Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Introduction The Balami sheep is the biggest of the Nigerian sheep breeds and is found mainly in the drier Sudan and Sahel Savannah zones. It has an all white coat, convex face with large and droopy ears and long tail. Males have horns while females are hornless. Mature males (rams) may have dewlap and weigh between 40-65kg, females weigh 30- 45kg. The Balami sheep is also referred to as desert breed. It is a good dairy breed. 1 In order to carry out any sustainable improvement in livestock, there should be methods of ensuring the repeatability and multiplication of desired traits in subsequent generations. Reproduction is a process by which an organism gives rise to a new member of its species. It is a vital factor in determining the effciency of animal production and its performance is closely related to proftability in livestock enterprise. 2 In view of the increasing use of livestock for specialized production, there is need for more practical and better control methods of reproduction. Sperm formation involves the use of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). 3 Most of these preparations of FSH and LH are very expensive. Some of them require cold chain storage and often deteriorate because of inadequate storage and handling. 4 Diclair ® , also known as Humegon or Mentrophin and with similar constituents as plusset ® is a gonadotrophin preparation lyophilized in vials containing a mixture of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone in a ratio 1:1. 5 Follicle stimulating hormone and LH in Diclair ® play vital role in the initiation of spermatogenesis. The hormone preparation is cheap, readily available and does not require cold chain storage. 6 It has not been determined if the administration of the hormone preparation for spermatogenesis and semen production would induce any side effects on the kidney function, body conformation and serum proteins values of the rams. This study was therefore carried out to determine the effect of Diclair ® , administration on kidney function, body conformation and serum protein values of mature Balami rams. Materials and methods Experimental animals and their management Twelve healthy, sexually matured Balami rams aged 2-3 years were used for this study. The animals were purchased from the local markets and housed in clean pens constructed in such a way that the rams could come outside during the day for access to sunlight and forage. The animals were deformed two times within the experimental period. The actual experimental period lasted for complete 70 days. Routine inspection for cleanliness was carried out. Freshly cut forage consisting of Panicum maximum, Aspilia africana, Pennisetum purpureun (Elephant grass) was fed as basal diet and a concentrate ratio of Grower Mash was used as supplement. The animals were fed twice daily, in the morning and evening. Salt lick was provided as mineral supplement. Water was given ad libitum to the animals. Int J Mol Biol Open Access. 2018;3(2):63‒66. 63 © 2018 Egu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Kidney function test, weight gain/ body conformation and serum protein values of mature balami rams treated with gonadotrophin (Diclair®) for sperm production Volume 3 Issue 2 - 2018 Uche Ndubuisi Egu, 1 Okonkwo JC 2 1 Department of Animal Science and Fisheries, Abia State University, Nigeria 2 Department of Animal Science and Technology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria Correspondence: Uche Ndubuisi Egu, Department of Animal Science and Fisheries, Abia State University, PMB 7010, Umuahia, Nigeria, Email jc.okonkwo@unizik.edu.ng Received: May 07, 2017 | Published: April 12, 2018 Abstract Twelve sexually matured (2-2.6 years old) healthy Balami rams which weighed between 45.55 and 45.57kg were used to determine the effect of Gonadotrophin (Diclair®) on kidney function, body conformation and serum protein values. The rams were divided into 4 groups of 4 animals per group with one ram per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). These groups were assigned to 3 levels of pergonal as treatments. The levels of pergonal were 0.00i.u, 54.00i.u, 108.00i.u pergonal represented as T1 (control), T2 and T3 respectively. All the treatments were administered by intramuscular injections. The injections were divided into three doses each and administered intramuscularly in the thigh for three consecutive days. The results showed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) among the treatment groups in all the parameters for kidney function test: chloride, potassium, sodium, bicarbonate and creatinine. The results further showed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) among the treatment groups in final body weight, weight gain, and all the parameters for body conformation: heart girth, scrotal circumference, body length, hip width withers height except initial body weights which were similar (P>0.05) among the treatment groups. Similarly there were significant differences (P<0.05) among the treatment groups in all the serum protein values measured: albumin, globulin, serum total protein as well as globulin/ albumin ratio. The results of this study showed that Diclair® enhanced kidney function and weight gain without any deleterious effects on body conformation and serum protein values of the rams. Keywords: Diclair®, kidney function, body conformation, serum proteins, Balami rams. International Journal of Molecular Biology: Open Access Research Article Open Access