International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol.8, No.2, 8-16
11
Table 2b Serum biochemistry reference intervals of juvenile female
Clarias gariepinus
farmed in earth pond systems in the Southern
Guinea Savanna agro-ecological zone of Nigeria
Parameter
Mean
Median
S.D
Q
1
Q
3
Minimum
Maximum
Total protein (g/dl)
42.79
38.39
11.17
35.29
50.29
17.01
58.31
Albumin (g/dl)
8.44
8.39
0.96
7.77
9.10
6.72
10.21
Globulin (g/dl)
34.36
31.67
11.18
26.85
41.87
8.39
50.83
A:G
4.14
4.0
1.44
3.17
5.11
1.0
7.0
AST (IU/L)
99.51
97.07
9.16
93.40
105.62
90.62
121.64
ALT (IU/L)
16.88
17.39
1.90
15.61
18.16
13.04
18.77
Glucose (mg/dl)
20.65
19.99
1.77
19.46
21.83
19.00
20.19
Cholesterol (mg/dl)
93.48
92.99
2.04
92.07
94.68
91.09
98.55
LDL (mg/dl)
71.12
70.91
1.76
70.08
72.54
68.08
74.45
HDL (mg/dl)
11.33
11.57
1.40
10.21
12.65
9.17
13.09
Triglycerides (mg/dl)
81.17
79.51
3.49
79.07
83.56
77.69
88.81
ALP (IU/L)
30.14
30.49
3.40
29.91
31.46
20.58
37.6
LDH (mg/dl)
40.608
40.95
6.702
35.39
46.16
28.06
50.99
Urea (mg/dl)
3.16
3.29
0.69
2.51
3.54
1.96
4.11
Creatinine (mg/dl)
0.238
0.25
0.061
0.21
0.30
0.17
0.39
UA (mg/dl)
1.292
1.32
0.159
1.145
1.425
1.01
1.58
Note: Q
1
and Q
3
represent the 25
th
and the 75
th
percentile respectively; A:G = Albumin-Globulin ratio; AST = Aspartate transaminase;
ALT = Alanine transaminase; LDL = Low density lipoproteins; HDL = High density Lipoproteins; ALP = Alkaline phosphatase;
LDH = Lactate dehydrogenase; UA = Uric acid
The result for adult male
C. gariepinus
sampled from the Southern Guinea Savanna agro-ecological zone are as
presented in Table 3a. It shows that mean total protein is 41.26 g/dl, the 25
th
and 75
th
percentiles are 38.96 g/dl and
43.57 g/dl respectively. In this group, the serum globulin concentration was also considerably higher than those of
albumin among adult female
C. gariepinus
(32.08 g/dl for Globulin, 9.18 g/dl for Albumin). In adult female
C
gariepinus
sampled from this area, the serum total protein ranged from 33.74 g/dl to 41.44 g/dl with a 25
th
and
75
th
percentiles values of 37.70 g/dl and 33.74 g/dl respectively. The serum globulin ratio ranged between 24.11
g/dl and 33.22 g/dl with a 25
th
and 75
th
percentile values of 29.056 g/dl and 31.944 g/dl respectively and serum
alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity ranged between 19.43 and 39.01 IU/L (Table 3b).
A statistical evaluation of serum biochemical parameters of fishes sampled from Abuja shows that the mean
values obtained for Albumin, Globulin, Albumin-Globulin ratio, AST and ALT were not significant different
(P>0.05) for all the groups whereas, the values obtained for serum total protein varied significantly (P<0.05)
between sexes and developmental stages (Table not shown).
4 Discussion
Serum biochemical parameters can vary within and between species of fish (Hrubec et al., 2001; Knowles et al.,
2006), These values have also been reported to be dependent on the physico-chemical parameters of the culture
water, health status and nutrition of the cultured organism (Farrell, 1997). The objective of the determination of
serum biochemical reference intervals in apparently healthy subjects is to establish a basis for comparisons of
suspected organ or system dysfunctions before the institution and or monitoring of interventions in farm or
clinical settings (Langdon and Jones, 2002).
The serum total protein concentration range from 17.01 to 58.31 mg/dl were significantly higher than the values
reported for Senegalese sole (
Solea senegalensis
) (Peres et al., 2014), however, the values are closer (30.8 to 61.6
g/dl) in feral
Clarias gariepinus
(Myburgh et al., 2008) from Zambezi River in Southern Africa. The serum
albumin levels obtained were higher than values reported by Myburgh et al. (2008) but found similar to Atlantic
salmon (
Salmon salar
) (Sandnes et al., 1988) and Red pacu (
Piaractus brchyponus
) (Sakamoto et al., 2001).
