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19 April 2024 Reduce, Replace, Refine: Determining a Posteriori Reference Intervals for Biochemistry in Hermann's Tortoise (Testudo hermanni)
Loïc Palumbo, Sébastien Caron, Jean-Marie Ballouard, Xavier Bonnet, Eve Ramery, Emmanuelle Gilot-Fromont, Sylvain Larrat
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Biochemical and hematological analyses are important for the assessment of animal health. However, for most wild species their use is hindered by the scarcity of reliable reference intervals. Indeed, collecting body fluids (e.g., blood, urine) in free-ranging animals is often technically challenging. Further, sampling many individuals would be essential to consider major sources of variations, such as species, populations, sex, age, and seasons. One alternative, according to the reduction, refinement, and replacement framework, is to establish reference intervals a posteriori using literature survey and unpublished data. We produced reference intervals for free-ranging Hermann's tortoises (Testudo hermanni), using analyses performed on blood samples collected in previous studies and conservation programs conducted in the field between 2010 and 2016 in southern France (n=195 individuals). Thirteen parameters were analyzed: packed-cell volume, blood concentrations of corticosterone, testosterone, glycemia, cholesterol, triglyceride, urea, uric acid, calcium, sodium, potassium, asparagine aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferases (ALT). Reference intervals for subgroups defined by sex and season were relevant for corticosterone, triglyceride, and calcium (sex) and cholesterol (season). Comparing our results with those obtained in captive individuals in Germany, except for urea and AST levels the intervals from both free-ranging versus captive tortoises were similar, suggesting that reference intervals established from captive individuals may be suitable for free-ranging populations in this species.

Loïc Palumbo, Sébastien Caron, Jean-Marie Ballouard, Xavier Bonnet, Eve Ramery, Emmanuelle Gilot-Fromont, and Sylvain Larrat "Reduce, Replace, Refine: Determining a Posteriori Reference Intervals for Biochemistry in Hermann's Tortoise (Testudo hermanni)," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 60(2), 502-506, (19 April 2024). https://doi.org/10.7589/JWD-D-23-00065
Received: 28 September 2023; Accepted: 24 October 2023; Published: 19 April 2024
KEYWORDS
Baseline values
biochemistry
Blood analysis
free-ranging animals
reptiles
wildlife
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