Comparison of accuracy of ultrasonography, progesterone and pregnancy-associated 4 glycoprotein tests for pregnancy diagnosis in semi-domesticated reindeer
[en] The aim of the study was to compare transrectal ultrasound with progesterone (P4) and
pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAG) as pregnancy detection methods for semi-domesticated reindeer in field conditions. Female reindeer (n=195) were scanned transrectally by a 7.5 MHz linear array transducer and blood sampled either in Dec 2005 (n=33), Dec 2006 (n=92) or Jan 2007 (n=70) during early- or mid-gestation. Plasma levels of P4 and PAG were assessed by RIA. Based on calving records, the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and the overall accuracy of the three tests were calculated. The overall calving rate calculated from the calving records was 86.2%. The overall accuracy of transrectal ultrasound was 99.5%. The sensitivity and specificity of transrectal ultrasound were 99.4% and 100%, respectively. In the plasma P4 test, the threshold level of 5.5 nmol/L gave the highest overall accuracy (93.3%). The sensitivity of the P4 test decreased from 96.4% to 81.5%, when the threshold level increased from 5.0 nmol/L to 8.0 nmol/L, while the specificity remained at 85.2% over the range of these cut-off values. The overall accuracy of the plasma PAG test decreased from 96.4% to 64.1% when the plasma PAG threshold level increased from 0.5 ng/mL to 3.5 ng/mL, whereas sensitivity decreased from 99.4% to 58.3%. Specificity increased from 77.8% to 100% when the plasma PAG threshold level reached 3.0 ng/mL. Transrectal ultrasound showed higher diagnostic values than plasma P4-RIA and PAG-RIA in diagnosing pregnancy of reindeer, with the advantage that diagnoses can be made in real-time in field conditions
Disciplines :
Veterinary medicine & animal health
Author, co-author :
Savela, Hannele; University of Oulu, Finland > Centre for Arctic Medicine
Vahtiala, S.; Co-operative Breeding Service, Muhos, Finland
Lindeberg, H.; University of Kuopio, Finland > Department of Biosciences
Dahl, E.; Norwegian School of Veterinary Sciences, Norway > Department of Domestic Animal Clinical Sciences
Ropstad, E.; Norwegian School of Veterinary Sciences, Norway > Department of Domestic Animal Clinical Sciences
Beckers, Jean-François ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de sciences fonctionnelles > Physiologie de la reproduction
Saarela, S.; University of Oulu, Finland > Department of Biology
Language :
English
Title :
Comparison of accuracy of ultrasonography, progesterone and pregnancy-associated 4 glycoprotein tests for pregnancy diagnosis in semi-domesticated reindeer
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