Evaluation of a non-radioactive rapid test for the determination of serum progesterone in the mare.

The research explores the effectiveness of a rapid non-radioactive test, called the mini VIDAS device, to determine progesterone levels in horse serum, showing that this device offers reliable results in under an hour, albeit observing some deviations in the low measurement range.

Introduction

• The study is based on the importance of progesterone measurements in mare serum. Progesterone levels play a significant part in diagnosing conditions such as estrus cycle disorders or luteal insufficiency in horses.
• Until recently, no methods could provide a rapid quantitative diagnosis of serum progesterone within a two-hour period. The focus of this research was to assess an alternative method, the mini VIDAS device.

Methods

• The researchers collected blood samples from 107 mares, which were then divided into two batches and stored at -20°C.
• They used both the standard radioimmunoassay (RIA) test and the mini VIDAS device to measure progesterone levels in these samples.
• The RIA method served as the reference standard for the study.

Results

• The findings indicate a strong positive correlation between the results from the RIA method and the mini VIDAS device, with a Spearman rank correlation of rs = 0.96381.
• The study concludes that the mini VIDAS device can be used to determine the progesterone concentration in a horse’s serum reliably and much faster than the RIA method, providing results in under one hour.

Considerations and Limitations

• In order for a test to provide accurate estrus cycle diagnostics, it needs to be very precise, especially in the low measurement range, as even slight discrepancies can cause ovulation misdiagnosis.
• Although the results from the mini VIDAS device showed a high correlation with the RIA method, the former showed some deviations from the latter in the low measurement range.
• The study states these inconsistencies indicate some limitations in the research and, potentially, with the mini VIDAS device’s accuracy in this specific range.