for their animals (Omole, 1992; Esonu and Udedibe, 1993). The escalating prices of pellets and concentrates for feeding rabbits in Nigeria constitute considerable constraints on the expansion of commercial rabbit production. Thus, there has been increasing research effort focused on the utilization of alternative cheap feed sources for rabbits.
The scarcity and high cost of cereal grains, especially maize, has necessitated research into alternative energy sources for livestock feeding. Yam (Dioscorea rotundata) is produced in large quantities in Nigeria and form important energy sources for human and livestock feeding. The peels from the processing of these roots are readily available at cheap costs in many parts of the country because they have limited or no human food value. Yam peel meal (YPM) is reported to be a good source of protein but poor in energy (Diarra et al., 2012).
Blood is known to be vital to the life of an organism. This is a medium through which nutrients are conveyed to various parts of the body system of an organism. A readily available and fast means of assessing clinical and nutritional status of an animal on feeding trial may be the use of blood analysis (Olabanji et al., 2009).
Blood examination gives the opportunity to investigate the presence of several metabolites and other constituents and helps detect conditions of stress, which can be nutritional, environmental or physical (Aderemi, 2004). Haematological parameters are important and reliable medium used in monitoring and evaluating health and nutritional status of animals (Babatunde et al., 1992; Onifade and Tewe, 1993; Gupta, et al., 2007).
This experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of yam peels on the haematology and biochemical profile of weaner rabbits fed graded levels as a replacement for maize.
Materials and Methods
The experiment was conducted at the Rabbit unit of the Livestock Teaching and Research Farm of Bayero University Kano which lies on latitude 11°58.675’ North and longitude 8°25.746’ East on an elevation of 468m above sea level. It has a mean daily temperature which ranges between 30°C to 33°C and annual rainfall ranging between 787 and 960 mm (KNARDA, 2001). The rabbit unit was disinfected two weeks before the arrival of the rabbits.
Fifteen weaner rabbits of mixed sexes with an average initial weight of 0.70 kg of eight weeks age were sourced from the Rabbit Unit of the National Animal Production and Research Institute (NAPRI) Shika Zaria, Nigeria. The yam peels been used were collected from Benue state at Katsina Ala Local Government Area. They were shade dried for 5 days and were later crushed to a coarse consistency before been used in formulating the diet.
Five experimental diets were formulated. The diets were designated as Treatment A,B,C,D and E. Treatment A was a maize based diet which served as the control without yam peels while Treatment B, C, D and E were dietary treatments in which yam peels was used to replace maize at 5, 10, 15 and 20% respectively.
Two rabbits per treatment were randomly selected for the blood evaluation. The rabbits were slaughtered by severing the jugular vein for blood collection. Five (5) ml of blood was collected separately from each animal into bottles containing EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid) for haematological parameters and plain bottles without anticoagulant for biochemical indices.
Dry matter (DM), Crude Fiber (CF), Ether Extract (EE), Nitrogen Free Extract (NFE), Ash and Crude Protein (CP) were determined using the AOAC (2005) procedure while Acid-detergent fibre (ADF) and Neutral-detergent fibre were determined as described by Van Soest (1991).
The haematological parameters were determined using the Cell-DYN 3500 Hematology Analyzer (Abbott Diagnostic Division, Santa Clara CA). Recommended settings and calibration for rabbit hematology were applied according to the manufacturer’s operation manual. Blood samples with EDTA anticoagulant were used for the determination of the selected haematological parameters (Archetti et al., 2008).
The serum biochemical parameters were determined at 37 °C in a random-access clinical analyzer (SYNCRON CX5-DELTA, Beckman Coulter, and Fullerton, U.S.A.) using kits by the same firm. The parameters and the respective methods applied are the following: aspartate aminotransferase (AST) - Henry method; alanine aminotransferase (ALT) - Henry method; creatinine - colorimetric, Jaffè method; urea - enzymatic colorimetric, urease method; Inorganic phosphorus (Pi), - phoshomolybdate method. (Amadori et al., 1997). Alkaline phosphtase was determined with the enzyme kits (Techon Diagnostics, Tarry-town, NY) as presented by Hewitt et al. (1989).
