A Study of Peripheral Blood in Hedgehogs in Turkey

• Published in: Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine 2011-09, Vol.42 (3), p.392-398
• Main Authors: Özparlak, Haluk, Çelik, Ilhami, Sur, Emrah, Özaydin, Tuğba, Arslan, Atilla
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetates; acid phosphatase; alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase; Animals; Blood; Blood cells; Blood Platelets - cytology; Erinaceus concolor; Erythrocytes; Erythrocytes - cytology; Hedgehogs; Hedgehogs - blood; hematology; Hemiechinus auritus; Leukocyte Count - veterinary; Leukocytes; Leukocytes - cytology; Lymphocytes; Monocytes; Naphthol AS D Esterase - blood; Neutrophils; T lymphocytes; Turkey
• ISSN: 1042-7260; 1937-2825
• DOI: 10.1638/2010-0119.1

The aim of this study was to determine diameters of blood cells, differential counts of peripheral blood leukocytes, alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE), acid phosphatase (ACP-ase) activity of some leukocyte types, and enzymatic positivity percentages of peripheral blood lymphocytes in two hedgehogs species, Hemiechinus auritus, the long-eared hedgehog, and Erinaceus concolor, the southern white-breasted hedgehog. Air-dried peripheral blood smears were stained with May-Grünwald–Giemsa stain. ANAE and ACP-ase were stained in glutaraldehyde-acetone-fixed smears. ANAE-positive lymphocytes displayed a dot-like positivity pattern characterized with 1–5 reddish brown cytoplasmic granules, whereas ACP-ase positive lymphocytes displayed a dot-like positivity pattern characterized with 1–3 pinkish cytoplasmic granules. Monocytes gave a diffuse and strong reaction while neutrophils displayed a weak positive reaction for ANAE and ACP-ase. No difference was observed in mean diameters of peripheral blood cells of these species. It was found that lymphocytes made up the majority (64.3% and 65.5%) of leukocytes, followed by neutrophils (23.9% and 23.3%), eosinophils (9.0% and 7.6%), monocytes (1.8% and 2.3%), and basophils (1.0% and 1.3%) in H. auritus and E. concolor, respectively. Mean ANAE positivity of lymphocytes was 36.6% and 51.3% and ACP-ase positivity was 32.1% and 37.5% for H. auritus and E. concolor, respectively. The ANAE positivity of lymphocytes in E. concolor was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of H. auritus.