Diarrhea is one of the main causes of animal deaths especially in neonatal calves. The objective of this study was to investigate the blood serum for cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn) concentrations in yak serum samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) from 35 yaks consisting of 10 healthy and 25 diarrheic ones. Our observations indicated that the concentrations of Mn, Zn, and Fe in yak affected with diarrhea had statistically significant reduced levels as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The mean concentration of Cu in blood serum of diarrheic yaks was found significantly higher than the normal ones (P < 0.05). The Mn and Zn in the serum of diarrheic groups were observed significantly different (P < 0.05) with different ages. These findings can provide for some valuable information for the investigation on relationship between trace elements in the serum of normal and diarrheic yaks.
Keywords: Diarrhea; Hongyuan of China; Trace elements; Yaks.