Stephen Felt
Publication Details
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Serum Clinical Biochemical and Hematologic Reference Ranges of Laboratory-Reared and Wild-Caught Xenopus laevis
Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. 2011; (5): 635-640
The South African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, has a long history in biomedical research. The complete X. tropicalis genome has recently been sequenced, and similar efforts are underway for the larger bodied X. laevis.11 Therefore, the establishment of normal serum clinical biochemical and hematological reference ranges is essential for phenotyping future transgenic frogs. In addition, these values will assist in disease surveillance and the diagnosis of clinical illnesses and conditions. Previously published hematograms have been reported on a very limited number of laboratory Xenopus: 10 normal adult frogs (sex and source not described)9 and 7 normal adult, female laboratory Xenopus;8 however, the number of animals studied were insufficient to establish reference ranges. Serum biochemical reference intervals have not previously been reported. Here we report the normal reference range values for hematologic and serum clinical chemistry profiles from 207 laboratory-reared and 43 wild-caught Xenopus laevis. These values were compared with those from other amphibians, fish, and chickens because the X. tropicalis genome is strikingly similar to that of chickens.11 Comparisons with mouse and domestic dog values are described to highlight differences. The reference intervals provided here will assist clinicians and researchers in their clinical and phenotypic assessments of Xenopus laevis.
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