Plasma lipid and haematological profile during transition period in Murrah buffaloes supplemented with prilled fat

Fourteen apparently healthy advanced pregnant Murrah buffaloes at 35 day prepartum were either maintained as per routine management practices (control group) or fed prilled fat (treatment group) @100g/d during the prepartum and @ 150g/d for a period of 95 days during the postpartum period. Blood samples were collected at weekly intervals during different periods i.e. prepartum, day of parturition and postpartum by day 35 and thereafter at fortnightly intervals till day 120 of lactation. Haematological parameters, plasma glucose and lipid profile were analyzed by standard method of analysis. Red blood cell (RBC) number declined on the day of parturition and increased after the parturition (P<0.01) in both the groups, however RBC count varied non - significantly between the groups. Haemoglobin (Hb) level was significantly more before parturition (P<0.05) and was low on the day of parturition. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) in the treatment group was higher (P<0.01) on day of parturition in comparison to before and after parturition. Total leukocyte count (TLC) (P<0.01) varied significantly before, during and after parturition. However, between group changes were non-significant (P>0.05). Plasma glucose increased in the treatment group (P<0.01) over the control group. Plasma cholesterol and HDL were increased in treatment group (P<0.05) as compared to control group. However, triglyceride and VLDL cholesterol levels varied non-significantly (P>0.05) between the groups. It was concluded that supplementation of prilled fat did not influence haematological parameters; however treated buffaloes had higher blood glucose, HDL and cholesterol levels.