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Evaluation of Several Screening Tests for Determination of the IgG Concentration of Foals with the Turbidimetric Immunoassay as Reference Method
Author(s) -
Zandstra G.J.,
Wijnberg I.D.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
equine veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.82
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 2042-3306
pISSN - 0425-1644
DOI - 10.1111/evj.12486_4
Subject(s) - immunoassay , confidence interval , medicine , foal , albumin , prospective cohort study , antibody , immunology , biology , genetics
Reasons for performing study The measurement of immunoglobulins is important in foals, as individuals with evidence of failure of passive transfer are at increased risk of infection and death during the first month of life. Objectives To identify which test is most suitable for determining the foal's IgG concentration as applied in practice. A distinction was made between hospitalised foals and healthy low risk foals in the field. Study design Prospective study including 46 foals <7 days old, divided into 4 groups based on age and health status. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated manually. Significance was set at P<0.05. Methods Several screening tests were compared to the IgG concentration measured by turbidimetric immunoassay: serum and plasma total protein, albumin and protein spectrum including gamma globulin concentration ( GGC ) measured by chemistry analyser, total protein by refractometer, glutaraldehyde coagulation test and a semi‐quantitative enzyme immunoassay ( SNAP ). IBM SPSS Statistics 20A was used. A one‐way ANOVA with a 95% confidence interval ( CI ) was used for determining significant differences among tests and between groups. Correlations between the turbidimetric immunoassay and the screening tests were calculated using linear regression with a 95% CI . Results Group differences were not found. The most accurate alternative test was the combination of total serum protein measured by a chemistry analyser (R 0.83) and GGC (R 0.84) with sensitivity and specificity of 79 and 100% and 95 and 93% respectively. A total serum protein of ≥49 g/l and a GGC of ≥6 g/l corresponded with an IgG concentration of ≥8 g/l. Conclusions According to this study, the most reliable alternative test suitable in a clinical setting for the determination of IgG concentration was measuring total serum protein by a chemistry analyser in combination with serum GGC . Ethical animal research: The research was approved by the Animal Welfare Committee of Utrecht University (approval number 2012.II.05.078). Explicit owner informed consent for inclusion of animals in this study was not stated. Source of funding: None. Competing interests: None declared.