Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Testing a commercial ELISA to detect procalcitonin in dogs with sepsis
By Floras, A N K et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2014·Department of Clinical Studies, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Investigation of a commercial ELISA for the detection of canine procalcitonin.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs, including three with sepsis, were tested using a commercial blood test designed to detect a biomarker called procalcitonin (PCT) that helps diagnose sepsis. Unfortunately, the test did not reliably identify PCT in the dogs, meaning it may not be a useful tool for vets to diagnose sepsis in dogs. The study found high variability in the test results, and further analysis showed that the test kit might not even contain the PCT it claims to measure. As a result, veterinarians may need to rely on other methods for diagnosing sepsis in dogs.
People also search for: dog sepsis symptoms · procalcitonin test for dogs · how to diagnose sepsis in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rapid identification of sepsis enables prompt administration of antibiotics and is essential to improve patient survival. Procalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker used to diagnose sepsis in people. Commercial assays to measure canine PCT peptide have not been validated. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the validity of a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) marketed for the measurement of canine PCT. ANIMALS: Three dogs with sepsis, 1 healthy dog, 1 dog with thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: Experimental study. The ELISA's ability to detect recombinant and native canine PCT was investigated and intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variability were calculated. Assay validation including mass spectrometry of the kit standard solution was performed. RESULTS: The ELISA did not consistently detect recombinant canine PCT. Thyroid lysate yielded a positive ELISA signal. Intra-assay variability ranged from 18.9 to 77.4%, while interassay variability ranged from 56.1 to 79.5%. Mass spectrometry of the standard solution provided with the evaluated ELISA kit did not indicate presence of PCT. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The results of this investigation do not support the use of this ELISA for the detection of PCT in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24495235/