Other parameters obtained were analyzed colorimetrically for total protein (TP) by the Biurette method with kits (Plasmatec; Plasmatec Laboratory products Ltd., UK). Albumin (Ab) concentration was determined by the bromocresol green (BCG) method (Peters et al., 1982). Cholesterol concentration was determined using the Biurette method of Coles, (1986). Triglycerides were analyzed using the fluorometric analysis methods, HDL and IDL were determined by ultracentrifugation, precipitation and electrophoresis (Cox and Garcia-Palmieri, 1990).
Bicarbonate was determined by the enzymatic method reported by Forrester et al. (1976) using phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) as a reagent. Plasma electrolytes were determined electrochemically with Ektachem ion-selective electrode slides for chloride, sodium and potassium. Blood calcium was assayed with Calcium Ektachem slides. Appropriate calibrator (Eastman Kodak Co.) was used for the assay (Hewitt et al., 1989).
Data collected were subjected to Analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the SAS (2001) statistical software. Least significant difference (LSD) were used to separate means at p<0.05. Results and Discussion
Results with respect to haematological profile of weaner rabbits fed graded levels of yam peels replacing maize are presented in Table 1. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in all the variables evaluated except for white blood cells and lymphocytes. Experimental animals placed on the control based diets had significantly (p<0.05) higher haemoglobin, red blood cells, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration. The mean values obtained though statistically significant (p<0.05) did not follow any particular trend. Values obtained for Haemoglobin were all within the reference value for rabbits as reported by Hewitt et al. (1989); Van Praag, (2004) except that of the control based diet which was higher. All values for the RBC were within the range reported by Hewitt et al. (1989); Van Praag, (2004). The values of WBC obtained were all within the reference values provided by Burnett et al. (2006) and Van Praag, (2004). All the PCV values obtained were all within the reference range values for rabbits as reported by Van Praag, (2004) except for the control based diet which was higher. The obtained MCV values were all within the values reported by Hewitt et al. (1989) except for the control based diet and 15% inclusion levels of yam peels which were higher. All the values obtained for MCH were all within the range reported by Hewitt et al. (1989). Both the values for MCHC and Lymphocytes obtained were all within the reference range by Van Praag, (2004). The values for Monocytes obtained except that of the control based diet were all higher than the range provided by Van Praag, (2004). All the values obtained for the Neutrophils were slightly lower than the reference range provided by Van Praag, (2004) except for that of 5% levels of inclusion. Values obtained for the platelets were all within the reference range reported by Hewitt et al. (1989).
The difference in the value for haemoglobin between the control based diet and the other Treatments might be attributed to the anti-nutritional factors present in the test ingredient. The value for the haemoglobin resulted to the occurrences of higher values for PCV, MCV and MCHC in Treatment A (the control based diet).
Table 2 presents results with respect to blood chemistry of weaner rabbits fed graded levels of yam peels replacing maize. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in all the variables evaluated except for globulin. Experimental animals placed on 20% inclusion of yam peels had significantly (p<0.05) higher values for total cholesterol, urea, high density lipoproteins, alkaline phosphatase, alanine amino transferase and aspartate amino transferase.
The mean values obtained did not follow any specific trend across the treatments. Values obtained for Globulin and Total protein fell within the normal reference range values reported by Van Praag, (2004). The values of Albumin for 5% inclusion level of yam peels was within the Van Praag, (2004) normal rabbit reference value while others were slightly lower. The values for Total cholesterol obtained for 5%, 10%, and 15% inclusion levels of yam peels were within the reference range reported by Hewitt et al. (1989) while that of the control based diet and 20% inclusion levels of yam peels were higher. Values obtained for urea, ALP, ALT and AST were all far below the reference values reported by Hewitt et al. (1989); Van Praag, (2004); Burnett et al. (2006).
