Abstract
The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a long-acting trance mineral rumen bolus supplementation on enzymatic and haematological profiles, antioxidant status and immune responses of growing camels under natural grazing conditions. Fifteen 6-month-old growing male camels were used in a 150-day trial. Animals were individually housed in a shaded pen and randomly assigned to receive 0 (CON), one (TMB1) or two (TMB2) long-acting trance mineral rumen bolus. Blood samples were collected from all camels on days 1, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 to measure enzymatic concentrations in serum, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in plasma and haematological variables in whole blood. Camels were injected intradermally with 0.25mg phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) on days 90 and 140, and then the cell-mediated immune response to this antigen was measured at 0 and 24 h after injection. Animals were immunised intravenously on days 90 and 105 with 2ml suspension of sheep red blood cells to measure total antibody titres in serum. Using TMB supplement (1 or 2 boluses) resulted in an increase in the plasma concentration of TAC (p < 0.04) and improvement in immune responses in terms of increased skinfold thickness after 24 h of PHA injection (p < 0.01) and total primary serum antibody titres (p < 0.04). Different levels, sources, and synergistic combinations of trace minerals can be used in further studies to elucidate the most advantageous regarding productive variables, availability and cost for camel industry.