Cardiac markers in five different breeds of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus Linnaeus, 1758) used for cardiovascular research

Abstract: Cardiac biomarkers for clinical and experimental heart diseases have previously been evaluated in rabbits. However, several laboratory assays performed and reported with inconsistent results. This study aimed to assess the effects of breed on serum ANP, CRP, and ACE and establish reference interval (RI) for these biomarkers in a large population of healthy rabbits. Ninety-seven adult rabbits from five breeds were included in this study. Assays were performed using specific ELISA commercial kits. The results were statistically analyzed using ANOVA, Tukey test (p<0.05), arithmetic mean, RI of mean, and standard deviation. A significant effect of breed was shown, indicating different RI between breeds for each biomarker. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that breed is an important physiological variable influencing the normal values of cardiac markers in healthy rabbits