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*
Corresponding author: dari-13r@yandex.ru
Influence of putrefactive decomposition of sheep hooves on the
cytomorphological composition and biochemical properties of
blood
Daria Kazakova
*
, Sergey Kolomiytsev, and Vera Suvorova
Kursk State Agricultural Academy named after I. I. Ivanov, 70 Karl Marks Street, Kursk, Russia, +79996078658.
Abstract. We studied the effect of putrefactive decomposition of sheep hooves on the cellular
composition, physical and chemical properties of blood, as well as on the biochemical composition of its
serum. In the production conditions of the sheep-breeding complex, orthopedic medical examination and
identification of sheep with putrefactive decay of the hooves were carried out. Subsequently, blood
samples were collected from 10 sick sheep and 10 clinically healthy animals for general clinical analysis
and biochemical analysis of their serum. The selected blood samples were analyzed on the haematological
automatic analyser "Abacus vet 10" and the semi-automatic biochemical analyser "Stat fax 300". In the
biochemical composition of blood serum, putrefactive decay of hooves increased the concentration of total
protein by 7.94%, total bilirubin by 22.08%, urea by 75.18%, and reduced the concentration of glucose by
17.88% relative to clinically healthy sheep. At the same time, the activity of aspartate aminotransferase,
alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and creatine kinase in the blood serum of sheep with
putrefactive hoof decay exceeded similar indicators in clinically healthy sheep by 9.65%, 9.16%, 13.70%,
and 19.90%, respectively. In addition, the concentration of sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and
magnesium in the blood serum of sheep with putrefactive decay of hooves was by 15.44%, 9.64%, 3.49%,
25.35% and 9.78% less than in the blood serum of clinically healthy sheep.
1 Introduction
The main task of animal husbandry is to provide the
population of the country with high-quality food
products of animal origin [1]. To solve this problem,
large industrial livestock complexes are being built,
which contain a large number of animals [2]. In the
process of technological exploitation of animals on
limited industrial areas, there is a massive spread of
various surgical diseases associated with injuries [3]. In
particular, in sheep there are purulent-necrotic, purulent-
putrefactive and putrefactive injuries of the finger
tissues, which, according to various estimates of experts,
are diagnosed from 38 to 83% of the animals of the main
breeding stock [4-5]. Sick animals are poorly fed, do not
gain the necessary live weight, reduce wool productivity,
the expected fertility decreases, which leads to
significant economic losses of sheep-breeding
complexes. In addition, the treatment of sick sheep with
purulent-necrotic, purulent-putrefactive and putrefactive
finger tissue injuries is a time-consuming and expensive
process [6]. In this regard, the relevance of research on
the development of methods for early diagnosis of the
above surgical pathologies in sheep increases. One of
these methods is to assess the response of the diseased
organism to the aggressive impact of technological
processes and the pathogenesis of the disease by
hematological and biochemical parameters [7]. Based on
this, it was considered appropriate to study the effect of
putrefactive decomposition of hooves of sheep on the
cellular composition of blood, physical and chemical
properties of blood, as well as on the biochemical
composition of its serum, which served as the purpose of
scientific research.
2 Materials and methods
The work on assessing the effect of putrefactive decay of
sheep hooves on the cellular composition, physical and
chemical properties of blood, on the biochemical
composition of its serum was carried out. This happened
in the hematology laboratory of the Department of
Surgery and Therapy of Kursk State Agricultural
Academy and in the production conditions of the sheep-
breeding industrial complex in the Kursk region.
