COMPARISON OF ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE (MACROCHELYS TEMMINCKII) PLASMA BIOCHEMICAL PROFILES FROM TWO CLINICAL ANALYZERS

Abstract The interpretation of plasma biochemical profiles can be confounded by the methodologies by which samples are analyzed. The goal of this study was to compare agreement between two biochemical analyzers for plasma samples from alligator snapping turtles (Macrochelys temminckii). Blood was obtained from the dorsal coccygeal vein of captive-reared, juvenile turtles (n = 34), stored in lithium heparin tubes, and centrifuged to separate plasma from whole blood. Plasma samples were stored at 5°C prior to and in between analyses on VetScan (VetScan2, Abaxis, Union City, CA 94587, USA) and Olympus (Olympus AU640, Beckman Coulter, Brea, CA 92821, USA) analyzers within 2 hr of each other. Agreement between the VetScan and Olympus analyzers was investigated using Passing-Bablok regression analysis for aspartate aminotransferase, creatine kinase, glucose, calcium, phosphorus, total protein, albumin, globulin, potassium, and sodium. Agreement between the two analyzers was outside of acceptance limits and outs...