Abstract
BackgroundCapillary electrophoresis of plasma proteins has shown great potential as a complementary diagnostic tool for avian species. However, reference intervals for plasma proteins are sparse or lacking for several free-living avian species. The current study reports electrophoretic patterns and concentrations of plasma proteins determined for 70 free-living white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings from two locations in Norway (Steigen and Smøla) in order to establish reference values for this subpopulation using capillary electrophoresis. The nestlings were between 44 and 87 days of age, and the plasma protein concentrations were investigated for age, sex, year (2015 and 2016) and location differences. To our knowledge, this is the first report of reference intervals of plasma proteins analysed by capillary electrophoresis in free-living white-tailed eagle nestlings.ResultsThe plasma protein concentrations (% of total protein, mean ± SE) were determined for prealbumin (13.7%, 4.34 ± 0.15 g/L), albumin (46.7%, 14.81 ± 0.24 g/L), α1-globulin (2.4%, 0.74 ± 0.03 g/L), α2-globulin (11.7%, 3.72 ± 0.06 g/L), β-globulin (15.9%, 5.06 ± 0.08 g/L) and γ-globulin (9.6%, 3.05 ± 0.09 g/L). Significant differences were found between the two locations for prealbumin, α2- and γ-globulins. No significant differences were found between the two sampling years or sexes, and no effect of age was found for any of the plasma proteins. However, prealbumin levels were several folds higher than previously reported from adults of closely related birds of prey species. There were no other studies on capillary electrophoresis of nestling plasma available for comparison.ConclusionSignificant differences were found between sampling locations for prealbumin, α2- and γ-globulins, which may indicate differences in inflammatory or infectious status between nestlings at the two locations. Sampling year, sex or age had no significant effect on the plasma protein concentrations. These results provide novel data on plasma protein concentrations by capillary electrophoresis and may be useful for evaluation of health status in free-living white-tailed eagle nestlings.
Highlights
Capillary electrophoresis of plasma proteins has shown great potential as a complementary diagnostic tool for avian species
Description and identification of electrophoretic protein patterns Six major protein fractions were detected in plasma from white-tailed eagle nestlings
Plasma samples were collected from nestlings at Smøla and Steigen in 2015 and 2016 and samples were combined for each location due to statistically significant differences between locations and not between years (Table 2)
Summary
Capillary electrophoresis of plasma proteins has shown great potential as a complementary diagnostic tool for avian species. The nestlings were between 44 and 87 days of age, and the plasma protein concentrations were investigated for age, sex, year (2015 and 2016) and location differences To our knowledge, this is the first report of reference intervals of plasma proteins analysed by capillary electrophoresis in free-living white-tailed eagle nestlings. Flo et al BMC Veterinary Research (2019) 15:290 serum proteins while in avian studies, plasma is the preferred sample matrix due to lower sample volumes, easier storage and fluidity [41, 42]. Other methods such as enzyme- and radioimmunoassay, Western blot and mRNA analysis are available for measuring individual plasma proteins as biomarkers for immune responses. A multitude of avian diseases such as aspergillosis [7, 23], sarcocystosis [10], chlamydophilosis, nephritis and hepatitis [8] are known to affect plasma protein levels in birds
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