title: Blood sampling procedures influence serum calcitonin concentrations in rats.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Feinstein
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bucht
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grimelius
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwarsson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rönnbäck
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Selking
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sjöstedt
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Sjöberg
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D002116:Calcitonin; D006221:Halothane