#merckveterinarymanual

[vetdownunder]

My exam saviour has arrived! Hallelujah! 🙌🏼

[trad-bow-newbie]

Here I am with my 8TH EDITION of the #merckveterinarymanual I need the updated version because I don't think this one is gunna make it!!! #mvm11 #MVM11 #zoovettech #veterinarytechnician #savinglives #conservation #zoomedicine #veterinarymedicine #helpmewin

[merckvetmedjournal-blog]

Last post I talked all about Anemia. Of course, there’s more to the topic then I covered. For example if there’s an interference with normal production of heme or globin it can lead to anemia. What does heme and globin make? Why hemoglobin of course.

           The basics of hemoglobin: its made of four heme units and 4 globins. Iron is also a component added by an enzyme called ferrochelatase. It’s duty is to carry oxygen picked up from the lungs and then to everywhere in the body.

           Now to the fun, more interesting topics on hemoglobin. Hemoglobinopathy is a hereditary condition involving an abnormality in the structure of hemoglobin.  The only known one in animals is Porphyria. In porphyria, porphyrins are excreted in the urine making it darker. Other symptoms can include extreme sensitivity of the skin to light. Porphyrins are a class of pigments whose molecules contain a flat ring of four linked heterocyclic groups, and sometimes with a central metal atom, like heme. Here’s another example of how one body system can affect another. The fun in medicine is connecting the dots. Fun fact: porphyria is the most important cause of photosensitivity in cattle. Which is an abnormal skin reaction to direct sunlight exposure.  

           When RBCs are removed by fixed macrophages of the spleen, hemoglobin is converted into bilirubin. That is an orange-yellow pigment. Bilirubin is then transported to hepatocytes (carried by albumin in the blood) and excreted into bile.  Just reading that in the Merck Veterinary Manual sends multiple light bulbs off in your head. One light bulb is when an animal is jaundice. Jaundice is when the whites of eyes and skin, and the gums turn yellow because of excess bilirubin. Generally caused by an obstruction of the bile duct from liver disease. So here’s a connection between hemoglobin and liver disease. The other light bulb is the reason behind when dogs vomit bile it has that characteristic color!

           Back to the breakdown of hemoglobin, what happens to the iron?  Fe is either stored in the macrophage as ferritin or hemosiderin, or released into circulation for transport back to the marrow.  Now for my last fun fact about Hemoglobin: methemoglobin is a stable oxidized form of hemoglobin that is unable to release oxygen to tissues. Next post will be about platelets!