Total antiradical activity in male castrated piglets blood: reference values

Blood samples from 146 male castrated piglets in the range of 10-47kg body weight were collected from the same farm and analysed for total antiradical activity in order to determine reference intervals. Data were tested for normality and then submitted to reference limit evaluation. The reference values found in piglets, expressed as half-hemolysis time (59.34 - 93.60 and 43.94 - 66.90 minutes for blood and red blood cell, respectively), are lower than those found in humans; further studies are needed to extend reference values study to female and to animals of different weight classes and different genetic type.