Reference Ranges for Hematological and Biochemical Profile of Martina Franca Donkeys

Abstract

The Martina Franca donkey (MFd) is one of the largest Italian donkey breeds, considered as endangered breed. To support the conservation strategies, knowledge about the physiologic hematological parameters of MFds is needed. The aims of the study were to determine reference value for hematological and major serum parameters in a population of healthy MFds and to estimate the influence of age on these parameters. Eighty-one clinically healthy MFds (17 males and 64 females) in different ages were enrolled: group A (foals, n° 16, animals < 1 year old) group B (young animals, n° 36, from 1 to 3 years old), and group C (adult animals, n° 29, over 3 years old). Red blood cell count (RBC); hematocrit value (HCT); hemoglobin concentration (HGB); mean corpuscular volume (MCV); mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH); hemoglobin concentration distribution width (HDW); RBC distribution width (RDW); total white blood cell (WBC); WBC differential count for neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils, and platelets (PLT); mean platelet volume (MPV); platelet volume distribution width; and plateletcrit (PCT) were analyzed. The biochemistry panel included aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), total serum protein (TP), albumin (ALB), cholesterol (CHOL), triglyceride (TGL), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CREA), glucose (GLU), Ca2+, phosphorus, Na+, Cl−, K+, and Mg2+. The effect of age on hematological parameters was investigated using one-way ANOVA test. Age of donkeys does not influence total WBC, HGB, HCT, platelet count and MPV, and PCT (P > 0.05). Some leukocyte populations such as eosinophils, monocytes, and basophils showed age-linked variations (P < 0.05). RBC count, RDW, and HDW decrease with age whereas MCV and MCH increase. Na+, K+, Cl−, Ca2+, phosphorus, ALP, GGT, CREA, GLUC, and CHOL decrease with age (P < 0.05), while AST and TP showed an increase with aging (P < 0.05). ALB reaches the lowest values in young donkeys and returns to values of foals in older animals (P < 0.05). Finally, a difference among groups for BUN and TGL was not found (P < 0.05). The results suggest how even for the MFd breed, age is a variable that affects different hematological and biochemical parameters. Compared to other donkey and horses, the MFd breed showed some differences that clinicians involved during conservation strategies need to be consider.

Serum Cortisol and Its Correlation with Leucocyte Profile and Circulating Lipids in Donkeys (Equus asinus)

“…Unfortunately, we cannot answer whether or not cortisol regulated basophils number in pregnant jennies only because, to the authors’ knowledge, nobody has examined this correlation in pregnant females of other species. Levels of cholesterol and triglycerides are within the values reported by other authors [ 26 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. Levels of cholesterol were significantly higher in juvenile animals compared to in adults, and a similar finding has been reported by other authors [ 45 , 47 ].…”

“…Levels of cholesterol and triglycerides are within the values reported by other authors [ 26 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. Levels of cholesterol were significantly higher in juvenile animals compared to in adults, and a similar finding has been reported by other authors [ 45 , 47 ]. Triglyceride levels were significantly lower in the young compared to adults.…”

Effects of the Physiological Status and Diet on Blood Metabolic Parameters in Amiata Dairy Donkeys

“…BUN serum values were quite similar to the mean value reported for adult donkeys (16 mg/dL) [ 23 ], and to the average levels found in Martina Franca jennies in late pregnancy (18–20 mg/dL) [ 24 ], while higher mean values were observed in Ragusana jennies (27 mg/dL) [ 29 ]. In agreement with other studies on donkeys [ 24 ] and on several horse breeds [ 30 ], in our study there were no significant changes in either TP or BUN in pregnant compared to maintenance donkeys (Diet 1).…”

“…In our study, the two groups of animals (maintenance and pregnancy, Diet 1) did not show significant differences in blood glucose levels. Blood glucose was slightly lower than the average glucose found in the Martina Franca breed and in the Brazilian donkey (58–59 mg/dL) [ 22 , 23 ]. The greatest differences compared to the literature were observed for the group of pregnant jennies which had lower glucose values than those reported in pregnancy for Martina Franca (ranging between 73 and 78 mg/dL) [ 24 ] and Amiata donkeys (ranging between 78 and 91 mg/dL) [ 25 ].…”

Infectious diseases in rising riding-horse and donkey milk industry: First detection of Neospora sp. antibodies in donkeys in Turkey

“…It has been observed that the results obtained as a result of the hematological examination carried out to evaluate the health status of horses and donkeys are in accordance with the reference values speci ed for both species (Aiello and Moses 2016;Trimboli et al 2020).…”