BackgroundIt has been widely accepted that there is a significant difference in peripheral blood oxygen between arteries and veins. Therefore, arterial blood has been collected for blood gas analysis, and venous blood, because it is convenient to collect, has been used for most laboratory examinations. However, venous blood is always difficult to collect in rabbits; in contrast, arterial blood is easier to obtain, and research on whether arterial blood can be used instead of venous blood for routine biochemical parameter examination is rare. Therefore, the present study was designed to explore whether arterial blood can be used as a substitute for venous blood for routine biochemistry parameter examination in rabbits.ResultsThree venous blood samples with gross hemolysis were excluded. Venous and arterial blood samples were obtained from forty-two rabbits. Arterial blood samples correlate well with venous blood in alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), total protein (TP), globulin (GLB), serum total cholesterol (TC), serum triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), urea (Ur) and creatinine (Cr) levels by Deming regression analysis with slopes ranging from 0.893 to 1.176 and intercepts ranging from -4.886 to 5.835. Bland-Altman analysis showed that the two sample parameters had 93%-98% of the points within the 95% consistency limits. There were significant differences between venous blood and arterial blood in ALP, TP, TC, TG, HDL, LDL and Cr, while AST, ALT, GGT, GLB and Ur showed no significant differences.ConclusionsArterial blood can be a substitute for venous blood in routine biochemistry parameter examinations in rabbits, especially in situations where venous blood is difficult to collect.