Comparative study of hepatic copper accumulation in cattle and buffalo

Abstract

The main aim of this project is to carry out a comparative study of the susceptibility of cattle (crossbred) and buffalo (Murrah) to accumulative copper poisoning, by drenching increasing doses of copper, studying liver Cu concentration. Ten cattle and 10 buffalo steers will be randomly distributed in a control (n=4) and copper supplemented group (n=6). The last group will be initially drenched with 2 mg Cu/kg/BW (as CuSO4.5H2O) daily for a week; every following week, up to the end of the experiment (90th d), this initial dose will be increased of 2 mg Cu/kg/BW. For three times during the experiment (before the 1st drenching, 45th and 90th d) a liver biopsy will be taken to evaluate the degree of copper accumulation in this stocking organ. A fragment of liver will be keep in formol (10%) to perform histopathological analysis, using Hematoxilin-eosin, Rodamin and Pearls, with the object of evaluated morphological changes and copper accumulation in the hepatocytes