Parenteral use of ADE vitamins in prepartum and its influences in the metabolic, oxidative, and immunological profiles of sheep during the transition period

Abstract To evaluate the effect of the parenteral administration of vitamins ADE blend during the transition period, 27 adult Santa Ines sheep, which were healthy and in the last month of pregnancy, were distributed into two groups: a treated-group, which received 1 mL/50 kg BW of a vitamins ADE blend (270.000 UI vitamin A, 80.000 UI vitamin D and 80 UI vitamin E /mL) via intramuscular injection 30 days and 10 days before partum, and a control-group, which received saline solution at the same times and volumes. On days -30, -10, 0, 7, 14 and 28 to parturition, the following levels were determined: plasma concentrations of glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), beta-hydroxyburyrate (BHB), serum activities of AST, GGT and CK enzymes and concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH) and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD). The in vitro intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by current polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and intensity of phagocytosis were also evaluated. There was no effect of time and treatment to the biochemical parameters and oxidative status. NEFA concentration reduced in the control and the ADE groups after lambing. Close to the lambing period, ROS production increased when stimulated by LPS and PI-Sa, and phagocytosis decreased in all sheep. The increase in ROS production in sheep treated with the ADE vitamin blend was milder than in the control group, either with stimulus of LPS or no stimulus. The use of two doses of ADE vitamin blend in sheep at 120 and 140 days of gestation improved in vitro the antioxidant capacity of PMN when animals were well fed and it presented a moderate, negative energy balance in the transition period.