Evaluation of serum pepsinogen as a diagnostic marker for parasitism in farmed red deer.

Aim: This study presents data of pepsinogen analyses from samples collected during a prior investigation of the species of internal parasites, production effects and diagnostic markers for internal parasitism in farmed deer in New Zealand. Methods: Two groups (n=20) of weaned red deer were naturally infected with Dictyocaulus spp. and mixed GI nematodes. The first group (suppressive treated control), was treated every four weeks with anthelmintic. The second group (trigger treated) received only treatment when trigger criteria were met. Individual body weight, faecal egg and larvae counts were measured every two weeks and every four weeks the animals were sampled for serum which was stored frozen. Results: Serum pepsinogen concentration were measured but were low, with levels not reaching above 225 mU. No difference in pepsinogen mean concentration was seen between the two groups on each sample date. Faecal egg and larvae counts ranged from 0-500 epg and 0-120 lpg in the trigger treated group and few animals in the suppressive treated group were egg or larvae count positive. No correlation was found between mean egg or larvae count and mean serum pepsinogen at any sampling day in either group. A significant inverse correlation was observed between liveweight gain from January to December and mean log pepsinogen for each animal in the trigger treated group. (r = -0.5177, p