Abstract
Many species of deer, especially North American and Eurasian deer, show a sickling phenomenon (a morphological change in the red blood cells) in in vitro studies, which was subsequently attributed to the existence of different forms of haemoglobin. The objective of this study was to investigate the sickling phenomenon and its cytomorphological basis and, simultaneously, to determine normal blood parameters in captive brown brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira). Blood was obtained from 30 healthy individuals, 20 males and 10 females. Blood cell morphology was studied with both light and electron microscopic techniques. Determinations of haematological values were done by manual methods. We found the sickling phenomenon to be present in this species in the form of erythrocytes in crescent or holly leaf shape. The scanning electron microscope showed the polymerization of haemoglobin, and the electrophoresis revealed the existence of dimorphic haemoglobin. The number of erythrocytes was larger than reported previously (21.84 ± 3.41 × 106/μl), due to their extremely small size (~3 μm diameter, 18.25 ± 3.15 fl volume). The leucocytes had a typical mammalian morphology. This is the first record of sickling from a Neotropical deer species.
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