PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF SERUM CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS IN SIX NONDOMESTIC BOVID SPECIES

Serum protein electrophoresis is a tool widely used in veterinary medicine to aid in the detection of inflammation as well as monoclonal and polyclonal gammopathies. The use of agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) has previously been described in some non-domesticated mammals, including the bongo and pronghorn antelope as well as in cattle. Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) represents a new method that provides a higher resolution and lower coefficient of variation. In the present study, banked samples (n = 24-30) of adult addax (Addax nasomaculatus), gemsbok (Oryx gazella), sable antelope (Hippotragus niger), scimitar horned oryx (Oryx dammah), waterbuck (Kobus elllipsiprymnus), and common wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) were examined to describe the CZE electrophoretogram and determine preliminary reference intervals. Interestingly, interspecies differences were observed with a lower A/G ratio in the addax, gemsbok, and sable antelope versus the scimitar horned oryx, waterbuck, and wildebeest. This was mostly related to the overall higher alpha and beta globulins in the former group. In addition, albumin quantitated by CZE was also compared to albumin levels determined by traditional bromocresol green methodology. While the methods were found to be significantly correlated (p < 0.01), r values ranged from 0.5 to 0.9 and BCG overestimated albumin by 0.16 to 0.52 g/dL. CZE may be a useful diagnostic tool in health assessments and reveal species differences, which may be driven by genetics, subclinical infection, and/or environment.