Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the haematological and biochemical values of clinical significance for red deer (Cervus elaphus) and provide data for farmed fawns. Blood samples were collected regularly from 34 fawns and compared with 11 adults. The mean blood haemoglobin (Hb), total erythrocyte count (RBC), packed cell volume (PCV), total leukocyte count (WBC) and percent of segmented neutrophils were significantly lower in fawns. Red distribution width (RDW), total platelet count (PLT), plateletcryt (PCT) and percent of eosinophils and lymphocytes were significantly higher in fawns. A vast majority of biochemical parameters were significantly lower in fawns: blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE), total protein (tPROT), total bilirubine (tBIL) and glucose (GLU) concentration, as a aspartate-aminotransferase (AST) and creatin phosphokinase (CPK) activity, while albumine concentration (ALB), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity showed a significant increase. These results demonstrate the need to use specific reference intervals for deer of different ages. The values reported here can be used as a starting point for reference range establishment for clinically healthy young farmed red deer in Croatia.Istraženi su klinički značajni hematološki i biokemijski pokazatelji u jelena (Cervus elaphus) držanih na farmama. Pretraženi su uzorci od 34 mlada jelena, a rezultati pretrage bili su uspoređeni s rezultatima pretrage uzoraka 11 odraslih jelena. Koncentracija hemoglobina (Hb), broj eritrocita (RBC), hematokrit (PCV), ukupni broj leukocita (WBC) i postotak segmentiranih neutrofila bili su značajno niži u mladih jelena. Distribucija eritrocita po volumenu (RDW), broj trombocita (PLT), trombokrit (PCT) i postotak eozinofila i limfocita bio je značajno viši u mladih jelena. Većina biokemijskih pokazatelja bila je značajno niža u mladih jelena: koncentracija ureje (BUN), kreatinina (CRE), ukupnih proteina (tPROT), ukupnog bilirubina (tBIL) i glukoze (GLU), kao i aktivnost aspartat-aminotransferaze (AST) i kreatin-fosfokinaze (CPK), dok su albumin (ALB), aktivnost alkalne fosfataze (ALP) i gama-glutamil transferaze (GGT) pokazivali značajni porast. Rezultati ukazuju na potrebu uvođenja specifičnih referentnih vrijednosti za jelene različite životne dobi. Dobivene vrijednosti mogu predstavljati ishodišnu točku za uspostavu referentnoga raspona u klinički zdravih mladih jelena uzgojenih na farmama u Hrvatskoj