Initially, in the production conditions of the industrial
complex for the breeding of sheep of the meat direction
of selection, orthopedic medical examination of the main
breeding stock was performed. During the orthopedic
medical examination, sick animals were identified that
have a fragile and soft hoof horn with a fetid putrid smell
that characterizes the putrid decay of the hooves. In the
future, blood samples were taken from sick sheep in
vacuum tubes for general clinical analysis and for
biochemical studies of blood serum. For comparative
evaluation, similar blood sampling was performed in
BIO Web of Conferences 37, 00075 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/20213700075
FIES 2021
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
clinically healthy sheep. In total, 10 blood samples were
collected for hematological and biochemical analyses in
each category of examined animals-clinically healthy
and sick sheep. The general clinical analysis of blood
samples was performed on an automatic hematological
analyzer "Abacus vet 10". To do this, the device was
connected to the power supply, the analyzed animal type
was selected on the digital display of the device, the test
blood sample was placed in the test receiver and the
"Start" button was pressed. Further blood analysis was
performed automatically by the diagnostic device, taking
into account the quantitative content of red blood cells,
white blood cells, platelets, the concentration of
hemoglobin, the average content of hemoglobin in the
red blood cell, the hematocrit value and the rate of
erythrocyte sedimentation. Biochemical blood tests
included the preparation of selected blood samples
before obtaining serum. Prepared blood serum samples
from healthy and sick sheep were analyzed on a
biochemical analyzer "Stat fax 300" according to the
methods specified in the technical documentation for the
diagnostic operation of this device. During the
biochemical analysis of blood serum samples, the
concentrations of total protein, total bilirubin, urea,
glucose, the activity of aspartate aminotransferase,
alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, creatine
kinase, the level of micro - and macronutrients (sodium,
potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium) were
determined. The obtained digital indicators were
subjected to statistical processing with the calculation of
the degree of confidence. The digital indicators of the
cellular composition, physical and chemical properties of
blood, as well as the biochemical composition of its
serum in clinically healthy sheep and in animals with
putrefactive decay of hooves were compared with each
other. This happened with reference indicators of the
physiological norm; we interpreted and formulated a
conclusion about the effect of putrefactive decay of
hooves on hematological and biochemical parameters.
3 Results and discussion
The results of studies of the cytomorphological
composition of blood in clinically healthy sheep and in
sheep with putrefactive decay of the hooves allowed us
to establish that the number of red blood cells in the
vascular bed of diseased animals was 6.95±0.33 G/mkl,
and in clinically healthy animals – 9.78±0.89 G/mkl
(Figure 1).
Thus, putrefactive decay of hooves contributed to a
decrease in the quantitative content of red blood cells in
the blood by 28.94% (p ≤ 0.05) relative to similar
indicators of blood cell composition in clinically healthy
animals. Counting the number of platelets showed that in
clinically healthy sheep their number was 330±2.36
T/mkl, and in animals with putrefactive processes in the
hooves-306.98±1.32 T / mkl (Figure 2).
Thus, the development of putrefactive decay of
hooves caused thrombocytopenia by 4.13% (p≤0.05).
Further consideration of the blood cell composition to
determine the total number of white blood cells in
patients and healthy sheep allowed us to establish the
following. In the first category of animals their number
in the blood vessels was in the range of 16.89±0.98
T/mkl, and in the second category – clinically healthy
animals – 9.93±1.34 T/mkl (Figure 3).
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
sick healthy
6,95
±
0,3
Figure 1. Erythrocyte concentration in healthy and sick
animals, G/mkl
9.78±0.89
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Figure 2. Platelet concentration in healthy and sick
animals, T / mkl
Figure 3. Concentration of leukocytes in healthy and sick
animals, T/mkl.
A comparative analysis of the number of white blood
cells between the two categories of sheep showed that
putrefactive decay of hooves provoked the development
of leukocytosis by 89.13% (p≤0.05). The established
cytomorphological composition of blood in clinically
healthy sheep and in sheep with putrefactive decay of
hooves had a significant effect on its physical and
chemical properties. Thus, the level of hemoglobin
concentration in clinically healthy sheep was 11.36±1.38
g/l, and in patients with putrefactive decay of hooves
was lower by 22.88% (p≤0.05) and was equal to
8.76±1.08 g/l (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Hemoglobin concentration in healthy and sick
animals, g/l.
