Multivariate Analyses of the Effect of Feed Diet on the Mobilization of Fat Reserves in the One-Humped Camel

Abstract

The study of the distribution of the number of adipocytes by size classes showed that all sizes were represented in all she-camels studied, but in variable proportions. The variability of the proportions helped to characterize fat from lean animals with the following practical result: the adipocyte profile of fat animals was characterized by the prevailing cells of size classes 87.5, 100, 112.5 and 125 µm, which were highly cor­related. It is thus conceivable that monitoring dynamics of body reserves in camels could be carried out based on any one of these classes. A typology of the animals based on their adipocyte profiles showed high heterogeneity of individuals within the same group. This heterogeneity became less appar­ent toward the end of the trial period, when individuals in a group had been administered the same diet, and when fat and lean adipocyte profiles were better distinguished. The typolo­gies obtained at the beginning and at the end of the experi­ment showed that the animals were grouped differently and thus that there was a high interaction between animal adi­pocyte profiles and diet, confirming a high interaction between the two.