Electrocardiographic Study of Rescued White-bellied Pangolins (Phataginus tricuspis) Immobilized with Xylazine Combination
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4314/ajbr.v27i2.18Keywords:
White-bellied pangolin, Phataginus tricuspis, Electrocardiogram, ECG, Heart rate, electrocardiographAbstract
Optimal health is required in endangered species and one of the vital organs to assess the overall health of an animal is the heart. The Electrocardiograph (ECG) provides information on the health status of the heart. There is dearth of information on the electrocardiographic parameters of white bellied pangolins. In this study, we obtained cardiac parameters from clinically healthy white-bellied pangolins (n=26) rescued from trade in Southwestern Nigeria. The Pangolins were sedated with Ketamine hydrochloride (10mg/kg) and Xylazine (3mg/kg). Electrocardiography was recorded with the animal on dorsal recumbence using a 6/7 lead computer ECG machine. Standard bipolar (I, II, III) and augmented unipolar (aVR, aVL and aVF) leads readings were recorded. Measurements are presented as mean±standard deviation. Electrocardiogram (ECG) readings were analysed using Descriptive statistics, Student t-test at 5% level of significance. Electrocardiographic parameters such as heart rate (HR), P-wave duration, PR-interval, QRS duration, QT interval, QTc interval and Ra were recorded for each of the leads. The HR ranged from 54 to 109 beats/min with a mean ± standard deviation of 82.85±13.50 beats/min. Lead II recordings showed a P-wave duration of 61.19±16.73 ms, PR interval 94.88±18.88 ms, QRS duration 50.77±16.05 ms, QT interval 299.88±31.23 ms, QTc interval 347.88±37.07 ms and Ra 1.28±0.38 mV. There were no significant differences in the ECG parameters between male and female white-bellied pangolins in all the leads measured. The findings of this study should provide clinical reference for healthy management of African pangolins. It would also serve as a reference value for further research.
.
References
Hanton G. and Rabemampianina Y. (2006). The electrocardiogram of the Beagle dog: reference values and effect of sex, genetic strain, body position and heart rate Laboratory Animals 40, pp. 123–136
Hassanpour, H., Moghaddam, A. and Zarei, H., (2009): Effect of citric acid on electrocardiographic parameters of broiler chickens with pulmonary hypertension. Acta Veterinaria Hungarica, 57(2), pp. 229-238.
Tang, K.N., Buoscio, D., Langan, J., Adkesson, M.J., Chinnadurai, S and Aitken-Palmer, C. (2019). Echocardiographic Parameters in African White-Bellied Pangolins (Phataginus tricuspis) Without Cardiac Disease, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 50(3), pp. 604 – 610. https://doi.org/10.1638/2018-0224.
Kinjavdekar P, Singh G.R, Amarpal, Pawde A.M, Aithal H.P. (1999). Effects of subarachnoid xylazine and medetomidine on haemodynamics and ECG in goats. Zentralbl Veterinarmed A 46, pp. 271–275.
Kramer S., Nolte I., Jochle W. (1996). Clinical comparison of medetomidine with xylazine–l-methadone in dogs. Vet Rec 138, pp. 128–133.
Larsson, M., Coelho, F., Oliveira V., Yamaki F., Pereira G, Soares, E., Fedullo, D, Pereira R. and Ito F. (2008). Electrocardiographic parameters of captive lions (Panthera leo) and Tigers (Panthera tigris) immobilized with xylazine plus ketamine. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 39(3), pp. 314–319.
Lue, H.C., Wu, M.H., Wang, J.K., et al. (2018) Study on ECG in the Adolescent. Pediatr Cardiol 39, pp. 911–923. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-018-1841-8
Macfarlane, P.W. (2018). The Influence of Age and Sex on the Electrocardiogram. In: Kerkhof, P., Miller, V. (eds) Sex-Specific Analysis of Cardiovascular Function. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Vol 1065. Springer, Cham.
Olkowski, A.A. and Classen, H.L., (1998): Progressive bradycardia, a possible factor in the pathogenesis of ascites in fast growing broiler chickens raised at low altitude. British Poultry Science, 39(1), pp. 139-146.
Pietersen, D., Moumbolou, C., Ingram, D.J., Soewu, D., Jansen, R., Sodeinde, O., Keboy Mov Linkey Iflankoy, C., Challender, D. and Shirley, M.H. (2019). "Phataginus tricuspis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T12767A123586469. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12767A123586469.en. Accessed 27 December 2022.
Schlitter, D.A. (2005). "Order Pholidota". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 531. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
Wicker, L.V., Lourens, K., & Hai, L.K. (2020). Veterinary health of pangolins. In Pangolins (pp. 461-493). Academic Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 African Journal of Biomedical Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
