Temporal variations in blood glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) activity in sheep at pasture in a Mediterranean area

The present study evaluates blood GSHPx activity in 18 sheep flocks at range, to identify those seasons with the highest risk of selenium deficiency. Samples were taken from 1108 15-day-old lambs during the two usual lambing periods in this geographical area (autumn-winter and spring-summer). The overall mean values in the first period (146.69 +/- 3.41 i.u./g Hb) was higher than in the second one (107.50 +/- 3.53 i.u./g Hb). This may be explained by the special features of the climate in the Mediterranean area, which allow an optimum growth of grass from October to May. Therefore, the lambs born in spring-summer are from pregnancies in months when feeding is based only upon grazing. However, lambs born in autumn-winter comes from ewes gestating during the summer, when supplementation with cereal grains is given. As a conclusion, lambs born in spring-summer in this area are at higher risk to selenium-deficiency related disorders.