Name
Dried Blood Spots: A Novel Means of Evaluating Vitamin D in Reptiles
Speakers
Description
Disorders related to insufficient or excess vitamin D are frequently documented in pet reptiles. Though common, veterinarians do not routinely measure vitamin D in these animals due to the lack of simple laboratory tests measuring this important hormone. Clinicians that wish to quantify vitamin D must obtain a relatively large amount of blood, separate out the serum, and then ship the serum overnight on ice to a laboratory. This can be problematic for smaller species or younger animals, where obtaining sufficiently large blood volumes is challenging. In addition, the preparation and transport of serum is cumbersome, especially for field applications where access to equipment or working within a temperature-controlled environment may not be feasible. A more practical method of measuring vitamin D is through dried blood spots (DBS), a technique often used in human medicine. This method is reliable when compared to serum measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS), the gold standard method. This presentation will provide a synopsis of DBS technology and potential applications to reptiles. In addition, data from a method comparison study in 40 client-owned bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) will be presented.
Session Type
Lecture (25 Min)