Late-stage pregnancy toxemia in does: biochemical, hormonal, and histopathological changes

Abstract

Pregnancy toxemia (PT) in does represents a major economic concern, leading to significant financial losses due to increased mortality, decreased reproductive performance, and the high costs of treatment and management. Our study aimed to investigate the biochemical, hormonal, and histopathological changes during the late stage of PT in pregnant does. Seventeen (17) does diagnosed with PT were clinically, biochemically evaluated and compared to a control group of seven healthy pregnant does (C1). Additionally, four liver samples from healthy non-pregnant goat (C2) were used as histopathological control. Clinical, biochemical, and hormonal parameters were assessed, and statistical analysis was conducted using the t-test to evaluate differences between the groups. The results revealed significant alterations in progesterone and estrogen levels, beta hydroxy butyric acid (BHBA), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), liver enzyme activity, cholesterol, glucose, creatinine concentrations, and acute phase proteins. Histopathological examination of liver tissues also showed marked differences between the PT and healthy non- pregnant does (C2). However, oxidative stress biomarkers did not demonstrate significant discriminatory power between healthy and PT-affected does. These findings suggest that biochemical indicators, and histopathological liver changes are reliable markers for diagnosing late-stage pregnancy toxemia in does.