Serum Protein Gel Agarose Electrophoresis in Captive Tigers

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The tiger is the largest of the wild cats. There are fewer than 4000 wild tigers (Panthera tigris) worldwide and all subspecies of tigers are globally endangered. Due to pressures from poaching and retaliatory killings, this carnivore had lost an estimated 93% of its historic range. Given the critical situation of these wild felines, the health of each individual is of prime importance and laboratory blood testing, as well as evaluation of their physical condition, is important in their health assessment. Protein concentrations in the blood can be altered by malnutrition and dehydration as well as by disease. Serum electrophoresis allows the identification of the different protein fractions present in the blood and represents a useful tool in the diagnosis and monitoring of a number of diseases. Due to the nature of wild Panthera tigris, it is extremely difficult to obtain biological samples from free-living subjects, and therefore the values obtained from captive tigers provide very useful data. This study reports serum protein electrophoresis in 11 adult captive individuals. These results will be useful for the evaluation of physiological and pathological alterations in wild and captive tigers and populations. ABSTRACT: Given the endangered status of tigers (Panthera tigris), the health of each individual is important and any data on blood chemistry values can provide valuable information alongside the assessment of physical condition. The nature of tigers in the wild makes it is extremely difficult to obtain biological samples from free-living subjects, therefore the values obtained from captive tigers provide very useful data. Serum protein electrophoresis is a useful tool in the diagnosis and monitoring of a number of diseases. In this study, we evaluated agarose gel serum protein electrophoresis on samples from 11 healthy captive tigers. Serum electrophoresis on all 11 tiger samples successfully separated proteins into albumin, α(1), α(2), β(1), β(2) and γ globulin fractions as in other mammals. Electrophoretic patterns were comparable in all tigers. Mean± standard deviation or median and range values obtained for each protein fraction in healthy tigers were, respectively: 3.6 ± 0.2, 0.21 (0.2–0.23), 1.2 ± 0.2, 10.7 ± 0.2, 0.4 (0.3–0.6), 1.2 (1–1.8) gr/dL. The results of this preliminary study provide the first data on serum electrophoretic patterns in tigers and may be a useful diagnostic tool in the health assessment of this endangered species.