AI Summary & Key Takeaways
AI InsightThe combined assessment of these parameters may provide a practical and readily accessible approach to support clinical management and improve prognostic evaluation.
📌 3 Key Takeaways
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between clinical symptom scores, hematological parameters, and systemic inflammatory indices in calves with pneumonia. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of calves diagnosed with pneumonia and healthy control calves. Clinical lesion scores (respiratory score, lethargy, cough, nasal discharge, ocular discharge, and ear position) were recorded, and complete blood count analyses were performed. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) were calculated from the hematological data. Results: All clinical symptom scores were significantly higher in the pneumonia group than in the healthy control group (p < 0.001). Respiratory score showed strong positive correlations with nasal discharge (r = 0.880), cough (r = 0.791), and lethargy (r = 0.683). Hematological analysis revealed significantly lower lymphocyte (LYM; 4.31 ± 0.18), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH; 10.85 ± 0.24), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC; 32.92 ± 0.18), mean platelet volume (MPV; 5.47 ± 0.05), platelet distribution width (PDW; 14.00 ± 0.05), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR; 2.78 ± 0.13) values in the pneumonia group (p < 0.001). In contrast, red cell distribution width-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV; 21.70 ± 0.41%), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR; 2.06 ± 0.13), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR; 227.26 ± 11.81) were significantly increased (p < 0.05). RDW-CV demonstrated very strong positive correlations with both PLR (r = 0.877) and NLR (r = 0.832). Conclusion: Lymphopenia, increased RDW-CV, elevated NLR and PLR, and decreased LMR emerged as hematological markers associated with disease severity in calves with pneumonia. The combined assessment of these parameters may provide a practical and readily accessible approach to support clinical management and improve prognostic evaluation.