Distribution of Body Fluid in Reticulated Python, Broghammerus reticulatus (Schneider, 1801), During Subcutaneous Administration with Ringer's Acetate Solution

Abstract

Alterations of the distribution of body fluid were studied in Reticulated Python, Broghammerus reticulatus, (Schneider, 1801), which were subcutaneously injected with 20 ml per kg body weight of Ringer's acetate (RA) solution. The distribution of body fluid was observed by monitoring plasma volume (PV), blood volume (BV), extracellular fluid (ECF) and intracellular fluid (ICF) volumes including total body water (TBW) and water turnover (WTO) rate prior to treatment and treatment periods. The Reticulated Python erythrocyte as a representative of a cell model was performed in vitro to determine intracellular sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) ion concentrations including the mean corpuscular fragility (MCF) index during fluid loading. The results demonstrated that the PV, BV, ECF and TBW significantly increased at 60 minutes after administration of RA solution, while as ICF volume, WTO rate, and Na+ and K+ concentrations were not significantly disturbed. The Na+ and K+ concentrations in erythrocytes were higher in ICF than in the plasma in both pretreatment and treatment periods. MCF index showed that 0.26% of NaCl solution caused erythrocyte to be lysed. This study suggests that only ECF volume was increased during fluid loading with RA solution in the Reticulated Python. However, the ICF volume was not disturbed with such treatment due to high resistance of erythrocyte membrane to water permeability.