Prevalence (treatment days) and severity of illness in hypogammaglobulinemic and normogammaglobulinemic foals.

The research study aimed to investigate the relation between IgG concentration and the prevalence and severity of illnesses in newborn foals. The results indicated no significant correlation, with serum IgG levels not affecting the rate or severity of infectious diseases, or the survival rate of foals.

Study Design and Methodology

• The study involved a sample of 132 Standardbred foals, from which serum samples were collected between 18 and 48 postpartum hours for determining the concentration of Immunoglobulin G (IgG).
• Farm personnel were not aware of the IgG assay results. None of the foals received intravenous plasma for treating hypogammaglobulinemia, a condition of below-normal levels of IgG.
• The data was collected retrospectively by examining foal health records to ascertain certain variables like prevalence of infectious-type illness or treatment days (FTD), prevalence of serious, life-threatening infections or FTD-serious condition (FTD-SC), and number of diseases (NOD) per foal.
• These values were compiled for the first 21 days and the first 90 days of the foals’ life.

Results

• The data was analyzed by comparing FTD, FTD-SC, and NOD per foal values for those with less than 400 mg of IgG/dl (indicating low IgG concentration) and those with equal to or more than 400 mg of IgG/dl. The same comparison was made for those with less than 800 mg of IgG/dl and those with equal to or more than 800 mg of IgG/dl.
• The statistical analysis showed no association between IgG concentration and the prevalence and severity of diseases (FTD, FTD-SC, or NOD) in any of the foal groups.
• It was also observed that despite a large proportion of hypogammaglobulinemic foals (13.6% with less than 400 mg of IgG/dl and 44.7% with less than 800 mg of IgG/dl), the survival rates at 21-day and 90-day were 100 and 99.2% respectively.
• This data hence strongly suggests that the serum IgG concentration was not related to the prevalence or severity of illness, or to the survival rate among the population of foals under study.