[Concentrations of metabolically relevant parameters in the blood of highly pregnant ewes]

From 38 healthy ewes (20 nonpregnant, 18 pregnant) of different flocks and two races (Blackhead Mutton and Merino sheep) concentrations of glucose, ketones, triglycerides, cholesterine and urea in blood plasma were determined to prove if there were any differences between pregnant ewes in the last nine days before parturition and nonpregnant ones. In nonpregnant ewes plasma values of glucose were significantly higher than those of clinical inapparent pregnant ones with twins in the last four days before parturition. Blood values of beta-hydroxybutyrate and cholesterine, partly of triglycerides too, were significantly higher in late pregnant ewes with one or two fetuses. In contrast, concentrations of alpha-ketoglutarate and urea showed no significant differences between both groups, pregnant and nonpregnant ewes. The determination of blood plasma concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyrate, triglyceride and cholesterine, as well as glucose in the case of twin-pregnancy, can provide an important information to estimate the animal's state of metabolism in late pregnancy.