Table 3 presents results with respect to serum electrolytes of weaner rabbits fed graded levels of yam peels replacing maize. There was significant (p<0.05) differences in all the variables evaluated. Experimental animals placed on the control based diet had significantly (p<0.05) higher Ca, Cl-, K and Na values. The mean values obtained did not follow any specific pattern except that of chloride which had significant (p<0.05) decrease across the treatments. All the values obtained were all lower than the normal reference values reported by Burnett et al. (2006); Hewitt et al. (1989); Van Praag, (2004) except for sodium which fell within the value range provided by Burnett et al. (2006). All these might be attributed to either the environment or the laboratory analysis techniques being used because the values obtained in the control based diet were as well low.
References
Aderemi, F.A. (2004). Effects of replacement of wheat bran with cassava root sieviate supplemented or unsupplemented with enzyme on the haematology and serum biochemistry of pullet chicks. Trop. J. Animal Sci., 7:147-153.
Agbakoba, A.M., Udealor, A., Onwubu, E.C., and Amalu, C.U. (1995). Evaluation of optimum supplementation levels of poultry growers mash with sweet potato leaves in rabbit feeding. 10th Annual farming systems research and extension workshop National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Nigeria.
Amadori, M., Archetti, I.L., Frasnelli, M., Bagni, M., Olzi, E., Caronna, G. and Lanteri, M. (1997). An immunological approach to the evalutation of welfare in Holstein Frisian cattle. J. Vet. Med., 44: 321-327.
AOAC, (2005) Association of Official Analytical Chemist Official Methods of Analysis Washington, D. C. pp. 1094.
Archetti, I., Tittarelli, C., Cerioli, M., Brivio, R., Grilli, G. and Lavazza, A. (2008). Serum chemistry and hematology values in commercial rabbits: preliminary data from industrial farms in northern Italy. 9th World Rabbit Congress – June 10-13, 2008 – Verona – Italy.
Babatunde, G.M., Fajimi, A.O., and Oyejide, A.O. (1992). Rubber seed oil versus palm oil in broiler chicken diets. Effects on performance, nutrient digestibility, haematology and carcass characteristics. Animal Feed Science and Technology 35: 133 – 146.
Burnett N., Mathura K., Metivier K.S., Holder R.B., Brown G. and Campbell M. (2006). An investigation into haematological and serum chemistry parameters of rabbits in Trinidad. World Rabbit Sci., 14: 175 – 187.
Coles, E.H. (1986). Veterinary Clinical Pathology. WB Saunders Co. Philadelphia, USA., 4th Edition pp: 328-329.
Cox, A.E. and Garcia-Palmieri, R.M. (1990). Cholesterol, Triglycerides and Associated Lipoproteins. Retrieved from http://wwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK351/ on the 30th May 2014.
Diarra, S. S., Igwebuike, J. U., Kwari, I. D., Sinodo, S., Babangida, A., Ahmadu, U., Shettima, S. and Jibrin, M. (2012), Evaluation of Yam-Sweet Potato Peels Mixture as Source of Energy in Broiler Chickens Diets. ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science. vol. 7, no.7.
Esonu, B.O. and Udedibe, A.B.I, (1993). The effect of replacing maize with cassava peel meal on the performance of weaned rabbits. Nigerian Journal of Animal Production, (1-2): 81-85.
Gupta, A.R., Putra, R.C., Sani, M. and Swarup, D. (2007). Haematology and serum biochemistry of Chital (Axis axis) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntijax) reared in semi-captivity. Veterinary Research Communications, 31: 801 – 808.
Hewitt, C.D., Innes, D.J., Savory, J. and Wills, M.R. (1989). Normal biochemical and haematological values in New Zealand White Rabbits. Clin.Chem., 35/8, 1777-1779.
Iyeghe-Erakpotobor, G.T., Ndoly, M., Oyedipe, E.O., Eduvie, L.O. and Ogwu, D., (2002). Effect of protein flushing on reproductive performance of multiparous does. Trop. J. Anim Sci 5(1): 123-129.
Kano Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA, 2001). Meteorological Station Reports Temperature Record Book and Management Unit No. 11:1-3.
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Omole, T.A. (1992). The use of cassava for feeding rabbits. In: cassava as livestock feeds in Africa, Hahn, S.K., Reynolds L, and Egbunike, C.N (eds) Ibadan pp 58-71.
