PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF SERUM AMYLOID A AND PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS IN THE TIGER (PANTHERA TIGRIS) AND LION (PANTHERA LEO).

Serum protein electrophoresis and acute phase protein quantitation have been demonstrated as important tools in clinical pathology testing of nondomesticated mammals. The goal of this study was to validate a commercially available reagent for serum amyloid A (SAA) and obtain preliminary data for SAA and protein electrophoresis in lions and tigers. Serum samples from 32 tigers (Panthera tigris), including 16 clinically normal animals, and 29 lions (Panthera leo), including 22 clinically normal animals, were obtained from private facilities in south and central Florida between 2014 and 2025. SAA was defined as a major acute phase protein (APP) in these species, with 10-100-fold increases in clinically abnormal animals. The SAA reagent was validated for use based on linearity under dilution and coefficient of variation analyses. Given the size of the sample sets, reference intervals were generated for lions and descriptive statistics were performed for tigers. Significant increases in SAA as well as alpha-2 and beta globulins in clinically abnormal vs normal lions and tigers were observed (P < 0.05). This preliminary assessment provides valuable information for the use of SAA and protein electrophoresis and lays the groundwork to establish robust reference intervals as well as a clinical validation of the use of these assays for these two species.