PMID- 38453500
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20240311
LR  - 20240319
IS  - 1042-7260 (Print)
IS  - 1042-7260 (Linking)
VI  - 55
IP  - 1
DP  - 2024 Mar
TI  - BIOLOGICAL VARIATION OF HEMATOLOGY PARAMETERS AND CLINICAL APPLICATION IN AFRICAN 
      ELEPHANTS (LOXODONTA AFRICANA).
PG  - 173-181
LID - 10.1638/2023-0055 [doi]
AB  - Detailed knowledge of biological variation can facilitate accurate interpretation 
      of clinical pathology parameters. A recent biological variation study in Asian 
      elephants (Elephas maximus) found that hematology parameters had high 
      individuality, which suggests that population-derived reference intervals may be 
      an insensitive diagnostic tool. In elephant medicine, sensitive 
      hematology-related diagnostics are crucial for clinical decision-making, 
      particularly in elephants at risk for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus 
      hemorrhagic disease (EEHV-HD). The objective of this study was to assess 
      biological variation of hematology parameters in African elephants to determine 
      whether population-derived reference intervals are a sensitive diagnostic tool 
      for interpreting results and to provide a useful alternative. Eight healthy 
      African elephants had blood collected under behavioral training every other week 
      for 8 wk. Complete blood cell count (CBC) analysis was performed in duplicate to 
      assess analytical variation. Previous methods were used to determine 
      between-individual variation, within-individual variation, index of 
      individuality, and reference change values (RCV). This study found that most 
      hematology parameters displayed intermediate-to-high individuality, which 
      suggests that alternatives to population-derived reference intervals are 
      necessary to detect pathologic changes. To test the results of our biological 
      variation data, a case of EEHV-HD was retrospectively evaluated. Individual 
      normal values and calculated RCV detected a clinically significant monocytopenia, 
      leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia associated with EEHV2 viremia. However, none of 
      these parameters fell outside a population-derived reference interval. This study 
      highlights the utility of biological variation in clinical decision-making and 
      demonstrates that individual normal values and RCV may be important diagnostic 
      tools for CBC interpretation in African elephants.
FAU - Browning, Geoffrey R
AU  - Browning GR
AD  - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA, grobinson.browning@ 
      gmail.com.
FAU - Kjelgaard-Hansen, Mads
AU  - Kjelgaard-Hansen M
AD  - Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-1870 
      Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
FAU - Howard, Lauren L
AU  - Howard LL
AD  - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.
FAU - Keener, Laura
AU  - Keener L
AD  - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.
FAU - LaFarga, Mindy
AU  - LaFarga M
AD  - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.
FAU - Perrin, Kathryn L
AU  - Perrin KL
AD  - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.
LA  - eng
PT  - Case Reports
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - J Zoo Wildl Med
JT  - Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine : official publication of the American 
      Association of Zoo Veterinarians
JID - 8915208
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - *Elephants
MH  - *Hematology
MH  - *Herpesviridae
MH  - *Herpesviridae Infections/veterinary
MH  - Retrospective Studies
EDAT- 2024/03/08 00:43
MHDA- 2024/03/11 06:43
CRDT- 2024/03/07 21:46
PHST- 2023/09/26 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2024/03/11 06:43 [medline]
PHST- 2024/03/08 00:43 [pubmed]
PHST- 2024/03/07 21:46 [entrez]
AID - 10.1638/2023-0055 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Zoo Wildl Med. 2024 Mar;55(1):173-181. doi: 10.1638/2023-0055.