Body fluid and hematological changes in a poikilothermic animal on cold exposure: some physical changes 1

The present study is concerned with some physical changes of blood caused by cold exposure in toads (Bufo.m.).

Specific viscosity of whole blood in terms of plasma viscosity was 0.563 ± 0.090 in control group and 1.656 ± 0.220 in exposed group. Mean total number of corpuscles was 332.6 ± 47.6 and 467.6± 102.7 × 10³/ml in control and exposed groups respectively, i.e. the specific viscosity increases by more than 300% over the control with 140% increase in the number of corpuscles in the exposed group. Mean lengths of major and minor axes of cells were 16.02 ± 2.14 and 10.76 ± 1.34 μm in control and 18.31 ± 2.21 and 13.31 ± 1.64 μm in exposed group. Mean ratio of major and minor axes where 1.59 and 1.33 in control and exposed group respectively. This indicates that the cells of the exposed group are less ellipsoidal compared with those of the control group.

It is suggested that due to cold exposure, the number of the blood corpuscles increases and the shape of cells also undergo significant change. These factors contribute towards the increase in the blood viscosity.