title: A NEED FOR DYNAMIC HEMATOLOGY AND SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY REFERENCE TOOLS: NOVEL USE OF SINE WAVE FUNCTIONS TO PRODUCE SEASONALLY VARYING REFERENCE CURVES IN PLATYPUSES (ORNITHORHYNCHUS ANATINUS).
abstract: Seasonal changes in hematology and serum biochemistry results, described by separate reference intervals for different seasons, have been reported in many animals. We developed a novel method to investigate seasonal variation in values and a reference tool (the reference curve) based on sine wave functions that, for suitable variables, represents data more appropriately than a fixed reference interval. We applied these techniques to values observed in blood samples from 126 adult wild platypuses ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus ; 58 females and 68 males). Samples were collected under isoflurane anesthesia from animals captured in the Inglis Catchment in northwest Tasmania. In general, packed cell volume (PCV), red cell count (RCC), and hemoglobin (Hb) values appeared to be lower than those in two studies that previously reported platypus hematology reference intervals. This likely resulted from reduced stress-related splenic contraction or isoflurane-associated splenic sequestration of red blood cells in our study. Reference curves were described for five variables (PCV, RCC, Hb, albumin, and magnesium). We found evidence that this seasonal variation may result from metabolic changes associated with seasonal variations in environmental temperature. These observations suggest that it is important for researchers reporting platypus hematology and serum biochemistry to look for seasonal changes in their data to ensure it is appropriately interpreted.
authors.affiliation: 1   College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 S Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Macgregor
authors.affiliation: 1   College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 S Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: Carly S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Holyoake
authors.affiliation: 2   School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia.|3   Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Pugsley Place, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2650, Australia.
authors.forename: Joanne H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Connolly
authors.affiliation: 1   College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 S Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: 4   Environmental and Conservation Sciences, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 S Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Fleming
authors.affiliation: 1   College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 S Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: Kristin S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Warren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001772:Blood Cell Count / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins; D008297:Male; D010987:Platypus / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D013648:Tasmania
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins
keywords: Biochemistry; environmental temperature; hematology; isoflurane; monotreme; platypus; reference curve; sinusoidal variation