The Hassawi donkey breed represents one of the most common native donkey breeds in the Middle East taking its name from the Al-Hasa region in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Due to the lack of information about the main haematological and serum biochemical parameters of Hassawi donkey breed, this study aimed at the determination of reference base-line values regarding haematological and biochemical parameters. Four physiological, sixteen haematological and twenty biochemical parameters were determined. In comparison to other donkey breeds, Hassawi donkey showed higher percentage of eosinophils 17.62 ± 1.92%, higher concentrations of creatine kinase (CK) 185.6 ± 6.55 IU/L, phosphorus (PHOS) 4.40 ± 0.21 mmol/l, magnesium (MG) 2.48 ± 0.08 mmol/l, calcium (Ca) 12.4 ± 0.09 mmol/l, Sodium (Na) 133.1 ± 0.39 mmol/l and potassium (K) 4.77 ± 0.1mmol/l, but lower concentration of gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) 31 ± 2.78 IU/l. The higher glucose (GLU) 80.82 ± 4.67 mg/dl values in the present study may be due to the date rich feeding of Hassawi donkey.
Key words: Donkey, Hassawi, blood, haematology, serum
|
