Acute-phase protein concentrations in serum of clinically healthy and diseased European bison (Bison bonasus) – preliminary study

Abstract

Background This is the first report describing levels of APPs in European bison. Serum concentration of acute phase proteins (APPs) may be helpful to assess general health status in wildlife and potentially useful in selecting animals for elimination. Since there is a lack of literature data regarding concentration of APPs in European bisons, establishment of the reference values is also needed. Methods A total of 87 European bison from Polish populations were divided into two groups: (1) healthy: immobilized for transportation, placing a telemetry collar and routine diagnostic purposes; and (2) selectively culled due to the poor health condition. The serum concentration of haptoglobin, serum amyloid A and α1-acid-glycoprotein were determined using commercial quantitative ELISA assays. Since none of the variables met the normality assumptions, non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used for all comparisons. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Statistical analyses were performed using Statistica 13.3 (Tibco, USA). Results The concentration of haptoglobin and serum amyloid A was significantly higher in animals culled (euthanised) due to the poor condition in respect to the clinically healthy European bison. The levels of α1-acid-glycoprotein did not show statistical difference between healthy and sick animals. Conclusions Correlation between APPs concertation and health status was proven, therefore the determination of selected APPs may be considered in future as auxiliary predictive tool in assessing European bison health condition.

Acute phase reactants in nondomesticated mammals—A veterinary clinical pathology perspective

“…It has been recommended that 20–30 animals be included in each group, and that the presence or absence of inflammation is clear, based on clinical signs, other laboratory testing, or postmortem findings 10 . Evaluation of overlap performance is commonly performed in nondomesticated mammal APR studies, as noted in Tables 1‐4 13,14,16,22,23,32–37,39,40,42–46,50 . We recommend that to optimize this stage, clinical pathologists work closely with clinicians to gather information about the nature of the putative inflammatory disease and sample handling, such as sample type, storage conditions, number of freeze‐thaw cycles, diagnosis, chronicity of disease, a sample taken before or during treatment, availability of repeated samples from one animal.…”

“…A multispecies ELISA (PHASE SAA, Tridelta, Ireland) has been successfully used to measure SAA in koala, European bison, Iberian and Alpine ibex, and black and white rhinoceros and shows cross‐reactivity in impala, musk ox, reindeer, and wallaby but not elephants 3,17,34,38,42,44,46,55 . A commercially available dolphin‐specific ELISA has been used in several studies on this species (SAA‐18, Life Diagnostics, USA) as dolphin SAA does not cross‐react well with multispecies assays 12,50,56,57 .…”

Acute phase proteins in wildlife and their domesticated relatives

“…In European bison, SAA and Hp concentrations were significantly higher in individuals eliminated due to poor health status compared to healthy animals, which suggests that the concentration of these APPs may potentially be a supportive tool in selecting animals to be eliminated (52). The median concentration of SAA was approximately 4 times as high in diseased animals as it was in healthy ones (70.81 µg/ml and 18.95 µg/ml, respectively).…”

“…Interestingly, there are similarities in the concentration pattern of APPs between wild species and their domestic relatives. For example, SAA and Hp serum concentrations are significantly higher in diseased European bison and likewise in cattle (52). Therefore the concentration pattern of APPs will be referred to and compared to that of domestic species, where applicable.…”

“…Elevated levels of these markers have been described in mastitis, lameness, and respiratory diseases in cattle (3,15), fasciolosis and scabies in sheep (17,70), and mycoplasma infection in goats (23). With regard to wildlife species, APP concentrations have been described in European bison (Bison bonasus) (52), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) (13,69), bongos (Tragelaphus eurycerus) (5), Alpine ibexes (Capra ibex) (56), African buffalos (Syncerus caffer) (29), wild boars (Sus scrofa) (62), and semi-domesticated reindeers (Rangifer tarandus) (50).…”