Broughton Heather M, Govender Danny, Shikwambana Purvance, Chappell Patrick, Jolles Anna
J Zoo Wildl Med. 2017 Jun;48(2):298-311. doi: 10.1638/2016-0021R.1.
The International Species Information System has set forth an extensive database of reference intervals for zoologic species, allowing veterinarians and game park officials to distinguish normal health parameters from underlying disease processes in captive wildlife. However, several recent studies comparing reference values from captive and free-ranging animals have found significant variation between populations, necessitating the development of separate reference intervals in free-ranging wildlife to aid in the interpretation of health data. Thus, this study characterizes reference intervals for six biochemical analytes, eleven hematologic or immune parameters, and three hormones using samples from 219 free-ranging African lions ( Panthera leo ) captured in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Using the original sample population, exclusion criteria based on physical examination were applied to yield a final reference population of 52 clinically normal lions. Reference intervals were then generated via 90% confidence intervals on log-transformed data using parametric bootstrapping techniques. In addition to the generation of reference intervals, linear mixed-effect models and generalized linear mixed-effect models were used to model associations of each focal parameter with the following independent variables: age, sex, and body condition score. Age and sex were statistically significant drivers for changes in hepatic enzymes, renal values, hematologic parameters, and leptin, a hormone related to body fat stores. Body condition was positively correlated with changes in monocyte counts. Given the large variation in reference values taken from captive versus free-ranging lions, it is our hope that this study will serve as a baseline for future clinical evaluations and biomedical research targeting free-ranging African lions.
国际物种信息系统已经建立了一个广泛的动物物种参考区间数据库，这使得兽医和野生动物园管理人员能够区分圈养野生动物的正常健康参数和潜在疾病过程。然而，最近几项比较圈养动物和自由放养动物参考值的研究发现，不同种群之间存在显著差异，因此有必要为自由放养的野生动物制定单独的参考区间，以帮助解释健康数据。因此，本研究使用从南非克鲁格国家公园捕获的219只自由放养的非洲狮（Panthera leo）的样本，对六种生化分析物、十一项血液学或免疫参数以及三种激素的参考区间进行了表征。利用原始样本群体，基于体格检查应用排除标准，以产生52只临床正常狮子的最终参考群体。然后使用参数自举技术，通过对对数转换数据的90%置信区间生成参考区间。除了生成参考区间外，还使用线性混合效应模型和广义线性混合效应模型，对每个焦点参数与以下自变量的关联进行建模：年龄、性别和身体状况评分。年龄和性别是肝酶、肾值、血液学参数以及瘦素（一种与体脂储存相关的激素）变化的统计学显著驱动因素。身体状况与单核细胞计数的变化呈正相关。鉴于圈养狮子和自由放养狮子的参考值存在很大差异，我们希望这项研究将作为未来针对自由放养非洲狮的临床评估和生物医学研究的基线。
