Haematological and biochemical reference intervals for free-ranging brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Sweden

BMC Veterinary Research

Table 4 Metabolite and cortisol reference intervals for brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) presented as 95% confidence interval ¹

Variable^a	Unit	n	λ^b	2.5 - 97.5 interval^d	Sex^c	Age group^e	Reference interval	p-value^f
β-HBA	mmol/L	88	−0.2	0.0-1.9	B	YSA	0.0-1.1
Bile acids	μmol/L	88	−0.6	5-65	F	YA	8-59	0.0073^A, 0.0059^S
				5-65	F	S	5-60
					M	YA	6-46
					M	S	7-13
Bilirubin (total)	μmol/L	88	0.2	0-6	B	YSA	0-5
Cholesterol	mmol/L	88	1.2	4.5-12.2	B	Y	5.9-13.2	<0.0001^A
Cholesterol	mmol/L	88	1.2	4.5-12.2	B	SA	4.7-10.4	<0.0001^A
Creatinine	μmol/L	88	1	66-218	B	Y	57-160	<0.0001^A
						S	101-190
						A	107-235
Free fatty acids	mmol/L	88	0.2	0.1-1.4	B	YSA	0.1-1.3
Glucose	mmol/L	88	0.4	3.3-11.5	B	YSA	3.3-10.9
Triglycerides	mmol/L	88	0.8	1.7-5.4	F	Y	1.5-5.4	0.0220^A, 0.0122^S
				1.7-5.4	F	SA	1.7-4.4
					M	Y	3.2-8.6
					M	SA	1.9-7.9
Urea	mmol/L	88	−0.4	0.5-11.9	B	Y	0.4-4.0	0.0255^A
Urea	mmol/L	88	−0.4	0.5-11.9	B	SA	0.4-NE*	0.0255^A
Uric acid	μmol/L	88	−0.8	68-209	B	Y	73-111	<0.0001^A
Uric acid	μmol/L	88	−0.8	68-209	B	SA	70-222	<0.0001^A
Cortisol	nmol/L	88	0.4	30-564	B	YSA	45-565

¹: Presented stratified by age group, sex or presented overall, depending on if a difference between groups was detected. ^a: β-HBA=β-hydroxybutyrate ^b: λ=the transformation value from the Box-Cox transformation. ^c: 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles on untransformed data. ^d: B=both female and male; F=female; M=male. ^e: Y=yearling; S=subadult; A=adult. ^f: p-values are given for significantly different groups: ^A=p-value for age and ^S=p-value for sex *NE: Non-estimable because estimates were above the range of the transformation.

ISSN: 1746-6148