Assessment of total (anti)oxidant status in goat kids

The redox potential of goat serum was assessed by different spectrophotometric assays. Among them, three methods are commonly applied for the evaluation of the oxidative (reactive oxygen metabolites, ROMs, and total oxidant status, TOS) and nitrosative (NO $$ metabolites, $$ ) stress, and four methods for the evaluation of the antioxidant status: the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) based on the ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), the total antioxidant activity (TAA) based on the reduction of the coloured ABTS $$ radical cation, the free radical scavenging activity (FRSA) based on the reduction of the purple DPPH $$ , and the total thiol levels (TTLs) based on their interaction with DTNB to form a highly coloured anion. Besides, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and ceruloplasmin oxidase (CP) activities were also assessed. Except for TAA, analytical data showed a great inter-individual variation for both oxidant and antioxidant assays. ROMs were strongly correlated with CP, while TOS with MPO and TAC. Furthermore, a tendency between TOS and FRSA was shown. $$ was correlated with TAC and TAA, and a tendency with TOS was shown. No correlations appeared among the antioxidant assays, even if a tendency between TAC and TAA was evidenced, but TAC was correlated with MPO activity. The observed correlation between ROMs and CP is discussed as a possible analytical interference. The absence of correlation among the antioxidant biomarkers suggests the simultaneous use of a panel of tests to verify any changes in the redox balance, mainly in livestock in which reference values for each biomarker are lacking.