ZooTampa at Lowry Park, Tampa, FL 33604, USA,
US Geological Survey, Gainesville, FL 32653, USA.
J Zoo Wildl Med. 2023 Jul;54(2):319-325. doi: 10.1638/2021-0133.
Currently, there are limited antemortem tests available to evaluate renal function in Florida manatees (). Although few reports of renal pathology in manatees exist in the veterinary literature, debilitated animals that present to rehabilitation centers are frequently dehydrated, may have sustained renal trauma secondary to watercraft injury, and may experience ischemic events related to coagulation disorders leading to renal compromise. Clinicians remain limited to the analysis of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine levels, and urinalysis (if urine is obtained) to determine the extent of renal insufficiency, which may not accurately reflect renal function. This poses a diagnostic challenge for clinicians in discerning how critical renal compromise is to the animal's overall health and prognosis. For the first phase of this study, retrospective symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) values were determined from banked serum or plasma samples from 14 wild Florida manatees that had been collected while the animals were under rehabilitation in zoological institutions prior to their deaths. Values of SDMA for nine samples from eight manatees with known renal disease, as determined by histopathology, were compared to SDMA values for seven samples from six manatees with no reported renal lesions on histopathology. Values of SDMA from wild Florida manatees with known renal disease (mean 33.56 µg/dl ± 13.15, = 0.017) were statistically significantly elevated when compared to SDMA values from manatees with no reported renal lesions (mean = 18.71 µg/dl ± 6.9) on histopathology. For the second phase of the study, serum or plasma samples were obtained from wild manatee populations from two geographically separate presumed-healthy wild manatee populations ( = 57). Although the upper limit was higher, serum SDMA concentrations from presumed-healthy wild manatees were comparable to those reported in small animal and equine medicine at 5.88-16.97 µg/dl.
目前，可用于评估佛罗里达海牛肾功能的生前检测方法有限。虽然兽医文献中鲜有关于海牛肾脏病理学的报道，但送到康复中心的虚弱动物通常会脱水，可能因船只伤害而导致继发性肾脏创伤，并且可能会经历与凝血障碍相关的缺血事件，从而导致肾功能受损。临床医生仍然仅限于分析血液尿素氮、肌酐水平和尿液分析（如果获得尿液）来确定肾功能不全的程度，而这可能无法准确反映肾功能。这对临床医生来说是一个诊断挑战，因为他们需要辨别肾功能不全对动物整体健康和预后的严重程度。在这项研究的第一阶段，回顾性地测定了 14 头在动物园机构接受康复治疗后死亡的野生佛罗里达海牛的银行血清或血浆样本中的对称二甲基精氨酸（SDMA）值。通过组织病理学确定有已知肾脏疾病的 8 头海牛的 9 个样本的 SDMA 值与组织病理学无报告肾脏病变的 6 头海牛的 7 个样本的 SDMA 值进行了比较。具有已知肾脏疾病的野生佛罗里达海牛的 SDMA 值（平均值为 33.56 µg/dl ± 13.15，= 0.017）与组织病理学无报告肾脏病变的海牛的 SDMA 值（平均值为 18.71 µg/dl ± 6.9）相比，统计学上显著升高。在研究的第二阶段，从两个地理位置分开的假定健康野生海牛种群中获得了野生海牛的血清或血浆样本（= 57）。尽管上限较高，但假定健康野生海牛的血清 SDMA 浓度与小动物和马医学中报道的浓度相似，为 5.88-16.97 µg/dl。
