Comparison of blood ΒHBA measurement devices for diagnosis of subclinical pregnancy toxaemia in sheep: A field study

Abstract

Pregnancy toxaemia is a serious disease that occurs during the last trimester of pregnancy in sheep. Yet, in most cases, the disease may have a subclinical course. This study was aimed at comparing blood βHBA measurement devices for diagnosis of subclinical pregnancy toxaemia in late pregnant sheep. In the study, a total of 50 blood samples were collected from Romanov (n = 30) and cross‐bred Hamdani (n = 20) sheep. Blood βHBA levels were measured using TaiDoc TD‐4235 and CentriVet βHBA hand‐held meter. Randox βHBA (Ranbut) assay was used as a reference laboratory method to compare hand‐held meters. βHBA value of 0.8 mmol/L was set as the cut‐off value for diagnosis of subclinical pregnancy toxaemia. Statistical analyses were carried out using Minitab 21 and Jamovi software. In the study, the correlation of Randox‐TaiDoc TD‐4235 and Randox‐CentriVet was .822 (p < .001) and .728 (p < .001), respectively. Based on the Ranbut assay, nine ewes out of 50 were diagnosed with subclinical pregnancy toxaemia. Specificity (detection of healthy ewes) and sensitivity (detection of ewes with subclinical pregnancy toxaemia) for TaiDoc TD‐4235 and CentriVet hand‐held meters were 100%, 77.8%, and 100%, 66.7%, respectively. In the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, areas under the ROC curve (AUC) were 0.976 and 0.920 for TaiDoc and CentriVet, respectively. Bland–Altman analysis revealed a bias of 0.092 mmol/L for TaiDoc and a bias of 0.132 mmol/L for CentriVet. TaiDoc hand‐held meter shows a better correlation with the Randox Ranbut assay and greater sensitivity compared to the CentriVet hand‐held meter. In conclusion, both TaiDoc and CentriVet hand‐held meters can be securely used in the diagnosis of subclinical pregnancy toxaemia in sheep. For these reasons, subclinical pregnancy toxaemia and these devices will be evaluated within the scope of herd management programme in the sheep industry. It should also be taken into account that these conditions will affect the future fertility of the mother and offspring.