We are really excited this week at Peasebrook to have completely updated all our laboratory equipment , giving us the very latest technology to ensure extremely accurate results 24/7.
We now have the Idexx ProCyte Dx Haematology analyser which can run a blood in two minutes and give a read out of 27 different parameters: Red blood cell parameters
Red blood cell (RBC) count
Haematocrit (HCT)
Haemoglobin (HGB)
Mean cell volume (MCV)
Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH)
Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC)
Red blood cell distribution width (RDW)
Reticulocytes (RETIC; % and #)
Reticulocyte haemoglobin (RETIC-HGB)
Nucleated red blood cells (nRBC; when presence suspected)
These parameters tell us whether your horse is showing any signs of anaemia due to a lack of red cell production or as a result of bleeding possibly indicating gastric or colonic ulceration.
White blood cell parameters
White blood cell (WBC) count
Neutrophils (NEU; % and #)
Lymphocytes (LYM; % and #)
Monocytes (MONO; % and #)
Eosinophils (EOS; % and #)
Basophils (BASO; % and #)
Band neutrophils (BAND; when presence suspected)
The white blood cells are part of our defence system and so the analyser counts the total number of white blood cells in the sample and then subdivides them into the percentages of the different types. Neutrophils and Lymphocytes are the predominant cell-type and their percentage make-up of the overall count can give us a great insight into what type of disease the horse is being challenged by. Normally the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio is around the 60:40 percentage but often in the latter stages of a viral infection this ratio can become reversed. Also in cases of severe acute bacterial infection the neutrophil percentage may rise to as high as 90%. Monocytes are often raised from their normal 3 or 4% to 8 or 9 % in response to viral infection. Similarly, Eosinophils are elevated in cases of severe parasitic infestation or sometimes in response to allergies. Band cells are immature neutrophils and their presence in significant numbers indicates that the horse is mounting a major immune response and is having to create more cells quickly. So evaluation of the white blood cell picture is crucial to making an accurate diagnosis of your horse’s illness and accuracy of the results is essential. Assessing the different percentages of the various white blood cells used to be done manually i.e. by someone counting them by visually looking at a blood smear. Typically this would involve counting around 200 cells which is time consuming and only sampling a relatively small number of cells.
The ProCyte DX instead counts thousands of cells using laser flow cytometry:
Laser flow cytometry delivers an advanced five-part white blood cell differential.
Platelet parameters
Platelet (PLT) count
Platelet distribution width (PDW)
Mean platelet volume (MPV)
Plateletcrit (PCT)
Blood platelets or Thrombocytes are a vital part of the blood’s clotting mechanism. They are produced in the bone marrow by Megakaryocytes and they have a life-span in the circulation of only 5-9 days. Clearly their levels will fall in instances of blood loss via bleeding but they will also be depleted in certain auto-immune diseases as well as a result of some immune responses to viruses. Platelets have an involvement in the inflammatory response by releasing vasoactive substances such as prostaglandins and histamine. Platelets have a habbit of clumping together and so care must be taken in blood sampling and subsequent handling/mixing to avoid artificially created low platelet counts.
Fluid analysis parameters
Total nucleated cell count (TNCC)
Agranulocytes (AGRANS; % and #)
Granulocytes (GRANS; % and #)
Red blood cell (RBC) count
The ProCyte Dx is also capable of analysing thoracic, abdominal and joint fluid samples.
The latter is crucial when deciding whether a horse has a septic joint requiring urgent surgery and abdominal fluid is often assayed as part of a colic work-up as it can diagnose peritonitis pointing towards an area of damaged bowel again requiring urgent surgery.
In addition to our new haematology analyser, we also have the latest Catalyst One, biochemistry machine. Biochemistry tests that we can run include total protein, globulin, albumin, creatine kinase(CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), urea, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase ( ALKP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), total bilirubin, calcium, and glucose. These tests are normally run as a profile and provide information on kidney, liver and muscle function in addition to the well being of the horse via his total protein , albumin and globulin levels. The Catalyst One can also run bile acids another vital test for liver function which previously we have had to send away to a commercial laboratory. Another bonus is being able to run the electrolytes, sodium, potassium and chloride which is extremely useful to help monitor critical care patients receiving fluid therapy. The ability to run a progesterone assay has great benefits especially during the breeding season and the machine will soon be able to run serum amyloid A (SAA) which is an acute phase protein, often the first indicator of an infectious or inflammatory process. We can run this test already but on a separate piece of equipment which makes it an expensive test currently.
So we have invested heavily in new equipment to provide our patients with the very best diagnostic services at any time of the day or night so there is no delay in instigating correct treatment.