Onifade, A.A. and Tewe, O.O. (1993). Alternative tropical energy feed resources in rabbit diets: growth performance, diet’s digestability and blood composition. World Rabbit Science, 1 (1): 17 – 24.
Peters, T., Biomonte, C.T. and Doumas, B.T. (1982). Protein (total protein) in serum, urine and cerebrospinal fluid, albumin in serum: In selected methods of clinical chemistry. Vol. 9.
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Van Soest, P.J., Robertson, J.B. and Lewis, B.A. (1991). Methods of dietary fibre, neutral detergent fibre and non-starch polysaccharides in relation to Animal Nutrition. Journal of Dairy Science 74: 3583-3597.
Table 1. Haematological profile of weaner rabbits fed graded levels of yam peels as a replacement for maize.
Haematological Indices

Treatments
LSD

A (0%)
B (5%)
C (10%)
D (15%)
E (20%)

Haemoglobin (g/dL) 18.05a 12.35cd 12.95bc 11.55d 13.35b 0.909
Red blood cell (106/uL) 6.48a 6.14a 5.97a 4.58b 6.12a 0.909
White blood cell (103/uL) 6.60 6.55 6.60 7.10 6.95 4.45
Packed cell volume (%) 55.50a 43.95c 49.35b 36.90d 49.00b 4.24
Mean corpuscular volume (mm3) 81.45b 70.55e 78.05c 87.05a 74.75d 0.909
Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (pg/cell) 26.95a 19.45c 20.95b 27.05a 21.15b 0.909
Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (g/dL) 33.05a 27.85c 26.86d 30.95b 28.25c 0.909
Lymphocytes (%) 69.60 56.20 77.10 73.75 60.45
24.30
Monocytes (%) 2.95d 6.65c 10.75a 8.55b 8.35b 0.909
Neutrophils (%) 29.05ab 40.60a 17.40b 21.85ab 32.25ab
19.39
Platelets (103/uL)
598.00b
588.00b
736.00a
474.00c
475.00c
18.18
Means with different superscripts denotes significant (p<0.05) difference across rows.
Table 2. Blood chemistry of weaner rabbits fed graded levels of yam peels as a replacement for maize.
Index
Treatments
LSD

A (0%)
B (5%)
C (10%)
D (15%)
E (20%)

Albumin (g/L)
22.00b
26.00a
24.00ab
21.00b
23.00ab
3.64
Total protein (g/L)
50.50c
58.50a
55.50b
56.00b
55.00b
1.82
Globulin (g/L)
28.00
32.00
26.00
29.00
32.00
10.28
Total cholesterol (mmol/L) 2.55b 2.00c 2.00c 2.00c 3.00a 0.364
Urea (mmol/L) 2.20a 1.50b 2.20a 2.00a 2.00a 0.364
Creatinine (mmol/L)
19.00c
35.00a
15.00d
32.00ab
30.00b
3.64
Triglycerides (mmol/L) 1.11b 1.11b 1.00b 1.50a 1.21ab 0.364
HDL (mmol/L) 0.83ab 0.80ab 0.50b 0.80ab 1.00a 0.364
IDL (mmol/L) 1.56a 1.00b 1.40a 0.90b 0.86b 0.364
ALP (U/L) 2.50ab 2.50ab 1.50b 1.50b 3.50a 1.82
ALT (U/L) 6.00ab 8.00a 7.00ab 4.00b 8.00a 3.64
AST (U/L) 8.00ab 9.00a 8.00ab 5.00b
10.00a
3.64
Means with different superscripts denotes significant (p<0.05) difference across rows
Table 3. Serum electrolyte profile of weaner rabbits fed graded levels of yam peels as a replacement for maize.
