title: Hyperkalemia in free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
abstract: Sixty adult and yearling female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were collected in July 2008 (n=30) and March 2009 (n=30) from eastern North Carolina as part of a population health assessment. During July 2008, standard serum analyses revealed hyperkalemia in all deer sampled. In March, the effect of processing time as a possible source of the hyperkalemia was investigated. For a subset of deer (n=10), blood tubes were centrifuged and processed at four time points (0, 30, 60, and 120 min) postcollection. Delayed centrifugation and plasma separation did not affect potassium (K(+)) concentration over time, indicating that a shift in intracellular K(+) did not occur and the hyperkalemia was not due to improper sample handling. Potassium levels were negatively correlated with age and varied across collection periods. Also, K(+) levels were positively correlated with glucose and not correlated with creatine kinase (CK). No single variable indicated a strong enough relationship to explain the hyperkalemia in the study.
authors: North Carolina State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, 4700 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, USA. Betsy_Stringer@ncsu.edu
authors: Elizabeth M
authors: EM
authors: Stringer
authors: Suzanne
authors: S
authors: Kennedy-Stoskopf
authors: M Colter
authors: MC
authors: Chitwood
authors: Jeffrey R
authors: JR
authors: Thompson
authors: Christopher S
authors: CS
authors: DePerno
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000097:blood; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D003670:Deer / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006947:Hyperkalemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013997:Time Factors