Preliminary Evaluation of Pre- and Post-Prandial 3α- Hydroxy Bile Acids in the Green Iguana, Iguana iguana

ABSTRACT Pre- and post-prandial plasma 3α-hydroxy bile acids and other biochemical reference intervals were established for a group of 11 healthy male green iguanas, Iguana iguana. All animals were fasted for 48 hr and then fed a herbivorous, commercially available critical care diet containing 606 +/− 52.6 mg of fat per kg body weight to stimulate bile release. Pre-prandial bile acid concentrations (7.5 ± 7.8 μmol/L) significantly increased at 3 and 7.5 hr post-prandially to 33.3 ± 22.0 μmol/L and 32.5 ± 8.4 μmol/L, respectively. Liver histopathology and general necropsy findings were unremarkable. This study demonstrated a significant increase in post-prandial plasma 3α-hydroxy bile acid concentration in healthy green iguanas. This study suggests that fasting status should be considered when evaluating bile acid concentrations.