Table 2.
Mean trace element concentrations in sheep whole blood and difference between ewes and lambs, along with reference values
| Minerals | All sheep | Ewes | Lambs | Reference values2 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animals | Humans | |||||||||||
| No. | Mean (SD) | Ranges | No. | Mean (SD) | No. | Mean (SD) | IA,1% | Whole blood | Serum/plasma | Whole blood | Serum/plasma | |
| Se, μg/L | 292 | 81 (58) | 15–360 | 150 | 85 (59) | 132 | 76 (57) | 82 | 120–350 | 60–200 | 58–234 | 46–143 |
| Fe, mg/L | 158 | 360 (60) | 190–500 | 74 | 350 (50)a**3 | 60 | 380 (60)b | 48 | 360–420 | 0.9–2.7 | 309–521 | 0.75–1.5 |
| Zn, mg/L | 292 | 2.4 (0.5) | 1.4–3.8 | 150 | 2.3 (0.5)a* | 132 | 2.5 (0.4)b | 100 | 2.5–6.0 (4–5) | 0.55–1.2 | 4.4–8.6 | 0.7–1.2 |
| Cu, mg/L | 292 | 0.8 (0.2) | 0.3–2.6 | 150 | 0.80 (0.20) | 132 | 0.82 (0.25) | 53 | 0.8–1.2 | 0.75–1.7 | 0.8–1.3 | 0.8–1.7 |
| Mn, μg/L | 292 | 25 (19) | 6–243 | 150 | 25 (21) | 132 | 26 (16) | 98 | 70–200 | 1.0–6.0 | 8.0–18.7 | 0.54–1.76 |
| Co, μg/L | 292 | 1.9 (3.1) | 0.1–19.6 | 150 | 1.4 (2.2)a** | 132 | 2.5 (3.8)b | 5 | (30–50) | (5–10) | 0.24–0.82 | 0.11–0.45 |
| Pb, μg/L | 292 | 9 (9) | 1.8–66.0 | 150 | 7 (6)a*** | 132 | 13 (10)b | NA3 | – | – | 8–269 | < 1.0 |
a, b
Values with different superscripts significantly differ.
1
IA = inadequate animals; animals with inadequate mineral concentration in whole blood.
2
Reference values are based on the literature (Georgievskii et al., 1982; Iyengar and Woittez, 1988; McDowell, 2003; Herdt and Hoff, 2011; Kincaid, 1999; Harrington et al., 2014).
3
NA = Not applicable.
*
P < 0.05;
**
P < 0.01;
***
P < 0.001.