ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Near patient testing (NPT) and point-of-care testing (POCT) using portable benchtop analyzers has become necessary in many areas of the medical community, including biocontainment. METHODS: We evaluated the Beckman AcT diff, Abaxis Vetscan HMII (two instruments), Abbott Cell-Dyn 1800, and Abaxis Vetscan VS2 for within-run precision and correlation to central laboratory instruments using non-human primates blood. RESULTS: Compared with the central laboratory instruments, the Beckman AcT diff correlated on 80%; the HMII instruments on 31% and 44%, the CD1800 on 31%, and the VS2 on 71% of assays. For assays with published manufacturers precision guidelines, the AcT diff met all nine, the HMII instruments met one and six of six, and the CD 1800 met one of six. CONCLUSIONS: Laboratories using NPT/POCT must test their individual instruments for precision and correlation, identify assays that are reliable, and exclude or develop supplemental procedures for assays that are not.
Subject(s)
Blood Chemical Analysis/instrumentation , Hematologic Tests/instrumentation , Animals , Cercopithecinae/blood , Female , Male , Pan troglodytes/blood , Point-of-Care SystemsABSTRACT
Over 23 months, zinc toxicosis was diagnosed in 35 baboons aged 5-12 months in one galvanized metal and concrete cage complex with conditions that led to excessive exposure to environmental zinc. Clinical signs included reduced pigmentation of hair, skin, and mucous membranes (whiteness), alopecia, dehydration, emaciation, cachexia, dermatitis, diarrhea and, in six cases, severe gangrenous dermatitis of extremities. The syndrome was characterized by pancytopenia, elevated zinc and low copper serum concentrations, low vitamin D and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase levels, and atypical myelomonocytic proliferation of bone marrow. This syndrome emphasizes the importance of proper husbandry and cage design and indicates the potential of infant baboons as a model to study the effects of excessive zinc on development. This is the first report describing the epidemiologic and clinical presentation of zinc toxicosis in infant baboons in captivity.
Subject(s)
Environmental Exposure , Housing, Animal , Monkey Diseases/pathology , Papio , Vitamin D/analogs & derivatives , Zinc/poisoning , Alopecia/etiology , Alopecia/veterinary , Analysis of Variance , Anemia/etiology , Anemia/veterinary , Animals , Bone and Bones/diagnostic imaging , Copper/blood , Copper/deficiency , DNA-Binding Proteins/blood , Dermatitis/etiology , Dermatitis/veterinary , Diarrhea/etiology , Diarrhea/veterinary , Flow Cytometry/veterinary , Karyotyping/veterinary , Light , PAX5 Transcription Factor , Pigmentation/drug effects , Radiography , Radioimmunoassay/veterinary , Syndrome , Transcription Factors/blood , Vitamin D/blood , Zinc/bloodABSTRACT
Although published normative reference standards for hematologic and clinical chemistry measures are available for adult baboons, their applicability to infants has not been addressed. We analyzed these measures in 110 infant baboons (55 females and 55 males) from a large breeding colony at the Southwest Regional Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas. The sample consists of olive baboons and olive/yellow baboon hybrids, 1 week to 12 months of age. We produced cross-sectional reference values and examined the effects of age, sex, and subspecies on these variables. Hematology reference ranges for infant baboons are similar to, but wider than, those for adults. Reference ranges for blood biochemistry measures are generally more dissimilar to adults, indicating that for many variables, reference ranges for adult baboons are not adequate for infants. Although sex and subspecies differences are rare, age accounts for more than 10% of the variance in many of the variables.