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The Haemoglobin Concentration of Peripheral and Central Blood of the Laboratory Rat
Author(s) -
Doell B. H.,
Hegarty P. V. J.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1970.tb00771.x
Subject(s) - body weight , peripheral blood , medicine , physiology , hemoglobin , endocrinology
Precise details of the method of blood collection for haemoglobin analysis from laboratory rats are seldom given in published work. In this paper, haemoglobin values of blood collected from the tail and from the heart of rats of various sizes fed different diets were compared. Lower haemoglobin concentrations were found in heart blood than in the tail blood of small rats (less than 100 g body weight). In large rats (160–225 g body weight) there was no significant difference in the haemoglobin values of blood taken from the tail or from the heart. When two consecutive samples of heart blood were taken from small and large rats, the second sample from the small animals had a lower haemoglobin concentration than the first. These variations can cause difficulty in interpreting haemoglobin results from laboratory rats, and indicate the importance of stating exactly what techniques were used when reporting haematological findings.