Vol. 9, Special Issue 2 (2024)

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effect of age and sex on the thyroid hormonal profile in Malpura sheep of the Jaipur region. A total of 60 clinically healthy animals of both sexes (male and female) and three age groups, viz., 0-1 year, 1-2 years, and above 2 years were selected for the study. Blood samples were obtained from the jugular vein (10 mL each) under aseptic conditions, directly into serum-separating tubes (non-EDTA). The thyroid hormone profile (T₃ and T₄) was measured using a microplate-based (Thermo Scientific Multiskan FC) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A highly significant (p<0.01) effect of age and sex groups in Malpura sheep was observed on the Mean ± SE concentrations of triiodothyronine (T3). Thyroxine, showed a highly significant (p<0.01) effect of age groups while these did not differ significantly (p>0.05) by sex. The increased concentration of serum thyroid profile, in the early stage (0-1 year) may be due to the enhanced physiological and metabolic activity during this period.