Canadian Journal of Pure & Applied Sciences

Abstract: Most of the studies on carbohydrate levels in amphibians have been limited to frogs. The study was designed to investigate the effect of rainy and dry seasons of the year on blood glucose and glycogen levels of the Common African toad Bufo regularis. A total of 156 adult toads of either sex were used for the study. Each toad was fasted and anesthetized with sodium pentobarbitone (3mg/100g i.p). Blood samples were collected from the truncus arteriosus to estimate the blood glucose using modified glucose oxidase, while the glycogen level was determined using anthrone reagents method. The fasting levels of blood glucose during rainy season was significantly higher (p< 0.05) than the fasting values of blood glucose during the dry season. The fasting levels of liver and muscle glycogen during rainy season were significantly lower (p< 0.01) than the fasting liver and muscle glycogen levels during the dry season. The normal mean blood glucose of female toads was significantly (p<0.01) higher than the normal mean glucose of the male toads in rainy season while during the dry season the normal mean glucose of the male toads was not statistically higher than the mean blood glucose of the female toads. The results showed that seasonal changes produced significant effect on the carbohydrate levels and caused sexual variation in the blood glucose of the Common African toad Bufo regularis.