Dervas E, Michalopoulou E, Liesegang A, Novacco M, Schwarzenberger F, Hetzel U, Kipar A
Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 268, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
Institute for Animal Nutrition and Dietetics, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 270, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
Conserv Physiol. 2023 Jan 28;11(1):coad001. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coad001. eCollection 2023.
The common boa ( belongs to the family Boidae and represents one of the most popular traded and kept snake species in captivity. The early diagnosis, prevention and prophylaxis of diseases in this species, and in reptiles in general, still pose major challenges, also due to the lack of reliable reference values. This prompted us to conduct a study on clinically healthy captive to assess their basic health parameters in the blood (haematological and biochemical values, stress markers). Several parameters differed significantly between younger (<3 years) and older (≥3 years) boas; in the latter, the percentages of eosinophils, the haemoglobin and haematocrit levels, as well as the albumin and total protein levels, were higher. In male snakes, cholesterol levels were significantly higher than in females. Light and electron microscopy as well as immunohistochemistry served to identify and determine the morphological features of peripheral blood cells, that is, heterophils, basophils, eosinophils, azurophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, thrombocytes and erythrocytes. Leukocyte subpopulations, that is, and B cells and monocytes, were also identified based on specific marker expression. The study provides data on haematological, biochemical and stress hormone levels, suitable as reference values, and on the blood cell morphology of which can serve as a guideline for further research on this species.
普通蟒（属于蚺科，是圈养环境中交易和饲养最普遍的蛇类之一。由于缺乏可靠的参考值，对该物种以及一般爬行动物疾病的早期诊断、预防和防治仍然面临重大挑战。这促使我们对临床健康的圈养普通蟒进行研究，以评估它们血液中的基本健康参数（血液学和生化值、应激标志物）。较年轻（<3岁）和较年长（≥3岁）的蟒之间有几个参数存在显著差异；在较年长的蟒中，嗜酸性粒细胞百分比、血红蛋白和血细胞比容水平以及白蛋白和总蛋白水平较高。雄蛇的胆固醇水平显著高于雌蛇。光学显微镜和电子显微镜以及免疫组织化学用于识别和确定外周血细胞的形态特征，即嗜中性粒细胞、嗜碱性粒细胞、嗜酸性粒细胞、嗜天青粒细胞、单核细胞、淋巴细胞、血小板和红细胞。还根据特定标志物表达识别白细胞亚群，即T细胞和B细胞以及单核细胞。该研究提供了血液学、生化和应激激素水平的数据，可作为参考值，还提供了普通蟒血细胞形态的数据，可为该物种的进一步研究提供指导。
