Trace element status in canine endocrine diseases.

A balanced trace element status is essential for the optimal functioning of all organisms. However, their concentrations are often altered in diverse medical conditions. This study investigated the trace element profiles in plasma samples of dogs with endocrine diseases and used chemometric techniques to explore their associations with biochemical data. Thirteen elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn) were measured in 40 dogs with hyperadrenocorticism (HAC), 29 dogs with diabetes mellitus (DM), 11 dogs with hypothyroidism (HT) and 30 control dogs using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Statistically significant differences were observed for As, Cu, Mo, Se and Zn. In comparison with the control group, the HT patients had higher As and lower Se levels, while the HAC group had higher concentrations of Mo. All three disease groups had higher Cu and Zn concentrations than the control group, with the DM group having higher Cu concentrations and the HAC group higher Zn concentrations than the other endocrinopathy groups. The chemometric analysis revealed distinctive association patterns for discriminating each pathology group and the control group. Moreover, the analysis revealed the following associations: Mo with glucose levels and Cu with fructosamine levels in the DM group, As with cortisol levels in the HAC group, and Se with TT4 levels and As with TSH levels in the HT group. The study findings provide valuable insights into the complex relationships between trace elements and endocrinopathies, elucidating the associations with biochemical markers in these diseases. Larger-scale studies are necessary to fully understand the observed relationships and explore the potential clinical applications.

Influence of haemolysis on blood biochemistry profiles in cattle.

Although haemolysis is the most common source of preanalytical error in clinical laboratories, its influence on cattle biochemistry remains poorly understood. The effect of haemolysis and its clinical relevance were investigated in 70 samples in which haemolysis was artificially induced (by spiking with increasing amounts of haemolysate, yielding 0.0%, 0.2%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.5%, 5.0% and 10% haemolysis degree (HD)), focusing on key parameters for bovine metabolic health assessment, including albumin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), calcium (Ca), cholesterol, creatinine, creatine kinase (CK), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), globulins, magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), total bilirubin (TBIL) and total proteins (TP). Preanalytical haemolysis significantly affected most (8 of 14) of the biochemical parameters analysed, leading to significant increases in concentrations of albumin (starting at 5% HD), cholesterol (at 5% HD) and P (at 10% HD) and to significant decreases in Ca (at 2.5% HD), creatinine (at 5% HD), globulins (at 10% HD), TBIL (at 2.5% HD) and TP (at 10% HD). Comparison of the present and previous data indicated that, for each parameter, the HD required to produce significant bias and the clinical relevance of over- and underestimation are variable and appear to depend on the analytical technique used. Therefore, different laboratories should evaluate the influence of haemolysis in their analytical results and provide advice to clinicians accordingly. Affected parameters should be interpreted together with clinical signs and other analytical data to minimize misinterpretations (false or masked variations). Finally, due to the significant impact on numerous parameters and the limited potential for correction, we recommend rejection of samples with >10% HD.

Measuring haemolysis in cattle serum by direct UV-VIS and RGB digital image-based methods.

A simple, rapid procedure is required for the routine detection and quantification of haemolysis, one of the main sources of unreliable results in serum analysis. In this study, we compared two different approaches for the rapid determination of haemolysis in cattle serum. The first consisted of estimating haemolysis via a simple direct ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectrophotometric measurement of serum samples. The second involved analysis of red, green, blue (RGB) colour data extracted from digital images of serum samples and relating the haemoglobin (Hb) content by means of both univariate (R, G, B and intensity separately) and multivariate calibrations (R, G, B and intensity jointly) using partial least squares regression and artificial neural networks. The direct UV-VIS analysis and RGB-multivariate analysis using neural network methods were both appropriate for evaluating haemolysis in serum cattle samples. The procedures displayed good accuracy (mean recoveries of 100.7 and 102.1%, respectively), adequate precision (with coefficients of variation from 0.21 to 2.68%), limit of detection (0.14 and 0.21 g L-1, respectively), and linearity of up to 10 g L-1.

Influence of Haemolysis on the Mineral Profile of Cattle Serum.

Haemolysis of serum samples is the leading cause of preanalytical errors in clinical laboratories. Little is known about the potential alterations in the concentrations of mineral elements in haemolyzed serum and the phenomenon has not been specifically studied in bovine serum samples. We investigate how haemolysis affects the mineral content of bovine samples. We used ICP-MS to measure the concentrations of 12 mineral elements (Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, P, Se and Zn) in bovine whole blood, serum and gradually haemolyzed samples and observed significant differences between the different types of samples, particularly in the Fe and Zn concentrations. However, in practice, the high interindividual variability makes it difficult to establish whether a given value corresponds to normal or haemolyzed samples. In response to this problem, we propose to consider that a result is significantly biased when the haemolysis threshold (the degree of haemolysis above which the concentration of an element in serum is significantly altered) of a given element is surpassed. The haemolysis threshold values for the different elements considered were found as follows: 0.015 g Hb L-1 for Fe, 2 g for Zn, 4 g for Cr and 8 g for Ca, Se and Mo.