Impact of season, age and gender on some clinical, haematological and serum parameters in Shetland ponies in east province, Saudi Arabia

Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University.

Figures & data

Table 1 Effect of season on four physiological values of 23 ponies of different age and sex at Al-Hasa region-eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

Items	Season	Mean ± SEM	Range	P value
Heart rate (beats/min)	Summer	45.5 ± 2.5	30–54	0.063
	Winter	41.0 ± 1.4	28–44	0.02^*
Respiratory rate (respiration/min)	Summer	16.50 ± 1.41	10–18	0.052
	Winter	14.8 ± 0.85	9–16	0.12
Pulse (puls/min)	Summer	46.80 ± 2.75	36–52	0.32
	Winter	42.60 ± 1.85	34–49	0.08
Rectal temperature (°C)	Summer	37.45 ± 0.12	36.2–37.7	0.242
	Winter	36.9 ± 0.25	36.2–37.6	0.09

* P < 0.05.

Table 2 Effect of season on haematological parameters of 23 ponies of different age and sex at Al-Hasa region-eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

Parameters	Season	Mean ± SEM	Range	P Value
Leucocyte counts (10^9/l)	Summer	11.72 ± 1.83	7.5–16.1	0.04^*
	Winter	8.72 ± 0.44	6.5–10.2
Lymphocytes %	Summer	42.73 ± 1.88	33.6–51.9	0.3
	Winter	41.12 ± 1.5	34.6–48.9
Monocytes %	Summer	4.36 ± 0.27	3.3–5.4	0.008^**
	Winter	3.43 ± 0.12	2.7–4
Neutrophils %	Summer	52.79 ± 2.0	43–63	0.23
	Winter	54.47 ± 1.3	61.8–47.8
Eosinophils %	Summer	3.88 ± 0.61	2.1–7.8	0.17
	Winter	4.55 ± 0.55	2.5–7.8
Erythrocyte counts (10^12/l)	Summer	7.59 ± 0.51	5.64–10.17	0.18
	Winter	8.12 ± 0.50	5.99–10.69
Haemoglobin (g/dL)	Summer	7.183 ± 0.66	5.28–10.37	0.13
	Winter	8.149 ± 0.36	6.89–9.63
Haematocrit (g/dL)	Summer	0.32 ± 0.03	0.24–0.48	0.12
	Winter	0.36 ± 0.01	0.3–0.43
MCV (fl)	Summer	41.11 ± 1.7	36–52	0.07
	Winter	45 ± 1.8	35.2–53.5
MCH (pg)	Summer	13.5 ± 2. 37	10.78–15.65	0.02^*
	Winter	9.1 ± 1.12	8.2–10.26
MCHC (g/dL)	Summer	22.11 ± 0.09	21.8–22.33	0.09
	Winter	22.28 ± 0.20	21.3–23.92
RDW (%)	Summer	17.97 ± 0.08	17.5–18.3	0.06
	Winter	25.75 ± 7.04	17.6–41.9
Platelets (10^9/l)	Summer	244.1 ± 17.03	133–298	0.007^**
	Winter	194.1 ± 7.04	145–227
MPV (fl)	Summer	5.69 ± 0.15	4.9–6.2	0.18
	Winter	5.52 ± 0.075	5.2–5.8

* P < 0.05.

** P < 0.01.

Table 3 Effect of season on serum biochemical values of 23 ponies of different age and sex at Al-Hasa region-eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

Parameters	Season	Mean ± SEM	Range	P Value
ALP (IU/L)	Summer	246.4 ± 17.94	212–384	0.24
	Winter	221.4 ± 19.21	121–289
AST (IU/l)	Summer	249.3 ± 17.94	173–345	0.01^*
	Winter	358.1 ± 36.8	216–547
GGT (IU/l)	Summer	15.11 ± 2.63	8–32	0.15
	Winter	24.78 ± 6.78	10–65
TP (g/dL)	Summer	7.1 ± 0.34	5.2–8.8	0.48
	Winter	7.32 ± 0.44	6.5–10.9
ALB (g/dL)	Summer	3.47 ± 0.28	2.1–4.7	0.26
	Winter	3.79 ± 0.17	3.3–4.9
Glob (g/dL)	Summer	3.72 ± 0.25	2.2–4.9	0.107
	Winter	3.62 ± 0.31	3–6
BUN (mg/dL)	Summer	11.37 ± 0.79	9–15.5	0.26
	Winter	12.63 ± 2.73	6.8–32
CK (IU/l)	Summer	209.9 ± 22.8	106–322	0.08
	Winter	249.7 ± 19.6	155–328
CA (mmol/l)	Summer	11.69 ± 0.23	10.3–12.7	0.31
	Winter	11.56 ± 0.21	10.7–12.5
Na+ (mmol/l)	Summer	131.8 ± 1.86	126 – 141	0.28
	Winter	133.4 ± 2.8	177 – 148
Cl (mmol/l)	Summer	117.6 ± 1.6	109 – 123	0.42
	Winter	117 ± 1.13	112–121
K+ (mmol/l)	Summer	5 ± 0.1041	4.5–5.6	0.05
	Winter	4.48 ± 0.25	3.4 – 6
TBIL (µmol/l)	Summer	1.03 ± 0.11	0.6–1.5	0.39
	Winter	0.98 ± 0.28	0.65–1.35
CRE (mg/dL)	Summer	1.09 ± 0.075	0.7–1.4	0.23
	Winter	0.98 ± 0.65	0.8 – 1.1
GLU (mg/dL)	Summer	94 ± 4.56	77–111	0.21
	Winter	103.2 ± 7.7	78 – 154
Mg (mmol/l)	Summer	2.14 ± 0.15	2.1–2.7	0.37
	Winter	2.09 ± 0.15	1.5–2.8

* P < 0.05.

Fig. 1 Impact of season, age and sex on serum cortisol level in 23 Shetland Ponies in Al-Hasa region- eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.