Erythrocyte osmotic fragility in response to a short road transport in cattle, horses, and goats

The effect of transport on erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) was evaluated in cattle, horses, and goats, transported by road over a distance of 230 km for 3 hours. Blood samples were obtained from 8 animals for each species, before (T0) and immediately (T1) and after a recovery period of 24 hours (T2) after transport. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant increase of EOF after the transport and a decrease after 24 hours from the end of the transport in all studied species. These changes could be associated to an alteration of homeostatic balance and metabolism, resulting in numerous cellular changes that occur during transport. Therefore, the erythrocyte response and the changes of hemolysis represent the complexity of variations because of transport and contribute to demonstrate that EOF could be used as effective biomarker of stress during the transport.