PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS AND REFERENCE INTERVALS OF SERUM PROTEINS OF A CAPTIVE POPULATION OF ROTI ISLAND SNAKE-NECKED TURTLES (CHELODINA MCCORDI)

Protein electrophoresis (PEP) is an important tool in mammals to characterize specific dysproteinemias and detect acute and chronic inflammatory responses. In reptiles, PEP is the gold standard method for globulin fraction determination and albumin measurement. In this study, preliminary reference intervals were established for serum PEP in 22 clinically healthy adult Roti Island snake-necked turtles (<i>Chelodina mccordi</i>), a critically endangered species, kept in captivity and sampled over two monsoon seasons. The species has a prominent prealbumin fraction and β-globulins were the dominant globulin fraction. Significant differences between females and males were found in prealbumin (<i>P</i> < 0.01), albumin (<i>P</i> = 0.02), α1-globulin (<i>P</i> = 0.05) and γ-globulin (<i>P</i> = 0.01). Gravid females had significantly lower total protein (<i>P</i> < 0.01), prealbumin (<i>P</i> < 0.01), albumin (<i>P</i> < 0.01) and albumin:globulin ratio (<i>P</i> = 0.01). These preliminary reference intervals should aid in clinical investigation in this species as well as further research studies seeking to understand the application of PEP in reptilian species.