Shiela Francisco Margallo
Biological Resource Centre Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore
Title: Stability of Complete Rabbit Blood Count Parameters in Under Various Storage Times and Temperatures
Biography
Biography: Shiela Francisco Margallo
Abstract
Complete Blood Count (CBC) is an essential tool in evaluating overall animal health and detecting diseases. The stability of blood samples in various storage and temperature conditions to determine if they provide consistent results is well- studied in humans. In laboratory animals, studies in rats, mice and monkeys were conducted. However, limited studies exist on rabbits. The aim of this study is to find out if prolonged periods of storage and various temperatures influence the stability of CBCs in rabbit whole blood. Blood collection was done in towel-wrapped rabbits with local topical anaesthetic cream applied on the collection site thirty minutes prior to collection. One millilitre of blood was collected from sixteen New Zealand White rabbits in EDTA tubes and distributed into two aliquots - one stored at room temperature (21 degrees) and the other at refrigerator temperature (4 degrees). Baseline value was measured after blood collection and at various time points (6, 24, 48, and 72 hours) using an impedance technology haematology analyser. The stability of CBC parameters was determined by comparing the results of each time point to the baseline reading. The differences were evaluated using One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) repeated measures after verification of normal distribution by ChiSquare test. Friedman test was used for parameters with non-normal distribution patterns.The studied parameters include White Blood Cell Count (WBC), Red Blood Cell Count (RBC), Haemoglobin Concentration (HGB), Haematocrit (HCT), Platelet Count (PLT), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), RBC Distribution width (RDW) and Mean Platelet Volume (MPV). Results showed that most parameters were stable at 4 degrees up to 24 hrs except for Hgb (p=0.0079) and MPV (p=0.0015) which values started to increase from 6 hours. At room temperature, most values were unstable starting from 6 hours - RBC (p<0.0001), Hgb (p<0.0001), MPV (p=0.0015), HCT (p=0.0475), PLT (p=0.0146). It was concluded that rabbit blood samples can be suitable for haematological analysis up to 24 hrs at 4 degrees storage. However, it is still advisable to process the blood samples immediately after collection to yield better and reliable results.