Biochemical Analysis of Sheep (Ovis Aries) Urine in Relation to Estrous Cycle

Sheep (Ovis aries) have been domesticated for over 10,000 years. They have also been the subject of considerable research from the viewpoint of physiological function and animal production, are now regarded as one of the most studied non-human, non-rodent species. The social relationships that an animal has with others of the same species can affect many aspects of the reproductive process. Urine is known to be a major source of mammalian chemosignals which involved in this pheromonal communication. Based on the above information, the present study was designed to estimate the biochemical constituents of sheep urine during various phases. The samples were collected from six sheep at four different phases such as prepubertal, estrus, pregnant and lactation. The estimation of protein, carbohydrates, lipids and also hormonal analysis were carried out with standard procedure at different phases of sheep urine. The result of this study showed that carbohydrate was found to be significantly higher in all phases, when compared to proteins and lipids. Further, the level of carbohydrate is found to be prepubertal stage when compared to other stages. The present results showed that the level of protein is higher in estrus period followed by pregnant, lactation and prepubertal. Similarly, the level of lipid is also higher in estrus followed by prepubertal, lactation and pregnant. The level of estrogen is higher in estrus period and level of progesterone is higher in pregnant period. The present study concluded that the estrus urine contain more amount of protein, lipid and hormone of estrogen and progesterone than the other phases.