1Division of Animal Reproduction, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, U.P., India
2Division of Temperate Animal Husbandry, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand, India
3Department of Veterinary Gynaecology & Obstetrics, FVAS, RGSC-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
4ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bengaluru, India
*Corresponding author: SK Singh; E-mail: singhsanjayk69@gmail.com
Online Published on 21 September, 2022.
Diagnosis of pregnancy at an early stage is important for profitable dairy enterprise. The objective of present study was to evaluate diagnostic performance of immunoassay kits used for early pregnancy detection in cattle. Two ELISA based kits were used for detection of pregnancy-associated glycoproteins-1 (PAG-1) and pregnancy-specific protein B (PSP-B). Another RIA based kit was used for the estimation of serum progesterone (P4). Ultrasound examination was done in all cows under controlled experimental conditions and used as a reference method. Based on availability of assay points, two pregnant groups of dairy cattle i.e. 30-35D (n=16) and 45-50D (n=10) were included for PAG-1/PSP-B estimation. However, all four Pregnant groups viz., 7-10D (n=11), 17-20D (n=8), 30-35D (n=16) and 45-50D (n=10) and three non-pregnant groups viz., Heifer (n=6), Cyclic Non-AI (n=13) and Post-partum (PP; n=13) were included for progesterone estimation. Ultrasound examination was done at 30-35D and 45-50D of pregnancy to screen the experimental animals and early pregnancy samples were confirmed retrospectively. Sensitivity of all three immunoassay kits for PAG-1, PSP-B and P4 was reported 92.31%, 96.15% and 84.44%, respectively. Specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and Accuracy for P4 kit were observed 90.63%, 0.93, 0.81 and 87.01%, respectively. However, lack of values in non-pregnant animals in study for the estimation of PAG-1/PSP-B limits full reflection of diagnostic performance of respective kits. Henceforth, it is recommended to include large number of pregnant as well as non-pregnant animals to conclude comprehensively on the diagnostic performance of these assays.
• ELISA kits based on PAG-1/PSP-B protein showed comparable sensitivity to screen the pregnant animals.
• RIA kit based on progesterone estimation showed better diagnostic values viz., sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy for pregnancy detection in dairy cattle.
ELISA/RIA, PAG-1/PSP-B, Pregnant, Non-pregnant, Progesterone, Ultrasound
