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Similarly to other reptiles, snakes are ectothermic animals and depend exclusively on the environment for the maintenance of their physiological, biochemical and immunological processes. Thus, changes in biochemical values can be expected due to seasonal influence. Twenty-two adult specimens of Boa constrictor amarali kept in captivity were used. Blood collections were done in two different seasons: winter (July 2004) and summer (January 2005) for the following assays: uric acid, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose, cholesterol, total protein, and serum protein electrophoresis. The mean biochemical results found in summer and winter, respectively, were: 6.3 ± 3.4 and 11.3 ± 6.2 mg/dL for uric acid; 28.7 ± 12.4 and 20.7 ± 16.2 UI/L for AST; 26.3 ± 17 and 17.4 ± 6.8 mg/dL for glucose; 67.3 ± 30.2 and 69.7 ± 38.5 mg/dL for cholesterol; and 5.9 ± 1.6 and 5.9 ± 1.4 g/dL for total protein. Results regarding electrophoresis in summer and winter, respectively, were: 1.9 ± 0.7 and 2.4 ± 0.6 g/dL for albumin; 0.7 ± 0.2 and 0.5 ± 0.2 g/dL for α-globulin; 1.5 ± 0.5 and 1.7 ± 0.6 g/dL for β-globulin; and 1.8 ± 0.5 and 1.5 ± 0.5 g/dL for γ-globulin. In the summer, there was a significant increase in AST and a decrease in uric acid (p < 0.05). Serum protein electrophoresis showed a significant increase in α-globulin fraction (p < 0.05) in the same season. There were not significant differences between seasons for the remaining variables. Based on these results, the period of the year must be considered in the interpretation of some biochemical values for these animals.

Zileuton is an inhibitor of the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme that transforms essential fatty acid (EFA) substrates into leukotrienes (LTB4, LTC4, LTD4 and LTE4), but little is known about the use of this drug in teleost fish. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical safety of treatments with 2,25 mg and 4,50 mg of zileuton/Kg-1 (bodyweight), administered orally in the diet, through biochemical and hematological analysis during the acute inflammatory reaction in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), induced by Aeromonas hydrophila bacterins. The study used eighty tilapias, conditioned in 20 tanks (n=4), constituting the following treatments: T0 (control), T1 (2,25 mg zileuton) and T2 (4,50 mg zileuton), being sampled eight animals per treatment in three periods: 6, 24 and 48 hours post-inoculation, and a 10th group consisting of fish without any type of stimulus to obtain the reference values. In order to evaluate and determine the blood count and serum biochemical, it was necessary to collect blood samples. The hematology results of the tilapia treated with zileuton did not reveal alterations between tilapia subjected to different treatments and control fish (T0). The liver cytotoxicity analysis of tilapias treated with zileuton did not reveal significant (p=0,05) alterations in AST and ALT serum enzymatic activity. The study of tilapia blood total protein showed decrease in the T1 group at 48 HPI. As the treatment time progressed, the results indicated decrease in the serum albumin levels for T2 group at 24 HPI. The determination of serum biochemichal of creatinine, cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose did not differ statistically between treatments. The results observed in the hematological and biochemical analyzes allows to conclude that zileuton administered orally, at doses of 2,25 and 4,50 mg/Kg-1 (body weight) demonstrated to be clinically safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]