Assessment of a point-of-care biochemical analyzer and comparison with a commercial laboratory for the measurement of total protein and albumin concentrations in psittacines.
OBJECTIVE
To determine agreement for total protein (TP) and albumin concentrations measured by a point-of-care biochemical analyzer in heparinized whole blood and plasma samples obtained from psittacines and compare results with those from a commercial laboratory.


METHODS
Hematologic samples from 92 healthy birds.


METHODS
Duplicate samples of heparinized whole blood and plasma were obtained. A point-of-care biochemical analyzer was used to determine TP and albumin concentrations. To assess precision, intraclass correlation coefficient (r(i)) and Bland-Altman measures of agreement were used. These results were compared by use of Bland-Altman plots with those obtained from a commercial laboratory that used a biuret method for TP concentration and electrophoresis for albumin concentration.


RESULTS
For the analyzer, there was excellent agreement (r(i) = 0.91) between heparinized whole blood and plasma samples for TP and albumin concentrations. Relative error was 0.9% for TP and 0.7% for albumin. Analyzer results correlated well with commercial laboratory results, with a downward bias of 0.6 for TP and 0.3 for albumin.


CONCLUSIONS
The analyzer had excellent precision for analysis of heparinized whole blood or plasma samples for TP or albumin concentrations; analyzer values had good agreement with those from a commercial laboratory. The analyzer could be a valid method to measure plasma TP concentrations and provide point-of-care testing in apparently healthy parrots. Biochemical analyzer results for plasma albumin concentration were not validated by results from a commercial laboratory, so conclusions cannot be drawn regarding use of the analyzer in measurement of albumin concentrations in psittacines.
Johnston
Matthew S
MS
Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital, Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Rosenthal
Karen L
KL
Shofer
Frances S
FS
D000418:Albumins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000662:veterinary*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D007753:Laboratories / Q000592:standards*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011563:Psittaciformes / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism
D000418:Albumins; D001798:Blood Proteins