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O'Neill AK, Petzel CE, Connolly JH, Vaughan JL, Rotne R. Assessing colostral and serum immunoglobulin G in alpacas using Brix refractometry and total serum protein. Vet Res Commun 2024; 48:1563-1572. [PMID: 38396169 PMCID: PMC11147829 DOI: 10.1007/s11259-024-10297-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
The adequate transfer of passive immunity is a critical factor in neonatal development and survivability. Although well documented in the dairy and equine industries, the recognition of inadequate immunoglobulin transfer on-farm and its impact on the ability of alpaca cria to thrive is largely unknown. Colostrum samples were collected from female alpaca within 24 h of parturition by the owners and whole blood collected from cria by the investigators between 1 and 7 days of age. Direct IgG concentration of milk and serum was determined using radial immunodiffusion assay (RID) and was indirectly estimated using optical and digital Brix refractometry for total solids and clinical refractometry for total serum protein. There was a strong correlation between optical and digital Brix refractometry, and colostral IgG concentration determined by RID. There was a moderate correlation between serum IgG concentration determined by RID and total serum protein in crias. Optical and digital Brix refractometry for colostral IgG estimation and total serum protein for serum IgG estimation are reliable, accurate and easy-to-use tools that can be used on-farm by trained, competent technicians to assess a failure of passive transfer in alpacas. A pilot study at one property only was performed, due to COVID-19 travel restriction interference. Further research is required to determine the reference intervals for these tools to be practical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber K O'Neill
- School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia
| | - Christopher E Petzel
- School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia
| | - Joanne H Connolly
- School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia
- Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia
| | - Jane L Vaughan
- Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia
| | - Randi Rotne
- School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia.
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Llanco L, Retamozo K, Oviedo N, Manchego A, Lázaro C, Navarro-Mamani DA, Santos N, Rojas M. Co-Circulation of Multiple Coronavirus Genera and Subgenera during an Epizootic of Lethal Respiratory Disease in Newborn Alpacas ( Vicugna pacos) in Peru: First Report of Bat-like Coronaviruses in Alpacas. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:2983. [PMID: 37760383 PMCID: PMC10525639 DOI: 10.3390/ani13182983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Coronaviruses (CoVs) infect a wide range of hosts, including humans, domestic animals, and wildlife, typically causing mild-to-severe respiratory or enteric disease. The main objective of this study was to identify CoV genera and subgenera detected in Peruvian alpacas. Lung lavage specimens were collected from 32 animals aged 1 to 6 weeks. CoVs were identified by using RT-PCR to amplify a pan-CoV conserved region of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase-encoding gene. A nested PCR was performed to identify β-CoVs. Then, β-CoV-positive samples were subjected to RT-PCR using specific primers to identify the Embecovirus subgenus. Out of 32 analyzed samples, 30 (93.8%) tested positive for at least one CoV genus. β-, α-, or unclassified CoVs were identified in 24 (80%), 1 (3.3%), and 1 (3.3%) of the positive samples, respectively. A CoV genus could not be identified in two (6.7%) samples. A mixture of different CoV genera was detected in two (6.7%) samples: one was co-infected with β- and α-CoVs, and the other contained a β- and an unclassified CoV. A sequence analysis of the amplicons generated by the PCR identified 17 β-CoV strains belonging to the subgenus Embecovirus and two α-CoV strains belonging to Decacovirus. A phylogenetic analysis of two strains revealed a relationship with an unclassified Megaderma BatCoV strain. A subgenus could not be identified in nine β-CoV samples. Our data show a high prevalence and a high genetic diversity of CoV genera and subgenera that infect alpacas, in which the β-CoV subgenus Embecovirus predominated. Our data also suggest a new role for bats in the dissemination and transmission of uncommon CoVs to alpacas raised in rural Peru.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Llanco
- Escuela de Medicina Humana, Universidad Privada San Juan Bautista, Apartado, Chincha 15067, Peru;
| | - Karubya Retamozo
- Laboratório de Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Apartado, Lima 03-5137, Peru; (K.R.); (N.O.); (A.M.)
| | - Noriko Oviedo
- Laboratório de Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Apartado, Lima 03-5137, Peru; (K.R.); (N.O.); (A.M.)
| | - Alberto Manchego
- Laboratório de Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Apartado, Lima 03-5137, Peru; (K.R.); (N.O.); (A.M.)
| | - César Lázaro
- Laboratório de Farmacología y Toxicología Veterinaria, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Apartado, Lima 03-5137, Peru;
| | - Dennis A. Navarro-Mamani
- Laboratório de Virología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Apartado, Lima 03-5137, Peru;
| | - Norma Santos
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, RJ, Brazil;
| | - Miguel Rojas
- Laboratório de Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Apartado, Lima 03-5137, Peru; (K.R.); (N.O.); (A.M.)
