Reference values for clinical chemistry using the Coulter Chemistry System

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Clinical Pathology
• Animal Biochemistry

Background:

• Establishing accurate reference ranges is crucial for diagnosing animal diseases.
• Veterinary clinical chemistry instruments require species-specific reference values.
• Existing literature may not fully encompass all relevant animal populations or modern instrumentation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine reference (normal) ranges for clinical chemistry analytes in dogs, cats, horses, and cattle.
• To validate results from the Coulter Chemistry instrument against established veterinary literature.
• To investigate potential variations in clinical chemistry results based on age and lactation status in horses and cattle, respectively.

Main Methods:

• Clinical chemistry analysis was performed on specimens from dogs, cats, horses, and cattle using the Coulter Chemistry instrument.
• Specimens from horses were categorized by age.
• Specimens from cattle were categorized by lactation status.

Main Results:

• Reference ranges were successfully established for the analyzed species.
• The obtained results were generally consistent with current veterinary literature.
• Significant differences in certain test results were observed between age subgroups in horses and lactation subgroups in cattle.

Conclusions:

• The Coulter Chemistry instrument provides reliable clinical chemistry reference ranges for common domestic animals.
• Age and lactation status are important factors influencing specific clinical chemistry parameters in horses and cattle.
• These established ranges aid in the interpretation of clinical chemistry data in veterinary diagnostics.