The hematocrit value in clinically healthy and sick
sheep is within the limits of the reference values of the
physiological norm; in healthy sheep it had a numerical
expression equal to 38.96±1.12, and in patients –
30.16±0.96 (Figure 5).
306.98±1.3
16.89±0.98
9.93±1.34
8.76±1.08
11.36±1.38
330±2
.36
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Figure 5. Hematocrit in healthy and sick animals, %.
However, in sheep with putrefactive decay of the
hooves, a decrease in the hematocrit index was noted by
8.80% (p≤0.05) relative to clinically healthy sheep.
Further hematological analysis of the blood revealed that
putrefactive decay of the hooves contributed to the
development of hypochromic anemia, since a decrease in
the average hemoglobin content in the red blood cell was
recorded by 23.98% (p≤0.05) than in clinically healthy
animals. Thus, the average content of hemoglobin in the
red blood cell in clinically healthy sheep was 9.13±0.21
pg, and in sick animals – 6.94+-2.34 pg. The rate of
erythrocyte sedimentation in sheep with putrefactive
hoof decay was 1.23±0.03 mm/h, and in clinically
healthy animals – 0.85±0.15 mm/h. Thus, putrefactive
decay of sheep hooves accelerated the erythrocyte
sedimentation reaction by 44.70% (p≤0.05).
Biochemical methods of blood serum analysis
determined that the development of putrefactive decay of
sheep hooves caused an increase in the level of total
protein content by 7.94% (p≤0.05). That is, in clinically
healthy sheep, total protein in the blood serum contained
63.30±1.46 g/l, and in sick animals – 68.33±0.59 g/l. The
concentration of total bilirubin in sheep with putrefactive
decay of hooves exceeded the upper limits of the
physiological norm by 4.76% (p≤0.05) and was higher
than in clinically healthy sheep by 22.08% (p≤0.05).
This was evidenced by the results of taking into account
its concentration in further biochemical studies, as a
result of which it was established that the concentration
of total bilirubin in the blood serum of clinically healthy
sheep had a value of 7.38±2.24 mmol/l, and in sheep
with putrefactive decay of hooves-9.01±1.03 mmol/l.
The urea concentration in all the examined patients was
higher than the maximum permissible values of the
physiological norm by 3.72% (p≤0.05), and exceeded
similar indicators in clinically healthy animals by
75.18% (p≤0.05). Urea in the blood serum of sheep with
putrefactive decay of hooves contained 9.46±0.23
mmol/l, and in clinically healthy animals – 5.40±1.20
mmol/l. The quantitative content of glucose in the blood
serum of clinically healthy sheep was 2.46±0.08 mmol/l,
and in sick sheep-2.02±0.01 mmol/l. Thus, by
biochemical methods of analysis, it was established that
putrefactive decay of hooves contributed to a decrease in
glucose concentration by 17.88% (p≤0.05), relative to
similar values in clinically healthy animals, and by
15.87% (p≤0.05), relative to the maximum permissible
concentrations of the physiological norm of this animal
species. Analysis of the activity of enzymes in the blood
serum of clinically healthy and sick sheep allowed us to
determine the following indicators. Aspartate
aminotransferase was 53.44±1.24 ed/l and 58.60±1.30
ed/l; alanine aminotransferase -35.47±1.42 ed/l and
38.72±2.31 ed/l; alkaline phosphatase – 78.96±2.94 ed/l
and 89.78±2.44 ed/l; creatine kinase – 44.30±0.15 ed/l
and 53.12±1.06 ed/l, respectively. Interpretation of the
obtained results of the activity of fermentases in the
blood serum of clinically healthy sheep and sick sheep
with putrefactive decay of hooves showed that in the
latter category of animals, the activity of aspartate
aminotransferase was higher than in the first by 9.65%
(p≤0.05). A similar trend was observed with respect to
other active fermentases taken into account, which
indicated that putrefactive decomposition of hooves
contributes to an increase in the activity of alanine
aminotransferase by 9.16% (p≤0.05), alkaline
phosphatase – by 13.70% (p≤0.05), creatine kinase by
19.90% (p≤0.05), relative to the reference activity
indicators in clinically healthy animals. Taking into
account macro- and microelements in the blood serum of
healthy and sick sheep, it was revealed that putrefactive
decay of hooves occurs against the background of a
deficiency of sodium, calcium and phosphorus in the
blood serum by 5.54% (p≤0.05), 4.56% (p≤0.05) and
3.53% (p≤0.05). This is relative to the reference
indicators of the physiological norm of this animal
species. In addition, it was found that the level of sodium
in the blood serum of sick sheep equal to 134.12±23.06
mmol/l was less than that in clinically healthy ones by
15.44% (p≤
0.05). In them it is in the range of
158.62±18.31 mmol/l. There was potassium in the blood
serum of sick sheep - 4.12±0.06 mmol/l and it was less
than that in clinically healthy animals by 9.64%
(p≤0.05). In them, it contained 4.56±1.01 mmol/l.
