Serum health biomarkers in African and Asian elephants : value ranges and clinical values indicative of the immune response

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dc.contributor.authorEdwards, Katie L.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMiller, Michele A.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSiegal-Willott, Jessicaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBrown, Janine L.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-29T07:15:56Zen_ZA
dc.date.available2022-04-29T07:15:56Zen_ZA
dc.date.issued2020-09-27en_ZA
dc.descriptionCITATION: Edwards, Katie L. et al. 2020. Serum health biomarkers in African and Asian elephants : value ranges and clinical values indicative of the immune response. Animals, 10(10):1756, doi:10.3390/ani10101756.en_ZA
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at: https://www.mdpi.comen_ZA
dc.description.abstractSerum biomarkers indicative of inflammation and disease can provide useful information regarding host immune processes, responses to treatment and prognosis. The aims of this study were to assess the use of commercially available anti-equine reagents for the quantification of cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- ), interferon-gamma (IFN- ), interleukins (IL) 2, 6, and 10) in African (Loxodonta africana, n = 125) and Asian (Elephas maximus, n = 104) elephants, and alongside previously validated anti-human reagents for acute-phase proteins (serum amyloid A and haptoglobin), calculate species-specific biomarker value ranges. In addition, we used opportunistically collected samples to investigate the concentrations of each biomarker during identified clinical cases of illness or injury, as a first step to understanding what biomarkers may be useful to managing elephant health. Immune biomarkers were each elevated above the calculated species-specific value ranges in at least one clinical case, but due to variability in both clinical and non-clinical samples, only serum amyloid A was significantly higher in clinical compared to non-clinical paired samples, with tendencies for higher TNF- and IL-10. We also detected increased secretion of serum amyloid A and all five cytokines following routine vaccination of a single Asian elephant, indicating that these biomarkers can be beneficial for studying normal immune processes as well as pathology. This study indicates that assays developed with commercial reagents can be used to quantify health biomarkers in wildlife species and identifies several that warrant further investigation to elucidate immune responses to various pathologies.en_ZA
dc.description.versionPublisher's versionen_ZA
dc.format.extent19 pagesen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationEdwards, Katie L. et al. 2020. Serum health biomarkers in African and Asian elephants : value ranges and clinical values indicative of the immune response. Animals, 10(10):1756, doi:10.3390/ani10101756en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2076-2615 (online)en_ZA
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.3390/ani10101756en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/124483en_ZA
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherMDPIen_ZA
dc.rights.holderAuthors retain copyrighten_ZA
dc.subjectBiochemical markersen_ZA
dc.subjectAcute phase proteinsen_ZA
dc.subjectCellular immunityen_ZA
dc.subjectElephas maximusen_ZA
dc.subjectCytokinesen_ZA
dc.subjectSerum -- Chemical analysisen_ZA
dc.subjectNatural immunityen_ZA
dc.subjectLoxodontaen_ZA
dc.subjectReference intervalsen_ZA
dc.titleSerum health biomarkers in African and Asian elephants : value ranges and clinical values indicative of the immune responseen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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