Appraisal of collection techniques and storage temperatures on turkey plasma cholinesterase levels and blood glutathione concentrations.

The effects of different blood collection procedures, various storage temperatures and durations of storage on the levels of plasma cholinesterase and whole blood glutathione in turkeys were investigated. Collection of blood through vacutainers yielded satisfactory results. Whereas the plasma cholinesterase activity remained unchanged even after three weeks of storage at -17.8 degrees C., blood glutathione concentration was unaffected only when the samples were stored at -28.9 degrees C for the three weeks. The range of mean activity was from 4.64 to 4.71 DeltapH/hour x 10 for cholinesterase and from 44.85 to 47.91 mgm/100 ml for glutathione.