Effect of ascorbic acid supplementation on plasma protein profile in buffaloes during heat stress

Heat stress is major concern for maintaining optimum production in livestock. The improvement of productivityin dairyanimals, exposed to adverse environmental conditions, is primarily focused on improving the microclimate and nutritional management of the animals. The experiment was conducted on three groups of animals comprising six adult buffaloes in each group. Two groups were exposed to heat stress in the psychrometric chamber (40°C), the third group was kept under ambient conditions as control. One of the exposed groups was offered ascorbic acid (20g/day/animal). The blood samples were taken at every 4^th day up to 16^th day. Samples were analyzed for the total plasma protein and plasma albumin. Results showed that as the days of exposure progressed, the level of stress increased which is evident from the elevated level of total proteins. When compared with the ascorbic acid supplemented group (7.28±0.09 gm/dl), the non-supplemented group had higher protein content (7.93±0.13 gm/dl). There was significant difference (P< 0.05) in protein levels among the groups. The level of albumin also followed the same pattern as that of total protein butin heat stressed (2.42±0.17gm/dl) and ascorbic acid supplemented animals (2.41±0.19 gm/dl), the globulin levels declined ascompared to group kept at ambient conditions (2.79±0.33 gm/dl). Further, the Albumin: Globulin ratio was significantly (P< 0.05) higher in heat stressed animals (2.78±0.43) and ascorbic acid supplemented animals (2.19±0.30) as compared to control group (1.61±0.37). It can be concluded that ascorbic acid supplementation would be beneficial to buffalo producers of the arid/semi-arid regions in amelioration of stress challenge imposed by the harsh weather.