ERITROGRAMA DE EQUINOS SADIOS DA RAÇA MANGALARGA MARCHADOR CRIADOS NO ESTADO DO ESPÍRITO SANTO

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine hematimetric reference values for Mangalarga Marchador horses raised in Espírito Santo state, Brazil. With this purpose, blood samples were obtained from 200 animals, distributed in seven experimental groups, according to age, G1 (from birth until 12 months); G2 (13 -| 24 months); G3 (25 -| 48 months); G4 (49 -| 72 months); G5 (73 -| 96 months); G6 (97 -| 120 months); G7 (above 121 months). Erythrocytes count, hemoglobin concentration and packed cell volume (PCV) were analyzed; afterwards, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW) were determined. Variables were analyzed for normality with Kolmorov-Smirnov test, and comparisons were made using Tukey test, evaluating age influence, and t-test, when comparing males and females, considering p<0.05. Age influenced all variables, but hemoglobin concentration (p=0.0658). Erythrocytes count, MCHC and RDW had highest levels on animals from G1, while the highest values of MCV were recorded for G7. Differences between males and females were observed inconsistently for some groups.