Investigation of Lameness in Racing Dromedary Camels (Camelus Dromedarius) and Associated Oxidative Stress Biomarkers

Abstract

In racing camels, lameness is measured to be a major health issue and an economically important problem for many camel owners. This study aimed to investigate different oxidative stress and antioxidant biomarkers in the blood of racing lamed dromedary camels. Moreover, to highlight their role in lameness diagnosis, pathogenesis and to emphasise its role to monitor treatment response. Thirty five out of 315 racing camels exhibited clinical lameness. The serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) in lame dromedary camels with different perceived causes of lameness (punctured foot, traumatic injury) were remarkably over than those detected in the control healthy dromedary camels. However, lame dromedary camels had significantly lower levels of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) when compared with the control healthy camels. The serum levels of MDA, NO, SOD, GSH, CAT, and TAC markers in lame dromedary camels pre-and post-treatment were measured in this study. An obvious decline was detected in serum levels of MDA and NO of lame camels after 10 days of treatment, whereas, the levels of antioxidant markers (SOD, GSH, CAT, and TAC) were significantly increased toward normal values. The ROC curves were created. The AUCs were assessed to evaluate the accuracy of each variable to distinguish diseased and healthy camels. Based on the ROC curves and AUCs; MDA, SOD, GSH, CAT, TAC, and NO were considered highly diagnostic and predictive biomarkers of lame dromedary camels. Moreover, the addition of antioxidants to the treatment protocol of lameness may enhance the treatment response in camels.