Blood sampling procedures influence serum calcitonin concentrations in rats.
The aim of this study was to determine whether serum calcitonin (S-CT) in rats is influenced by the method of taking blood samples. Sampling during halothane anaesthesia, after repeated administration of anaesthesia after a 14-day interval, and sampling without the use of anaesthetics (i.e. after the rats were made unconscious by stunning), resulted in different S-CT values (P < or = 0.001), whereas Ca2+ levels were not affected. In thyroidectomized rats, the S-CT values after stunning were not significantly different whereas those in sham-operated rats were different (P < or = 0.01). The possibility that anaesthesia may suppress stunning-induced changes in S-CT was explored in three other groups of rats subjected to halothane anaesthesia, stunning and stunning under halothane anaesthesia respectively. Although the S-CT level was highest after stunning and lowest in halothane-anaesthetized rats (P < or = 0.001), anaesthesia did not suppress the effect of stunning on S-CT. In conclusion the effect of sampling procedures must be considered in studies on the levels of S-CT in rats.
Feinstein
R E
RE
Department of Pathology, National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.
Bucht
E
E
Grimelius
L
L
Iwarsson
K
K
Rönnbäck
C
C
Selking
O
O
Sjöstedt
U
U
Sjöberg
H E
HE
D000758:Anesthesia; D000818:Animals; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006221:Halothane; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D014474:Unconsciousness / Q000097:blood
D002116:Calcitonin; D006221:Halothane