Reference intervals for hematology and plasma biochemistry and comparison with selected estimation methods in Northern boobooks (Ninox japonica ) undergoing rehabilitation
Jul 2026· Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine· 0 citations· 30 references
TL;DR
The findings underscore the need for caution when interpreting the estimated values in clinical settings and because rehabilitated individuals may appear clinically stable while harboring subclinical pathologies, the results of this study should be considered within the context of rehabilitation.
Abstract
The establishment of reliable physiological baselines is essential for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of rescued wildlife, but reference intervals (RIs) are limited for many species encountered in rehabilitation settings. The Northern boobook (Ninox japonica) is one of the most frequently rescued owl species at wildlife rescue centers in the Republic of Korea, yet veterinary research on this species is scarce. This study aimed to establish the hematologic and plasma biochemical RIs for rehabilitated Northern boobooks and assess the agreement between field estimation methods and standard analytical techniques for selected variables. These variables included hemoglobin (Hgb) derived from packed cell volume, total protein (TP) measured by refractometry, and total white blood cell (TWBC) counts obtained from blood films. The blood profiles for RI calculation were collected from 41 clinically normal, rehabilitated individuals, and no statistically significant differences were found between the sexes for any parameter. Method comparison analyses for Hgb, TP, and TWBC found significant differences between the estimation techniques and their respective reference methods. The Bland–Altman plots found systematic biases for all methods, because the 95% confidence interval for mean biases excluded zero, indicating poor concordance. Passing–Bablok regression further confirmed systematic deviations, identifying a mix of constant and proportional biases that varied among the analytes. These findings underscore the need for caution when interpreting the estimated values in clinical settings. In addition, because rehabilitated individuals may appear clinically stable while harboring subclinical pathologies, the results of this study should be considered within the context of rehabilitation.
Season-specific RIs are provided for analytes with substantial seasonal effects of apparently healthy Mongolian Bactrian camels to support clinical interpretation and herd health monitoring under Mongolian pastoral conditions.
Tsognemekh Bolormaa, B. Sandagdorj, Sedkhuu Burenjargal et al.· Journal of Veterinary Medica...· 0 citations
This study fills a critical gap in understanding pelican physiology and provides essential reference data for wildlife veterinarians, rehabilitators and conservation biologists in the assessment and management of pelican health, facilitating more effective interventions and providing a tool for monitoring broader ecosystem health.
D. Sullivan, J. Porter, J. Ward et al.· Conservation Physiology· 0 citations
These highly powered, sedation-contextualized RI provide a definitive, species-specific diagnostic framework that will significantly enhance veterinary care, colony management, and the interpretation of translational research utilizing A. nancymaae.
Carlos Gaspar, M. Nieto, N. Espinoza et al.· Scientific Reports· 0 citations
Because SAA is a rapidly responsive acute phase protein, the proposed interval should be interpreted as an assay- and population-specific RI rather than as a disease-classification decision limit.
Maciej Perzyna, Edith Bardet, Katarzyna Baranowska et al.· Frontiers in Veterinary Scie...· 0 citations
Reference ranges for blood parameters are essential for diagnostic assessment and treatment decisions for harbor seals (
Phoca vitulina
) in rehabilitation or under permanent human care. Moreover, they are also important for evaluating the health status of free-ranging animals, thereby allowing conclusions about population health. To date, robust datasets of free-ranging presumably healthy individuals are rare. Here, we evaluated reference values for 14 hematologic and 21 serum biochemical parameters of 576 harbor seals that were wild-caught in the German North Sea over almost three decades. After the removal of outliers, nonparametric or bootstrapping methods were applied, depending on the sample size for each parameter, to estimate 95% reference intervals and their 90% confidence intervals. Additionally, we investigated the influence of three factors, as well as potential time trends, on each blood parameter using the Mann–Whitney-U test. Here, the factors which showed a moderate effect on only a few of the tested blood parameters were age class, sex, and season. LDH values were higher in juveniles than in multi-year animals, while creatine showed higher values in multi-year animals. Females showed higher values for iron, BUN, and triglycerides compared to males. Red cell distribution width (RDW), total-protein and cholesterol values were higher in spring than in autumn. No specific changes over time were determined for any of the blood parameters. This study enhances the knowledge on blood reference values of free-ranging harbor seals, delivering important baseline data especially for further health assessments of the Wadden Sea harbor seal population. Continuous health examinations of free-ranging marine mammal populations represent an important early warning tool for identifying potential threats affecting these animals. Therefore, they can provide valuable information to support effective management and conservation measures.
S. Gross, Andreas Ruser, Ursula Siebert· Frontiers in Veterinary Scie...· 0 citations
European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) hematology is widely used in nutrition, welfare, stress and health studies, yet results from different laboratories are often difficult to compare. This critical narrative review examines how preanalytical handling, analytical procedure and biological context affect that comparability. It is written for researchers, diagnostic laboratories and aquaculture health teams that collect or use D. labrax blood data. Primary European seabass studies are discussed directly where they provide quantitative operating conditions, method comparisons or measurable biological changes. Manual microscopy, automated analyzers and flow cytometry are considered separately because nucleated erythrocytes and thrombocytes create different sources of error in each approach. The review distinguishes practical quality-control checks from the fuller reporting required for reproducibility and separates published operating conditions from numerical limits that have not been validated for the species. Seasonal studies show large coordinated shifts in red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin concentration (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct), whereas white blood cell count (WBC) and thrombocyte results remain particularly dependent on cell definition and analytical method. Published pooled estimates are useful for broad comparison but not as universal diagnostic limits. The most defensible use of European seabass hematology is therefore within a defined population, a stated sampling protocol and a method whose performance is known for the intended measurement.
Sevasti-Aliki Kounida, Michail-Aggelos Valsamidis, Sofia Pappou et al.· Fishes· 0 citations
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