Platelet indices of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius).

This communication describes platelet indices including platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT) and platelet distribution width (PDW), along with parallel red blood cell parameters, in samples from 27 dromedary camels of both sexes. The overall mean values of the platelet parameters were: PLT 319.71 +/- 38.6 (x10(9)/L); MPV 5.51 +/- 0.08 fL; PCT 0.14 +/- 0.02% and PDW 19.50 +/- 0.62%. A highly significant correlation was found between PLT and PCT (P <= 0.001) in male, female and all camels and a significant correlation between MPV and PDW (P<0.05) in male and all camels. The correlation between platelet parameters and parallel red blood cell parameters, namely: hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red cell distribution width (RDW), revealed no significant correlation between RBC and PLT, PCT and HCT or MPV and MCV. However, a highly significant correlation was found between PCT and RDW in all camels (P <= 0.005). This is the first report of MPV, PCT, PDW and RWD in dromedaries.