Chronic effects of fluoride in Tuj sheep on serum levels of total protein, albumin, uric acid, and nitric oxide and activities of lactate dehydrogenase and leucine aminopeptidase

Twenty healthy yearling Tuj ewe-lambs with a mean body weight of 31 2 kg were divided into two equal groups. Each group of ten sheep was provided with hay and water ad libitum throughout the study. The water for the control group contained 0.49 mg F/L, whereas the water for the experimental group contained 13.8 mg F/L, equivalent for the latter group to an intake of ca. 1.8 mg F/kg bw/day. By the 12(th) week the urinary fluoride concentration in the experimental group had increased from 0.9 ppm at the start to 1.78 ppm, and by the 24(th) week it reached 8 ppm, at which point various serum determinations were made and the study was terminated. In the experimental vs. the control groups the results were as follows: total protein 7.41 +/- 0.03 vs. 7.67 +/- 0.07 g/dL (p<0.01), albumin 3.97 +/- 0.36 vs. 4.72 +/- 0.28 g/dL, nitric oxide 49.90 +/- 3.1 vs. 35.75 +/- 2.7 mu mol/L (p < 0.01), uric acid 0.49 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.29 +/- 0.02 mg/dL (p < 0.001), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) 676.7 +/- 21 vs. 518 +/- 35 U/L (p < 0.01), and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) 7.28 +/- 0.5 vs. 6.18 +/- 0.53 U/L. Changes in the albumin level and the LAP activity were not statistically significant. During and at the end of the study the urine fluoride concentration of the control group was unchanged.