Investigation of the antioxidative metabolism in sheep with peste des petits ruminants

The aim of this study was to examine the changes in the indicators of free oxygen radicals and antioxidant activity, i.e. malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, in sheep with peste des petits ruminants (PPR). Twenty sheep with serologically confirmed PPR and ten clinically healthy sheep comprised the study cohort. Serum levels of MDA and activities of GSH-Px and SOD (mean ± standard deviation) in animals with PPR were 1.93±0.11 (nmol/mL), 0.24±0.05 (NADPH+H+/min/mg-protein) and 4.69±0.53 (U/g-protein) whereas in the control group they were 1.49±0.06 (nmol/mL), 0.81±0.12 (NADPH+H+/min/mg-protein) and 7.54±0.06 (U/g-protein). Mean MDA level of the patient group was significantly higher than for the control group (p<0.05). Mean GSH-Px and SOD activities were significantly lower than those of the control group (p<0.01, p<0.001, respectively). These results show that in many tissues the oxidant-antioxidant balance is disrupted which in turn can cause further oxidative damage in PPR.