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Thompson AC, Wills RW, Smith DR. Sources of variance in the results of a commercial bovine immunoglobulin G radial immunodiffusion assay. J Vet Diagn Invest 2023; 35:34-41. [PMID: 36416388 PMCID: PMC9751470 DOI: 10.1177/10406387221140047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Radial immunodiffusion (RID) is used to quantify IgG concentration in neonatal beef or dairy calf serum; variability has been noted that may affect the precision and accuracy of assay results. We determined the source, range, and homogeneity of variance in the results of a commercial bovine IgG RID assay (Triple J Farm). To estimate the variance in the precipitin ring diameter, we used 6 sera, measured 28 times across 8 plates and 4 lots, and 3 standards with known IgG concentrations, measured 75 times across 69 plates and 5 lots. The source of diameter variance was determined using variance partition coefficients for lot, plate, and repetition. We used 11 different methods to generate standard curves to convert RID precipitin ring diameters to IgG concentrations. The Levene test of homogeneity of variance (α = 0.1) was used to evaluate the equality of variance between the standards or serum precipitin ring diameters and calculated IgG concentrations. Lot and plate contributed minimally to the diameter variance. Precipitin ring diameters had equal variance. Calculated IgG concentrations for serum not requiring dilution had equal variance. A linear equation from aggregated standards, performed within the same day, had greater accuracy for the calculated IgG concentrations of the standards compared to other equation methods. Regardless of standard curve methodology or IgG concentration, variability inherent to the assay limits its clinical usefulness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis C. Thompson
- Departments of Pathobiology and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA
| | - Robert W. Wills
- Comparative Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA
| | - David R. Smith
- Departments of Pathobiology and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA
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Elsohaby I, Burns JB, Riley CB, Shaw RA, McClure JT. Application of laboratory and portable attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopic approaches for rapid quantification of alpaca serum immunoglobulin G. PLoS One 2017. [PMID: 28651006 PMCID: PMC5484476 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The objective of this study was to develop and compare the performance of laboratory grade and portable attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopic approaches in combination with partial least squares regression (PLSR) for the rapid quantification of alpaca serum IgG concentration, and the identification of low IgG (<1000 mg/dL), which is consistent with the diagnosis of failure of transfer of passive immunity (FTPI) in neonates. Serum samples (n = 175) collected from privately owned, healthy alpacas were tested by the reference method of radial immunodiffusion (RID) assay, and laboratory grade and portable ATR-IR spectrometers. Various pre-processing strategies were applied to the ATR-IR spectra that were linked to corresponding RID-IgG concentrations, and then randomly split into two sets: calibration (training) and test sets. PLSR was applied to the calibration set and calibration models were developed, and the test set was used to assess the accuracy of the analytical method. For the test set, the Pearson correlation coefficients between the IgG measured by RID and predicted by both laboratory grade and portable ATR-IR spectrometers was 0.91. The average differences between reference serum IgG concentrations and the two IR-based methods were 120.5 mg/dL and 71 mg/dL for the laboratory and portable ATR-IR-based assays, respectively. Adopting an IgG concentration <1000 mg/dL as the cut-point for FTPI cases, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for identifying serum samples below this cut point by laboratory ATR-IR assay were 86, 100 and 98%, respectively (within the entire data set). Corresponding values for the portable ATR-IR assay were 95, 99 and 99%, respectively. These results suggest that the two different ATR-IR assays performed similarly for rapid qualitative evaluation of alpaca serum IgG and for diagnosis of IgG <1000 mg/dL, the portable ATR-IR spectrometer performed slightly better, and provides more flexibility for potential application in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ibrahim Elsohaby
- Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
- Department of Animal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig City, Sharkia Province, Egypt
- * E-mail:
| | - Jennifer B. Burns
- Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
| | - Christopher B. Riley
- Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
- Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
| | - R. Anthony Shaw
- National Research Council of Canada, Medical Devices Portfolio, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - J. Trenton McClure
- Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
