RELATIONSHIP OF BLOOD BIOCHEMICAL MARKERS TO SLAUGHTER WEIGHT IN REINDEER

The aim of the study is to establish a relationship between biochemical parameters of blood serum and slaughter weight of reindeer carcasses. The object of the study was 26 clinically healthy castrated bulls of the Nenets breed of the Ural ecotype. Blood was collected before slaughter, and the serum was analyzed using an automatic biochemical and immunochemical analyzers for 21 parameters. Statistical processing was performed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and Student's t-test. Correlation analysis revealed statistically significant positive relationships between carcass weight and insulin-like growth factor-1 (r = 0.610; p = 0.003), total protein (r = 0.556; p = 0.007), and globulins (r = 0.431; p = 0.046), as well as a negative relationship with lactate dehydrogenase (r = –0.586; p = 0.006). In animals with greater slaughter weight ((59.7 ± 0.8) kg), the concentration of total protein was 5.0 g/l (p = 0.003) higher, globulins – 4.3 g/l (p = 0.018), insulin-like growth factor-1 – by 13.3 % (p = 0.014), and lactate dehydrogenase activity was 14.2 % (p = 0.032) lower compared to the group with less weight ((46.0 ± 0.9) kg). When classifying animals by the level of biochemical markers, individuals with elevated insulin-like growth factor-1 had a carcass weight that was 9.7 kg greater (p ˂ 0.001), and animals with elevated total protein and globulins – by 6.1 (p = 0.034) and 5.9 kg (p = 0.041), respectively. In contrast, animals with elevated lactate dehydrogenase activity had a 6.8 kg lower carcass weight (p = 0.016). Thus, a combination of biochemical parameters, including insulin-like growth factor-1, total protein, globulins, and lactate dehydrogenase, can serve as a basis for developing criteria for predicting reindeer meat productivity for breeding purposes.