Reference values and influence of sex and age on hemogram and clinical biochemistry in protected and endangered Murinsulaner horses

Sa？etak The aim of this study was to establish the exact haematological and clinical biochemistry reference values for horses of the Murinsulaner breed, using the complete population in Croatia (n = 33) for the sampling. Haemoglobin concentrations (HB), red blood cell count (RBC), white blood cell count (WBC), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), platelet count and differential white blood cell counts were determined. Clinical biochemistry included the activity of GGT, AST, ALT, CK, ALP, LDH and AMYL, concentrations of glucose (GLUC), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), cholesterol (CHOL), triglycerides (TRI), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), urea (UREA), creatinine (CREA) and total bilirubin (TBIL). The animals were sorted into groups according to sex and age, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was preformed using the GLM procedure and Tukey’s studentized range test. The results of the two-way ANOVA showed a significantly higher mean for CREA in stallions, for ALB in old horses and CK in young horses. The two-way ANOVA showed significant differences in the means for HB, PCV, and globulins, CK, GLUC, ALB and CREA. The significantly higher means of HB, PCV, GLUC and CREA in the group of old stallions should be further investigated. The influence of age and sex is difficult to interpret due to the critically small population. The reference values for Murinsulaner horses are within ranges for other cold-blooded breeds except TP, Ca and UREA