Plasma urea, creatinine, and urea: creatinine ratio in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and in Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) during defined feeding conditions and in the field.

Abstract Variation in plasma urea and creatinine concentration and plasma urea:creatinine ratio (U:C) were studied in semidomestic free‐ranging reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) on the Norwegian mainland, in wild Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), and in captive reindeer maintained either on a lichen‐based diet or a protein‐rich concentrate to investigate whether these parameters could be used as indicators of the nutritional status of reindeer. In the mainland animals, plasma creatinine concentration was high in winter and early spring and decreased by two‐thirds toward the summer. The overall range in mean plasma creatinine concentration (±SE) was from \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcomma...