Laboratory tests for scientific studies and animal samples

Studies

This procedure makes your work easier when placing the order and documenting the results and creates certainty about the consistency of the method. If required, you will receive copies of quality control and accreditation certificates. This procedure also ensures that the scientifically motivated laboratory tests are not carried out at the expense of the general patient care budget at the USZ. The studies are invoiced at pre-agreed rates, which take into account the actual costs of the investigations, the financial support of the study by third-party funds or sponsors and the scientific participation of scientists from the IKC, the HAD or the AKI in the project.

Please register the study at least three weeks in advance so that the necessary administrative and organizational work can be undertaken. If you are applying for third-party funding or sponsorship for a study, please contact the IKC, HAD or AKI at this early stage for cost planning. The same applies if new methods need to be introduced for special parameters, for which the staff of the IKC, HAD or AKI are happy to provide co-authorships with appropriate remuneration.

Animal samples

The IKC offers the analysis of enzymatically, photometrically or amperometrically determined analytes from plasma for animal studies. The range of parameters shown in the following table allows a rough estimate of the presence of diseases or disease manifestations of the heart, skeletal muscles, liver, kidneys, bones, electrolyte, lipid and glucose metabolism. These analytes have been examined in numerous blood samples from mice and rats with good and plausible results and are presumably also unproblematic for the examination of samples from other animals. For other analyses, individual experience must be gathered, which is why the IKC must be consulted before starting a study or measurements. The use of non-species antibodies is particularly problematic in immunological methods due to the insufficient or non-linear cross-reactivity of the antibodies.

For small animals such as mice, the required plasma volume can be an obstacle. To achieve the required volume, the plasma can be mixed 1 + 1 with bidest. H2O can be diluted. However, the normal value for gamma-GT in mice falls below the measurement limit, so that only increased plasma activities can be quantified. For all other analytes listed in the table, our analysis is sensitive enough to measure normal values even in diluted mouse samples.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide reference ranges for all animal species and therefore refer to the literature. The reference ranges of some analytes can vary considerably in specially incestuously bred (mouse) strains. For various of these defined mouse strains, standard ranges of some chemical analytes are currently being created, which can be queried here. We also recommend the examination of additional samples from an (untreated) control group with which the values of the experimental group can be compared. For transgenic animals, the non-transgenic littermates are the most suitable controls.