Tella J L, Negro J J, Rodríguez-Estrella R, Blanco G, Forero M G, Blázquez M C, Hiraldo F
Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Physiol Zool. 1998 Nov-Dec;71(6):708-11. doi: 10.1086/515991.
The study of the role of carotenoids on the physiology and evolutionary ecology of birds demands methods for their quantification in the bloodstream. We compared color-chart scores of plasma hue with the actual concentration of plasma carotenoids obtained by spectrophotometry in 356 wild birds from 26 species. Repeatability of chart scores between three independent observers was high. However, color scores did not correlate with the spectrophotometric results in interspecific analyses. Within species (n = 3), one showed no relationship and two showed weak but significant positive correlations. Hemoglobin, and probably other substances, may mask the color of carotenoids, making the accurate use of color charts difficult. Spectrophotometry should be the method of choice as it permits precise quantifications of total plasma carotenoids and objective comparisons among studies.
对类胡萝卜素在鸟类生理学和进化生态学中的作用的研究需要在血液中对其进行量化的方法。我们将356只来自26个物种的野生鸟类血浆色调的色卡评分与通过分光光度法获得的血浆类胡萝卜素实际浓度进行了比较。三位独立观察者之间色卡评分的重复性很高。然而，在种间分析中，颜色评分与分光光度法结果不相关。在物种内部（n = 3），一个物种未显示出相关性，另外两个物种显示出微弱但显著的正相关。血红蛋白以及可能的其他物质可能会掩盖类胡萝卜素的颜色，从而难以准确使用色卡。分光光度法应作为首选方法，因为它可以精确量化血浆总类胡萝卜素，并允许在不同研究之间进行客观比较。
