Use of capillary electrophoresis-isoelectric focusing for the determination of bovine hemoglobin variants.

A capillary electrophoretic technique was developed to monitor patterns of hemoglobin production in young calves subjected to multiple phlebotomies. The method is similar to one previously described for the determination of human hemoglobin variants in whole blood using isoelectric focusing. After a single collection of one-half the circulating blood volume, there were obvious alterations in hemoglobin chain variants. HbA levels diminished as blood loss increased with minimum values corresponding to maximum blood loss. HbF levels did not appear to be affected. Also visible during the regenerative process were atypical overlapping peaks preceding the normal hemoglobin peaks. At the conclusion of the 18-day study, most of the electropherograms had returned to initial states. These changes were found to be a sensitive indicator of accelerated erythropoiesis in contrast to the standard technique of total hemoglobin determination by colorimetric means.