Stimulation Test with Fresh and Frozen Commercially Available TSH in Quaker Parrots (Myiopsitta monachus)

Nicola Di Girolamo, DVM, PhD, Dipl ACZM, Dipl ACVPM, Dipl ECZM

“The purpose of the present study is to develop an antemortem test for diagnosis of hypothyroidism in parrots with a drug that is currently commercially available. For this reason, we opted to evaluate the effects of intramuscular injection of recombinant human TSH on plasma T4 concentration in healthy quaker parrots. Although TSH stimulation tests have been described in the past in birds, it is not commonly used in avian practice. As such, many hypothyroid birds are currently undiagnosed. For this test to become more widely used, we need to find a more affordable way of carrying it out. For this reason, we are working on using frozen drug; that way even clinicians who see birds less often will be able to use a single vial for multiple patients. We are also including a group that will receive a very small volume of TSH in order to try to find the smallest possible dose that would work in parrots and make this test even more affordable.”