Comparison of purine derivatives and creatinine in plasma and urine between local cattle and buffaloes in Vietnam

In Experiment I, 4 female swamp buffaloes and 4 local cattle fed with the diet based on young maize and rice straw (80/20), and in experiment II, the same number and types of animals as in Experiment I were fed with the diet based on rice straw and rice bran (70/30). The animals were fed twice a day with the diets at 40, 60, 80, 95% of ad libitum intake. The digestibility of nutrients and N excretion were similar for cattle and buffaloes. The purine derivative:creatinine ratio (PDC) index was significantly affected by the level of feed intake (P < 0.001) in both the species. Large differences in urinary purine derivative (PD) excretion were observed, being much lower in buffaloes than in cattle. The regression analysis showed that urinary PD excretion rate per kg of digestible organic matter intake for cattle was higher than that for buffalo. The PDC index also followed the same pattern. The nitrogen retention increased with the supply of energy, both in cattle and buffaloes, indicating that the protein supply was similar. There was no consistent effect of time of day on spot sampling in buffalo and cattle. Buffaloes urinated less frequently than cattle, so sampling time was not really relevant. (author)