MEAN CORPUSCULAR VOLUME (MCV) AND RED BLOOD CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH (RDW) IN QUARTER HORSES USED FOR BARREL RACING

Abstract Twenty-two Quarter Horses, eight females and 14 males, 4.88±2.42 years old and weighting 430.0±31.4 kg, were evaluated before (T0), 5 minutes (T1), 30 minutes (T2), and 120 minutes (T3) after a barrel racing exercise to determine the influence of physical exercise on the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW). Variables were analyzed and comparisons were made using Tukey test, considering p<0.05. Comparisons between males and females were done using t-test. Mean MCV values were 46.5 ± 2.0 fl for T0, 47.6 ± 2.2 fl for T1, 46.6 ± 1.8 fl for T2, and 46.7 ± 1.9 fl for T3 for males, and 46.3 ± 0.6 fl on T0, 47.7 ± 0.9 fl on T1, 46.7 ± 0.8 fl on T2, and 46.4 ± 0.8 fl on T2 for females. Mean RDW values were 28.8 ± 8.1% for T0, 30.8 ± 9.5% for T1, 28.2 ± 8.1% for T2, and 26.6 ± 8.0% for T3 for males, and 28.0 ± 7.3% for T0, 27.1 ± 8.1% for T1, 28.1 ± 8.1% for T2, and 28.6 ± 7.2% for T3 on females. A significant increase for MCV on both males and females was observed. No differences were observed between values recorded on males and females for MCV and RDW. It was possible to conclude the physical activity imposed on the present research leaded to a homogeneous macrocytosis.