Harter T S, Reichert M, Brauner C J, Milsom W K
Department of Zoology , University of British Columbia , 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC , Canada V6T 1Z4.
Conserv Physiol. 2015 May 19;3(1):cov021. doi: 10.1093/conphys/cov021. eCollection 2015.
Every year, bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) perform some of the most remarkable trans-Himalayan migrations, and researchers are increasingly interested in understanding the physiology underlying their high-altitude flight performance. A major challenge is generating reliable measurements of blood parameters on wild birds in the field, where established analytical techniques are often not available. Therefore, we validated two commonly used portable clinical analysers (PCAs), the i-STAT and the HemoCue systems, for the analysis of blood parameters in bar-headed geese. The pH, partial pressures of O2 and CO2 (PO2 and PCO2), haemoglobin O2 saturation (sO2), haematocrit (Hct) and haemoglobin concentration [Hb] were simultaneously measured with the two PCA systems (i-STAT for all parameters; HemoCue for [Hb]) and with conventional laboratory techniques over a physiological range of PO2, PCO2 and Hct. Our results indicate that the i-STAT system can generate reliable values on bar-headed goose whole blood pH, PO2, PCO2 and Hct, but we recommend correcting the obtained values using the linear equations determined here for higher accuracy. The i-STAT is probably not able to produce meaningful measurements of sO2 and [Hb] over a range of physiologically relevant environmental conditions. However, we can recommend the use of the HemoCue to measure [Hb] in the bar-headed goose, if results are corrected. We emphasize that the equations that we provide to correct PCA results are applicable only to bar-headed goose whole blood under the conditions that we tested. We encourage researchers to validate i-STAT or HemoCue results thoroughly for their specific study conditions and species in order to yield accurate results.
每年，斑头雁（Anser indicus）都会进行一些最为非凡的跨喜马拉雅迁徙，研究人员越来越有兴趣了解其高空飞行能力背后的生理机制。一个主要挑战是在野外对野生鸟类的血液参数进行可靠测量，而在野外通常无法使用成熟的分析技术。因此，我们验证了两种常用的便携式临床分析仪（PCA），即i-STAT和HemoCue系统，用于分析斑头雁的血液参数。在PO2、PCO2和血细胞比容（Hct）的生理范围内，使用这两种PCA系统（所有参数均使用i-STAT；[Hb]使用HemoCue）以及传统实验室技术同时测量pH、O2和CO2的分压（PO2和PCO2）、血红蛋白O2饱和度（sO2）、血细胞比容（Hct）和血红蛋白浓度[Hb]。我们的结果表明，i-STAT系统能够在斑头雁全血的pH、PO2、PCO2和Hct方面生成可靠的值，但我们建议使用此处确定的线性方程对获得的值进行校正以提高准确性。在一系列生理相关的环境条件下，i-STAT可能无法对sO2和[Hb]进行有意义的测量。然而，如果对结果进行校正，我们可以推荐使用HemoCue来测量斑头雁的[Hb]。我们强调，我们提供的用于校正PCA结果的方程仅适用于我们测试条件下的斑头雁全血。我们鼓励研究人员针对其特定的研究条件和物种对i-STAT或HemoCue结果进行全面验证，以获得准确的结果。