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A highly sensitive “turn-on” fluorescent probe with an aggregation-induced emission characteristic for quantitative detection of γ-globulin. Biosens Bioelectron 2017; 92:536-541. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2016.10.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2016] [Accepted: 10/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Bertin F, Squires J, Kritchevsky J, Taylor S. Clinical findings and survival in 56 sick neonatal New World camelids. J Vet Intern Med 2015; 29:368-74. [PMID: 25319312 PMCID: PMC4858106 DOI: 10.1111/jvim.12478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2014] [Revised: 08/11/2014] [Accepted: 09/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Information pertaining to clinical presentation and outcome of neonatal New World camelids (NWC) is limited when compared to calves and foals. HYPOTHESIS Values of variables at admission and subsequent treatment would predict survival in sick neonatal NWC. ANIMALS Fifty-six client-owned sick neonatal NWC presented over a 10-year period to the Purdue University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. METHODS A retrospective study was performed. Inclusion criteria were NWC less than 30 days of age with complete medical records that presented between 2000 and 2010. RESULTS The median age at presentation was 1 day (range 1-20). The most common diagnoses were systemic inflammatory response syndrome (50%), congenital defects (41%), ophthalmic lesions (21%), sepsis (16%), and gastrointestinal diseases (16%). Sixty-six percent of NWC survived to discharge. Clinicopathologic findings on admission were variable and not specific for disorders. Factors associated with survival were absence of choanal atresia (P = .001, OR: 55.9 [2.5-1,232]), administration of llama plasma (P = .013, OR: 4.9 [1.4-17.7]), and antimicrobial treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMS) (P = .016, OR: 6.5 [1.3-32.2]). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE The use of antibiotics, particularly TMS, and llama plasma are recommended in sick neonatal NWC. Results from this study could contribute toward defining a NWC-specific sepsis scoring system.
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Affiliation(s)
- F.R. Bertin
- Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesCollege of Veterinary MedicinePurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN
- Present address: 3999, chemin de la Côte Sainte‐CatherineMontréalQC
| | - J.M. Squires
- Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesCollege of Veterinary MedicinePurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN
| | - J.E. Kritchevsky
- Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesCollege of Veterinary MedicinePurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN
| | - S.D. Taylor
- Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesCollege of Veterinary MedicinePurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN
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Burns J, Hou S, Riley CB, Shaw RA, Jewett N, McClure JT. Use of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to quantify immunoglobulin G concentrations in alpaca serum. J Vet Intern Med 2014; 28:639-45. [PMID: 24417433 PMCID: PMC4858009 DOI: 10.1111/jvim.12258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2013] [Revised: 09/24/2013] [Accepted: 10/23/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Rapid, economical, and quantitative assays for measurement of camelid serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) are limited. In camelids, failure of transfer of maternal immunoglobulins has a reported prevalence of up to 20.5%. An accurate method for quantifying serum IgG concentrations is required. Objective To develop an infrared spectroscopy‐based assay for measurement of alpaca serum IgG and compare its performance to the reference standard radial immunodiffusion (RID) assay. Animals One hundred and seventy‐five privately owned, healthy alpacas. Methods Eighty‐two serum samples were collected as convenience samples during routine herd visits whereas 93 samples were recruited from a separate study. Serum IgG concentrations were determined by RID assays and midinfrared spectra were collected for each sample. Fifty samples were set aside as the test set and the remaining 125 training samples were employed to build a calibration model using partial least squares (PLS) regression with Monte Carlo cross validation to determine the optimum number of PLS factors. The predictive performance of the calibration model was evaluated by the test set. Results Correlation coefficients for the IR‐based assay were 0.93 and 0.87, respectively, for the entire data set and test set. Sensitivity in the diagnosis of failure of transfer of passive immunity (FTPI) ([IgG] <1,000 mg/dL) was 71.4% and specificity was 100% for the IR‐based method (test set) as gauged relative to the RID reference method assay. Conclusions and Clinical Importance This study indicated that infrared spectroscopy, in combination with chemometrics, is an effective method for measurement of IgG in alpaca serum.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Burns
- Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada
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