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.
Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital, Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Matthew S
MS
Johnston
Karen L
KL
Rosenthal
Frances S
FS
Shofer
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