Evaluation of Biochemical and Physiological Responses of Awassi Sheep to Different Doses of Ivermectin

The current study was to measure the impact of the use of ivermectin on the selected biochemical and physiological parameters in regard to hepatic functioning in Awassi sheep. The ewes were randomised (12 healthy, adult ewes) into three groups (four ewes each): control group and two treatment groups where the first group was administered 0.2 mg/kg -1 of body weight and the second group was administered 0.4 mg/kg -1 of body weight. The experiment was conducted over 45 days whereby concentrations of hepatic enzymes (ALT, AST, ALP, and GGT) in serum had been measured and total protein, albumin and glucose. The enzyme activities of ALT, AST and GGT were statistically significantly increased at 0.4mg/kg of BMI and the total protein, albumin and glucose levels were significantly reduced. Conversely, only slight changes were observed with the 0.2mg/kg dose. Such data indicate that the high dose of ivermectin impairs hepatic integrity and metabolic homeostasis in Awassi sheep but low dose levels cause minimal physiological challenges. In turn, the findings shed some light on the need to conduct a systematic level of bio-chemical and physiological surveillance in order to establish a proper therapeutic dose of ivermectin.