Animal Clinical Chemistry

Mission: The Animal Clinical Laboratory Core Facility can assist research investigators who would greatly benefit from availability of service (on a cost-per-test basis) that replicates for animals the laboratory tests that are routine for humans. Examples include blood chemistry, urinalysis, and hematology. This core facility has been providing services for the UNC campus since 1997.

Services: We provide three different types of service for clinical chemistry:

1) Clinical Tests.Each individual test requires 10 ul plasma, serum, or urine. An extra 10 ul sample per test is needed for machine dead volume. For examples, when user wants four different chemical tests from a sample, user should bring that sample with at least 60 µl. Available tests are listed below:

a) Ions:

Ammonia, Blood Urea Nitrogen, Ca, Cl, CO₂, Fe, Total Iron-Binding Capacity, K, Lithium, Mg, Na, and Phosphorus

b) Drugs:

Acetaminophen, Alcohol, Carbamazepine, Digoxin, Theophylline, Phenytoin, and Salicylate

c) Proteins and Organic Chemicals:

Albumin, Conjugated and Unconjugated Bilirubin, Total Bilirubin, Creatinine, Cholesterol, HDL-Cholesterol, Glucose, Total Protein, C-Reactive Protein, Urine Protein, Cerebral Spinal Fluid Protein, Triglycerides, Uric Acid, and Urine Creatinine

d) Enzymes:

Alanine Aminotransferase, Acid Phosphatase, Alkaline Phosphatase, Amylase, Aspartate Aminotransferase, Cholinesterase, Creatinine Kinase MB, GGT, Lactate, LDH, and Lipase

2) Hematological Tests. These tests require 12 μl EDTA-whole blood per sample. The values analyzed are as follows:

WBC#, Lym%, Lym#, Mon%, Mon#, Gra%, Gra#, RBC#, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW, PLT, MPV, and 3 distribution curves: WBC, RBC, and PLT

3) Group Tests. These include the following:

a) General Health Test:

Hematological Test, Albumin, Blood Urea Nitrogen, Creatinine, and Glucose

b) Kidney Test:

Blood Urea Nitrogen, Creatinine, Na, K, and Cl

c) Liver Test:

Albumin, Alkaline Phosphatase, Alanine Aminotransferase, and Aspartate Aminotransferase

Available Machines:

1) Automatic Chemical Analyzer, Johnson & Johnson’s VT250

2) Heska’s Animal Blood Counter

3) Platelet Aggregation Profiler Model PAP-4

Charges: UNC customer charges are as follows:

Individual Clinical Test - $5.00/test.

Group Tests:

General Health Test - $18.00

Kidney Test - $18.00

Liver Test - $15.00

Hematological Test - $6.00/sample.

We bill customers monthly.

How to Order and Receive Data: Users should bring samples in proper storage tubes and fill out a request form (available on the door of our lab). After analyzing the samples, we normally fax the data to you. However, if there are many pages of data, Users should pick up the data at our lab. They may also pick up leftover samples.