Electrolytes
Treatments
LSD

A (0%)
B (5%)
C (10%)
D (15%)
E (20%)

Bicarbonate (mmol/L) 14.00cd 17.00bc 18.00ab 21.000a 13.00d
3.64
Calcium (mmol/L) 1.61a 0.91b 1.13b 1.15b 1.11b
0.364
Chloride (mmol/L) 88.00a 85.00a 81.00b 75.00c 72.00c
3.64
Inorganic Phosphate (mmol/L) 0.72b 0.22c 0.91ab 1.11a 0.80ab
0.364
Potassium (mmol/L) 2.00a 1.70a 1.20b 2.00a 2.00a
0.364
Sodium (mmol/L)
129.00a
125.00bc
123.00c
128.00ab
117.00d
3.64
Means with different superscripts denotes significant (p<0.05) difference across rows.

References: Aderemi, F.A. (2004). Effects of replacement of wheat bran with cassava root sieviate supplemented or unsupplemented with enzyme on the haematology and serum biochemistry of pullet chicks. Trop. J. Animal Sci., 7:147-153. Amadori, M., Archetti, I.L., Frasnelli, M., Bagni, M., Olzi, E., Caronna, G. and Lanteri, M. (1997). An immunological approach to the evalutation of welfare in Holstein Frisian cattle. J. Vet. Med., 44: 321-327. AOAC, (2005) Association of Official Analytical Chemist Official Methods of Analysis Washington, D. C. pp. 1094. Babatunde, G.M., Fajimi, A.O., and Oyejide, A.O. (1992). Rubber seed oil versus palm oil in broiler chicken diets. Effects on performance, nutrient digestibility, haematology and carcass characteristics. Animal Feed Science and Technology 35: 133 – 146. Burnett N., Mathura K., Metivier K.S., Holder R.B., Brown G. and Campbell M. (2006). An investigation into haematological and serum chemistry parameters of rabbits in Trinidad. World Rabbit Sci., 14: 175 – 187. Coles, E.H. (1986). Veterinary Clinical Pathology. WB Saunders Co. Philadelphia, USA., 4th Edition pp: 328-329. Cox, A.E. and Garcia-Palmieri, R.M. (1990). Cholesterol, Triglycerides and Associated Lipoproteins. Retrieved from http://wwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK351/ on the 30th May 2014. Esonu, B.O. and Udedibe, A.B.I, (1993). The effect of replacing maize with cassava peel meal on the performance of weaned rabbits. Nigerian Journal of Animal Production, (1-2): 81-85. Gupta, A.R., Putra, R.C., Sani, M. and Swarup, D. (2007). Haematology and serum biochemistry of Chital (Axis axis) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntijax) reared in semi-captivity. Veterinary Research Communications, 31: 801 – 808. Hewitt, C.D., Innes, D.J., Savory, J. and Wills, M.R. (1989). Normal biochemical and haematological values in New Zealand White Rabbits. Clin.Chem., 35/8, 1777-1779. Iyeghe-Erakpotobor, G.T., Ndoly, M., Oyedipe, E.O., Eduvie, L.O. and Ogwu, D., (2002). Effect of protein flushing on reproductive performance of multiparous does. Trop. J. Anim Sci 5(1): 123-129. Kano Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA, 2001). Meteorological Station Reports Temperature Record Book and Management Unit No. 11:1-3. Omole, T.A. (1992). The use of cassava for feeding rabbits. In: cassava as livestock feeds in Africa, Hahn, S.K., Reynolds L, and Egbunike, C.N (eds) Ibadan pp 58-71. Onifade, A.A. and Tewe, O.O. (1993). Alternative tropical energy feed resources in rabbit diets: growth performance, diet’s digestability and blood composition. World Rabbit Science, 1 (1): 17 – 24. Peters, T., Biomonte, C.T. and Doumas, B.T. (1982). Protein (total protein) in serum, urine and cerebrospinal fluid, albumin in serum: In selected methods of clinical chemistry. Vol. 9. Statistical Analytical Systems (SAS). (2001). SAS for Users Guide Statistics. SAS Inc: Cary, North Caroline. Van Praag, E. (2004). Biochemistry reference values of rabbits. Retrieved from http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Hematology/blood_chemistry.htm on the 7th of June 2013. Van Soest, P.J., Robertson, J.B. and Lewis, B.A. (1991). Methods of dietary fibre, neutral detergent fibre and non-starch polysaccharides in relation to Animal Nutrition. Journal of Dairy Science 74: 3583-3597.