COMPARISON OF PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS AND BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS FOR THE QUANTIFICATION OF PLASMA ALBUMIN IN HEALTHY BEARDED DRAGONS (POGONA VITTICEPS)

While electrophoresis is considered the standard method for evaluation of protein concentrations as a result of its direct measurement, albumin is often quantified with biochemical assays. Many laboratory-based chemistry analyzers and clinic-based point-of-care analyzers use the dye bromocresol green (BCG) for the quantitation of albumin. Several studies have shown that albumin concentrations obtained by the standard (BCG) dye-binding method are significantly different from those obtained by protein electrophoresis in avian species and chelonia. The goal of this study was to compare plasma albumin concentrations obtained by the BCG method with those derived from electrophoresis in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps). Thirty-six heparinized plasma samples were obtained from 13 clinically healthy male bearded dragons. Albumin was quantified by protein electrophoresis and by the BCG dye-binding method. The two methods were significantly different (P < 0.0001, paired t-test; P < 0.0001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test), with the BCG measurement always equal to or higher than the electrophoretic result. The measurements from both methods were significantly correlated (r = 0.8634, P < 0.0001), but concordance between the two techniques was poor. The Bland-Altman plot appeared to show a greater difference between the two measurements with lower albumin values and lesser difference with higher values. These results indicate that bearded dragon plasma albumin concentration measurements obtained by the BCG dye-binding method are unreliable when compared to those obtained with electrophoresis, suggesting that albumin should be measured by protein electrophoresis for health assessment in bearded dragons.