Foals receive immunoglobulin (IgG) from mare colostrum through passive transfer. Failure of passive transfer (FPT) puts the foal’s life at significant risk, leaving it vulnerable to infection and sepsis. Radial immunodiffusion (RID) and immunoturbidimetric assays quantify IgG present in a foal sample but require a laboratory to complete. Accurate, reproducible, stallside testing to rapidly quantify IgG would allow for expedited clinical decisions, with potential to improve equine foal care and survival.
A retrospective study evaluated the analytical and clinical performance of a stallside IgG lateral-flow test and reader (Sidekick), assessing its use as a point-of-care (POC) test to provide reliable results and agreement of IgG quantification with gold-standard methods.
Stallside LFD IgG Test
The researchers assessed the stallside LFD IgG test with a serial diluted foal sample (0.8-20 g/L, three replicates). They compared the stallside LFD to RID and immunoturbidimetric assay. Serum/plasma samples from 10 foals created two cohorts, one representing successful passive transfer and one representing failed passive transfer. Researchers tested agreement in IgG quantification between matched blood and plasma samples by the stallside LFD in three foals.
The stallside LFD IgG test showed excellent recovery and high repeatability, 96.3-109.5% across the clinically relevant range of 4-8 g/L (CV% 3.7-10). Overall, there was strong agreement with the reference method and strong agreement between matched whole-blood and plasma samples.
Bottom Line
The stallside IgG assay (Sidekick) delivers repeatable results that agree with the other assays tested.
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/evj.70172
Related Reading
- Equine Stallside Testing: Elevating Patient Care
- Important Updates on Diagnosing and Treating Foal Sepsis
- Neonatal Foal Care: When to Start and When to Stop
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