…for some form of erythrocyte inclusion, such as a parasite (e.g. Mycoplasma haemofelis). Miscellaneous A platelet on a RBC. Occasionally platelets can come to rest on top of erythrocytes in a blood film. Inexperienced observers have been known to mistake this combination of normal hemic elements for an erythroparasite. Careful observation and comparison to “free” platelets will lead to the proper identification of this phenomenon….
Fat Fat droplets Variably-sized droplets of free lipid are fairly commonly observed upon microscopic examination of urine from dogs and cats. They can most readily be differentiated from cells by their propensity to float up under the coverslip to a different plane of focus compared to cells which have settled to the surface of the slide. They are uniformly round, but more variable in size than cells and are smooth in appearance. By focusing up…
Other constituents Read More »
…re quite unstable, including factor VIII, von Willebrand factor and Factor V. It is a source of plasma proteins and inhibitors. It can come from several sources: Plasma that is separated and frozen longer than 6 hours after whole blood collection Fresh plasma that is not used within 6 hours of collection and then frozen Fresh frozen plasma maintained for longer than 1 year in a dedicated freezer. Cryoprecipitate (CPP)…
Section outline The major minerals that are measured in chemistry testing are: Calcium (total and free ionized) Phosphate Magnesium Calcium and phosphate homeostasis involves the interrelated actions of the following hormones: Parathyroid hormone (PTH), vitamin D metabolites, and calcitonin. These work their magic on bone, the intestine and kidneys to regulate calcium and phosphate concentrations in blood. Magnesium we know less about. In…
…tive circulating volume and tonicity. Changes in fluid (loss or gain of fluid) influences sodium concentrations and triggers body responses as outlined in the fluid changes page. Potassium Chloride Because electrolytes are essential to proper functioning of cells, the body maintains their concentrations within fairly narrow limits. The main mechanisms to consider for changes in electrolyte concentrations are: Changes in free water: This particu…
Physiology Amylase is a calcium dependent enzyme which hydrolyzes complex carbohydrates at alpha 1,4-linkages to form maltose and glucose. Amylase is filtered by renal tubules and resorbed (inactivated) by tubular epithelium. Active enzyme does not appear in urine. Small amounts of amylase are taken up by Kupffer cells in the liver. In healthy dogs, 14% of amylase is bound to globulins. Because of this polymerization, canine amylase has variable…
…ysis. Icterus: Only high concentrations of bilirubin (>60 units on icteric index) will affect results. Test interpretation Increased LDH activity Artifact: Hemolysis (LDH is high in erythrocytes in dogs, cats and pigs); serum has higher activity than plasma as the enzyme is released from cells during clotting. In our experience, this is a common artifact in dogs. Physiologic: During exercise LDH activity rise to meet the inc…
…vity after administration of unfractionated heparin (50 IU/kg) peaked at 10 minutes (increased by a median of 5 and 10 U/L in dogs and cats, respectively, with individual animals having higher increases) and returned to baseline at 120 minutes. The clinical relevance of these findings is unclear (increases in dogs were not above established reference intervals for lipase) (Lim et al 2020). Test interpretation Measurement of lipase is most common…
…o-r and % low CHr. From this cohort (which only had low numbers of dogs in each group due to stringent criteria for inclusion), cut-offs were determined for differentiating absolute iron deficiency from functional iron deficiency and breed-associated microcytosis. These were: ≤26 g/dL for CHCMr, ≤20 g/dL for CHr, ≥74% for % Hypo-r and ≥51% for % low CHr, however these cut-offs did compromise sensitivity of these test results for de…
Reticulocyte indices Read More »
…ll species, although increases can occur with primary or secondary liver disease (e.g. many horses with inflammatory gastrointestinal disease will have high SDH activity). Increases in activity occur within 24 hours of liver injury. SDH is the enzyme of choice for detecting hepatocellular injury in horse and cattle (as AST and LDH are not liver-specific), particularly in fresh samples, and is a component of the current Large Animal Chemistry Prof…
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