EFFECT OF PREGNANCY INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS ON CELLULAR DNA IN MEHSANA BUFFALOES

Oxidative stress represents an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting cellular damage. Pregnancy and lactation are though physiological processes, create stressful condition in animal's body as manifested by oxidative stress. Present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of pregnancy induced oxidative stress on cellular DNA using single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet Assay). Increased mean comet cell percentage (12.36 +/- 1.88) was observed in pregnant buffaloes on the day of parturition as compared to non-pregnant buffaloes (2.97 +/- 1.22). There was also significant (P<0.05) rise in mean comet cell percentage along with the increase in comet tail length in pregnant buffaloes on the day of parturition unlike non-pregnant buffaloes. These data suggest that pregnancy and parturition leads to oxidative stress and subsequently causes DNA damage.