Variation in plasma biochemical parameters in captive adult red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) during daylight hours

Blood biochemical parameters may provide useful information about the physical condition of the individual, making them a useful tool in ecological studies. However, to avoid biases, factors affecting circulating levels of plasma metabolites must be investigated. In this paper, we analyse the effect of daytime sampling hour on seven plasma metabolites in adult red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) with free access to food during the breeding season. We found that sampling hour affected circulating levels of glucose and triglycerides but not those of cholesterol, total protein, uric acid, urea or albumin. A sex effect was found only for glucose, uric acid, urea and triglycerides. Repeated sampling affected all the parameters studied. These results suggest that the effect of sex, sampling hour and repeated sampling should be carefully controlled for (methodologically or by statistical procedures) to avoid undesirable sources of error at least in some blood parameters.Financial support was provided by the Research Project PAI-02-006 of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. L.P.R. was supported by an FPU grant of the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia. C.A.-A. was supported by a Ramon y Cajal fellowship (Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia, Spain). M.M.-H. was supported by a postgraduate grant (I3P) from CSIC and the Research Proyect CGL2004-02568/BOS of the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia.Peer reviewe