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Home / Equine Research Bank / Clin Diagn Lab Immunol / Performance of five serological assays for diagnosis of Rhod...
Clinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology2003; 10(2); 241-245; doi: 10.1128/cdli.10.2.241-245.2003

Performance of five serological assays for diagnosis of Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals.

Abstract: The performance of four enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) (ELISA-6939, ELISA-33701, ELISA-VapA, and ELISA-California) and an agar gel immunodiffusion test for diagnosis of Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals was evaluated. Antibody concentrations of foals with culture-confirmed R. equi pneumonia (n = 41) were compared to those of age-matched pasturemates that remained clinically healthy during the entire breeding season (n = 24). For each serological assay evaluated, selection of a low cutoff resulted in high sensitivity but low specificity. Increasing the cutoff value resulted in better specificity but to the detriment of sensitivity. The best diagnostic performance was achieved with ELISA-California at a cutoff of 40%, resulting in a sensitivity of 59% and a specificity of 88%. We conclude that current serological assays do not differentiate between diseased and clinically healthy foals.
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Publication Date: 2003-03-11 PubMed ID: 12626449PubMed Central: PMC150531DOI: 10.1128/cdli.10.2.241-245.2003Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Comparative Study
  • Journal Article
  • Research Support
  • Non-U.S. Gov't

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The article evaluates the effectiveness of four enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and an agar gel immunodiffusion test in diagnosing Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals. The results show that the tests, while providing valuable data, struggle to distinguish between healthy and infected foals.

Understanding the Objective and Approach

  • The primary objective of the paper is to evaluate the performance and reliability of various serological assays, including four types of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and an agar gel immunodiffusion test, for diagnosing Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals.
  • The approach used in the research involved comparing antibody concentrations of foals with culture-confirmed R. equi pneumonia to those of age-matched, clinically healthy foals that remained unaffected throughout the breeding season.
  • These tests were evaluated by adjusting their cutoff points. Cutoff points are the threshold values used to determine whether a test result is considered positive or negative for a certain condition or disease.

Methods and Findings

  • During the tests, selecting a lower cutoff point resulted in high sensitivity but low specificity. Sensitivity in this context means the test’s ability to correctly identify foals with R. equi pneumonia, while specificity refers to the test’s ability to correctly identify foals that do not have the pneumonia. Whenever the cutoff point is low, the tests were able to identify most of the infected foals but also incorrectly identified many healthy foals as infected.
  • When the cutoff point was increased, the tests yielded better specificity, correctly identifying healthy foals, but this subsequently lowered their sensitivity, meaning the tests overlooked some infected foals.
  • The ELISA-California test performed the best among all the tests when set up with a cutoff point of 40%. It achieved a sensitivity of 59%, meaning it correctly identified 59% of the infected foals, and specificity of 88%, meaning it correctly identified 88% of the healthy foals.

Conclusion

  • The research concludes that the current serological assays tested are insufficient to effectively differentiate between diseased and clinically healthy foals. Despite certain tests like ELISA-California yielding relatively higher results, the trade-off between sensitivity and specificity indicates that more refined and reliable methods of diagnosis are needed for Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals.

Cite This Article

APA
Giguère S, Hernandez J, Gaskin J, Prescott JF, Takai S, Miller C. (2003). Performance of five serological assays for diagnosis of Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol, 10(2), 241-245. https://doi.org/10.1128/cdli.10.2.241-245.2003

Publication

Clinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology
ISSN: 1071-412X
NlmUniqueID: 9421292
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Pages: 241-245

Researcher Affiliations

Giguère, Steeve
  • Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA. gigueres@mail.vetmed.ufl.edu
Hernandez, Jorge
    Gaskin, Jack
      Prescott, John F
        Takai, Shinji
          Miller, Corey

            MeSH Terms

            • Actinomycetales Infections / diagnosis
            • Actinomycetales Infections / immunology
            • Actinomycetales Infections / veterinary
            • Animals
            • Antibodies, Bacterial / blood
            • Area Under Curve
            • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / methods
            • Horse Diseases / diagnosis
            • Horse Diseases / immunology
            • Horse Diseases / microbiology
            • Horses
            • Immunodiffusion
            • Rhodococcus equi / immunology
            • Rhodococcus equi / isolation & purification
            • Sensitivity and Specificity

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            Citations

            This article has been cited 5 times.
            1. Knox A, Zerna G, Beddoe T. Current and Future Advances in the Detection and Surveillance of Biosecurity-Relevant Equine Bacterial Diseases Using Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP). Animals (Basel) 2023 Aug 18;13(16).
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            2. Cohen ND, Flores-Ahlschewde P, Gonzales GM, Kahn SK, da Silveira BP, Bray JM, King EE, Blair CC, Bordin AI. Fecal concentration of Rhodococcus equi determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction of rectal swab samples to differentiate foals with pneumonia from healthy foals. J Vet Intern Med 2022 May;36(3):1146-1151.
              doi: 10.1111/jvim.16438pubmed: 35475581google scholar: lookup
            3. Rakowska A, Cywinska A, Witkowski L. Current Trends in Understanding and Managing Equine Rhodococcosis. Animals (Basel) 2020 Oct 18;10(10).
              doi: 10.3390/ani10101910pubmed: 33081047google scholar: lookup
            4. Tirosh-Levy S, Gürbilek SE, Tel OY, Keskin O, Steinman A. Seroprevalence of Rhodococcus equi in horses in Israel. J S Afr Vet Assoc 2017 Jun 26;88(0):e1-e6.
              doi: 10.4102/jsava.v88i0.1508pubmed: 28697612google scholar: lookup
            5. Stacy NI, Innis CJ, Hernandez JA. Development and evaluation of three mortality prediction indices for cold-stunned Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii). Conserv Physiol 2013;1(1):cot003.
              doi: 10.1093/conphys/cot003pubmed: 27293587google scholar: lookup
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