[Selenium in the serum of healthy and diseased calves]

Between 1988 and 1990, selenium concentrations were measured in the serum of 188 calves admitted for various conditions to the University of Zurich veterinary hospital, and in 64 healthy calves that served as controls. The lowest mean concentration was measured in the controls and it was 14.5 micrograms/L. The mean concentrations in patients not previously supplemented with selenium for the three years were 29.1, 27.5 and 23.0 micrograms/L, respectively, and the concentrations in the patients after supplementation were 61.7, 88.7 and 72.6 micrograms/L, respectively. The differences between the two groups of patients, and between controls and calves of 1989 without selenium supplementation were statistically significant (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between mean selenium concentrations of calves of different age groups or between calves of different disease groups. Selenium concentrations were not correlated with blood pH, plasma protein and fibrinogen concentrations. The low values measured in untreated calves paralleled results of previous studies in calves and cows in Switzerland.