Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Often, the assumption is made that the results of the various laboratory tests being run are accurate, and that abnormal results reflect a physiologic change occurring in the patient. Unfortunately, this assumption is not always true. Inaccurate results, for various reasons, are an inherent part of diagnostic testing. Having inaccurate results is often worse than having no results at all, because they can lead to an incorrect diagnosis or result in unnecessary testing, wasting the client’s financial resources, or potentially expose the patient to unnecessary risks in pursuit of the cause of an abnormality that does not exist. With appropriate attention, these can be minimized. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the time from blood collection to centrifugation effect equine plasma insulin values. For this study, jugular blood samples were collected from 10 horses. Twelve 5 mL Idexx EDTA tubes were collected one time from each horse. Blood tubes were stored in a 4°C refrigerator until being centrifuged for plasma collection. Samples were centrifuged at various intervals from the time of collection: 15 min post collection, and then at 4, 8, 12, 24, and 36 hr 2500 rpm for 10 minutes and plasma collected. Plasma insulin was evaluated by two separate laboratories, Lab A and Lab B. ANOVA single factor was utilized to determine whether time from sample collection to centrifugation was significantly different. Data was analyzed at P=0.05 for all statistical tests. Labs A and B plasma insulin concentrations were compared at each sample time using a two-sample T-test assuming unequal variances for the means. There was no significant difference between centrifuge times within each lab (P= 0.982). However, when comparing each sample time between laboratories, there was a significant difference at 4 hrs and 36 hrs (P= 0.024 and P=0.038). Further research is needed to evaluate when time from blood collection to centrifugation affects equine plasma insulin values in order to assure when veterinarians would know if a sample were to be viable.

Year manuscript completed

2023

Year degree awarded

2023

Thesis Advisor

Dr. Shea Porr

Committee Chair

Shea Porr

Committee Member

Megan Taylor

Committee Member

Brittany Kirby

Document Type

Thesis

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