Biochemical profiles of ewes submitted to short-term nutritional supplementation in subtropical region

Nutrition influence on animal production is given by changes in weight and body condition, affecting homeostasis, with use of diets with high levels of energy or protein. Changes in the diet cause a rapid and immediate change in various metabolic humoral agents. With the objective to evaluate the influence of five different short-term diets on weight gain and biochemical profile (total cholesterol and fractions HDL/LDL, triglicerydes, glucose, urea, creatinine, total protein, albumin), 70 ewes Santa Inês crossbred, randomly distributed into five groups, were subjected to diets for seven days (1 - corn, soybean meal, protected fat, corn silage, 2 - corn, soybean meal, silage corn, 3 - protected fat, corn silage, 4 -corn silage, 5 - Tifton hay). The days 0 and 8 (before the institution of the diet and after finish) was weighed and blood was obtained from ewes in order to quantify the biochemical profile. Data were analyzed with 5x 2 experimental delineation using two-way ANOVA for repeated measures and Tukey post-test. There were no changes in body weight between diet groups, but became evident variations in weight gain (g / 7 days) between groups (G4 = 1.82 ± 0.23 g versus G1 = 0.21 ± 0.43 g). cholesterol-LDL and total cholesterol varied between groups, with the G1 presented the highest values. The other biochemical component shad no statistically significant differences. Ewes subjected to a flushing program, responded with weight gain, associated with increases in their cholesterol levels and reductions in serum urea.