Diagnostic accuracy of porcine acute phase proteins in meat juice for detecting disease at abattoir

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate whether acute phase protein (APP) determinations could assist Official Veterinarians carrying out work in slaughterhouses. To test this hypothesis, the diagnostic accuracy of APP determinations in meat juice of pigs was analysed to differentiate between healthy and diseased pigs. One hundred and one pigs of two different origins were classified into two groups according to their health status (healthy and diseased pigs), which was determined by a veterinary clinical examination on the farm. To assess the pigs' immune status, against the main porcine diseases, serological analyses were monitored. A general idea of the degree of disease coverage was analysed by examining organ lesions postmortem. Haptoglobin (Hp) and C reactive protein (CRP) were measured in meat juice samples. 72.13 per cent of pigs appeared to be seropositive for the porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus, and almost 86.2 per cent of them had concomitant infections with other pathogens, such as Porcine circovirus type 2 or Swine influenza virus. Median Hp and CRP concentrations were significantly higher in diseased animals at different stages of the production chain, when compared with levels found in healthy finishing pigs (P<0.0001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed the highest sensitivity-specificity pairs, nearly 80-90 per cent, at cut-off levels of 83 and 10 µg/ml for Hp and CRP determinations, respectively, with high AUCs 0.9. This cut-off could be useful for veterinary inspections at the time of slaughter, to differentiate between the carcase of a healthy animal and the carcase of an animal suffering from a systemic disease, which should be completely condemned.

Inflammatory markers before and after farrowing in healthy sows and in sows affected with postpartum dysgalactia syndrome

“…following intramammary infusion of E. coli , whereas concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines peaked at 24 h. To the authors knowledge, CRP has not been investigated in sows at parturition. However, CRP has well described APP properties in the porcine species, as increased concentrations have been found in pigs with clinical signs of disease [ 53 ], pigs with lesions at slaughter [ 54 ] and after experimental injection of LPS [ 55 ] or turpentine [ 56 ]. Similar to SAA, CRP could not distinguish PDS+ from PDS- sows.…”

Acute phase proteins in cattle and swine: A review

“…165 Other studies support the usefulness of CRP and Hp in the identification of carcasses with pathologic findings and show high sensitivity and specificity. 166,167 These results open new possibilities for the assessment of animal health in pig production, with implications for food safety and meat quality.…”

Meat Exudate for Detection of African Swine Fever Virus Genomic Material and Anti-ASFV Antibodies

“…The recommended samples, however, may not be convenient or economically feasible for ASF surveillance or simply not available in certain cases such as illegal pork imports or wild boar meat. Meat exudate, also called “meat juice”, “purge,” “weep”, or “drip”, is one of the alternative sample types proven viable for determining the health status of pig herds [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]; it can be used for the detection of a number of viral, protozoal, and bacterial pathogens of pigs. It is often mistaken for blood, but the red color of meat exudate is based on myoglobin, not hemoglobin.…”

“…Meat exudate has also been used successfully employed for antibody-based serosurveillance of several other viral (influenza A virus, porcine circovirus 2, Aujeszky’s disease, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus), bacterial ( Salmonella spp., Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae , and Yersinia enterocolitica ), and protozoal ( Trichinella spp. and Toxoplasma gondii ) pathogens of swine [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ].…”