Calcium and phosphorus in the blood of sheep with
putrefactive decay of hooves were less than that in
clinically healthy animals by 3.49% (p≤0.05) and
25.35% (p≤0.05). Thus, their content level in healthy
sheep was 2.72±0.36 mmol / l and 1.67±0.23 mmol/l,
and in sick animals – 2.68±0.33 mmol/l and 1.28±0.14
mmol /l, respectively. Magnesium in the blood serum of
30.16±0.96
38.96±1.12
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sick animals was less than in clinically healthy animals
by 9.78% (p≤0.05), since in the first category of
examined animals its concentration was in the range of
0.83±0.06 mmol/l and in the second – 0.92± 0.01
mmol/l.
4 Conclusion
We have performed scientific studies to assess the effect
of putrefactive decomposition of sheep hooves on the
cellular composition, physical and chemical properties of
blood, on the biochemical composition of its serum. It
has allowed us to establish that in sick animals, a
decrease in the quality of red blood cells and platelets is
recorded by 28.94% (p≤0.05) and 4.13% (p≤0.05). The
concentration of hemoglobin decreased by 22.88%
(p≤0.05), the hematocrit value – by 8.80% (p≤0.05). The
average content of hemoglobin in the blood increased in
the number of white blood cells by 23.98% (p≤0.05), as
well as the number of white blood cells – by 89.13%
(p≤0.05). And the rate of erythrocyte sedimentation
increased by 44.70% (p≤0.05), relative to similar
hematological parameters of clinically healthy sheep.
Biochemical methods of blood serum analysis revealed
that putrefactive decomposition of sheep hooves
contributed to an increase in the concentration of total
protein by 7.94% (p≤0.05), total bilirubin – by 22.08%
(p≤0.05), urea by 75.18% (p≤0.05). The glucose
concentration increased by 17.88% (p≤0.05) more than
that in clinically healthy sheep. At the same time, the
activity of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine
aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and creatine
kinase in blood serum in sick sheep exceeded similar
indicators in clinically healthy animals by 9.65%
(p≤0.05), 9.16% (p≤0.05), 13.70% (p≤0.05), and 19.90%
(p≤0.05), respectively. In addition, the blood serum of
sheep with putrefactive hoof decay was found to be
deficient in sodium, potassium, and phosphorus by
5.54% (p≤0.05), 4.56% (p≤0.05), and 3.53% (p≤0.05)
relative to the reference parameters of the physiological
norm. At the same time, sodium, potassium, calcium,
phosphorus and magnesium in the blood serum of sheep
with putrefactive decomposition of hooves contained by
15.44% (p≤0.05), 9.64% (p≤0.05), 3.49% (p≤0.05),
25.35% (p≤0.05) and 9.78% (p≤0.05) less than in sheep
without putrefactive decomposition of hooves.
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