Comparison of the reliability of snap foal Ig test, Gamma-Check E test, refractometry and electrophoresis for determining the immune status of newborn foals in the first hours of life

Kummer, Luca Laura and Govaere, Jan and Egri, Borisz (2018) Comparison of the reliability of snap foal Ig test, Gamma-Check E test, refractometry and electrophoresis for determining the immune status of newborn foals in the first hours of life. Acta Veterinaria Hungarica, 66 (4). pp. 573-586. ISSN 0236-6290

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Abstract

Twenty-eight warmblood mares were monitored during their late pregnancy in the Teaching Hospital of Ghent University. The reliability of two commercial assays (enzyme immunoassay and glutaraldehyde coagulation test) used for determining the IgG concentrations of their newborn foals was tested. Mammary secretions were examined at the time of foaling (T₀), and then 4 (T₁) and 8 (T₂) hours after foaling by refractometry and electrophoresis. The foals’ blood IgG levels were measured at T₁ and T₂ as a routine clinical diagnostic examination using two different commercial test kits (SNAP Foal Ig and Gamma-Check E) and T₀, T₁ and T₂ samples were stored (at −18 °C) for immunoglobulin (Ig) determination by electrophoresis. Differences between the results of refractometry and electrophoresis occurred in 27.8% of the colostrum analyses. Some serum IgG could be detected immediately post partum (T₀) in 75% of the foals, and 42.82% of the newborn foals acquired a serum concentration of more than 800 mg/dl IgG within 8 h of birth. Compared to the electrophoresis, the glutaraldehyde test scored better (85%) than the enzyme immunoassay (74%), although both are accurate and safe to use since they clearly distinguish between safe and unsafe IgG concentrations.

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