J Appl Biomed 3:123-128, 2005 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2005.015

Nycthemeral change of some haematological parameters in horses

Giuseppe Piccione1,*, Francesco Fazio1, Elisabetta Giudice2, Fortunata Grasso1, Massimo Morgante3
1 Dipartimento di Morfologia, Biochimica, Fisiologia e Produzioni Animali, Sezione di Fisiologia Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Messina, Italy
2 Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Messina, Italy
3 Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy

Many physiological processes of domestic animals exhibit daily rhythmicity. The goal of the present study was to investigate, in horses, the existence of the daily rhythms of some haematological parameters: red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and platelets (PLT). Blood samples from 6 Thoroughbred mares were collected at 4-hour intervals for 48 hours (starting at 08:00 hours on day 1 and finishing at 04:00 on day 2) via an intravenous cannula inserted into the jugular vein. ANOVA showed a highly significant effect of time on haemoglobin and on haematocrit, in all the horses, on either day, with p values < 0.05. Cosinor analysis identified the periodic parameters and their acrophases (expressed in hours) during the 2 days of monitoring. RBC, Hb, Hct and MCV showed nycthemeral variations included between 17.44 and 22.28, which could suggest the hypothetical influence of various exogenous factors.

Keywords: circadian rhythm; haematological parameters; horse

Received: May 28, 2005; Revised: June 9, 2005; Published: July 31, 2005  Show citation

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Piccione G, Fazio F, Giudice E, Grasso F, Morgante M. Nycthemeral change of some haematological parameters in horses. J Appl Biomed. 2005;3(3):123-128. doi: 10.32725/jab.2005.015.
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