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Ulnar and Cardiac Blood Samples Differed in Uric Acid but Not Glucose in Mourning Doves

Adult mourning dove in Arizona
Research · Physiology

Paired blood samples from 13 wild-caught adult mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) produced different results for two commonly measured plasma metabolites. Glucose concentrations were similar between the two collection procedures, whereas uric acid was higher in blood drawn from the ulnar vein than in blood collected later from the heart.

Each bird provided both samples. Researchers first collected blood from the ulnar vein while the dove was alive, conscious and unanesthetised. After euthanasia with sodium pentobarbital, a second sample was taken from the left ventricle of the heart. Plasma from both samples was analysed for glucose and uric acid.

The comparison therefore involved more than two anatomical sites. The ulnar sample came from a live bird, while the cardiac sample was collected after euthanasia. The study cannot separate the effect of blood-sampling site from the other differences between the two procedures.

Glucose was consistent between the two procedures

Glucose concentrations did not differ clearly between ulnar and cardiac samples. Birds with relatively high glucose in the ulnar sample also tended to have relatively high glucose in the cardiac sample.

This means that, under the conditions tested, the two sampling procedures gave broadly comparable glucose measurements.

Uric acid was not directly comparable

Uric acid showed a different pattern. Concentrations were clearly higher in ulnar-vein samples than in the cardiac samples collected after euthanasia, and measurements from the two procedures did not track one another consistently across individuals.

Uric acid is one of the circulating metabolites used as a physiological biomarker in birds. The result shows that its measured concentration can depend on how the blood sample is obtained, at least under the paired protocol used here.

Sampling protocol matters when studies are compared

The practical result is therefore metabolite-specific. Glucose was comparatively stable between procedures, whereas uric acid was not.

The authors conclude that sampling site and sampling condition should be considered when plasma metabolites are measured and when results from different studies are compared. The experiment does not show that the ulnar vein itself caused the higher uric-acid values; it shows that the two collection protocols were not interchangeable for this metabolite.

Sources and image credit

  1. Sweazea, K. L., Lodes, D., & Mayek, R. (2026). Short communication: Impact of blood collection site and sampling protocol on plasma glucose and uric acid concentrations in wild-caught mourning doves, Zenaida macroura. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 286, 111253.Primary peer-reviewed research article reporting the paired comparison of ulnar-vein and cardiac blood samples from 13 adult mourning doves.
  2. PubMed record 42379388Indexed abstract and bibliographic record for the primary article.

Image: Tom Koerner/USFWS — adult mourning dove in Arizona, 1 April 2022; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Representative image, not documented as one of the study birds. · Public domain — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

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