title: Comparison of gel column agglutination with monoclonal antibodies and card agglutination methods for assessing the feline AB group system and a frequency study of feline blood types in northern Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A new commercial gel column agglutination system is reported to have high sensitivity in detecting cats with blood type AB.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to compare gel column agglutination and card agglutination methods for feline blood-typing and to determine the frequency distribution of feline blood types in northern Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood-typing was performed on 120 cats using both a commercial gel column containing monoclonal antibodies (ID Gel-Test Micro Typing System) and a card agglutination method (RapidVet-H Feline). Results were confirmed with back-typing. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were calculated for the 2 methods. A second group of 140 Domestic Shorthair (DSH) cats was blood-typed using the gel column technique to determine the frequency distribution of feline blood types in northern Italy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The card agglutination method demonstrated poor sensitivity in identification of type-AB cats (61%) and was only 95% specific when identifying type-B cats. The gel column agglutination technique demonstrated 100% sensitivity and specificity for typing all 3 blood types (A, B, and AB). The frequency distribution study of 140 cats demonstrated that 127 (90.7%) cats were type A, 10 (7.1%) were type B, and 3 (2.1%) were type AB.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When blood-typing cats of breeds with a relatively high frequency of blood types B and AB, methods that use monoclonal antibodies for detection of blood types B and AB are recommended. Alternatively, blood type can be confirmed by more sensitive supplemental testing, such as back-typing. The high frequency of blood type A in DSH cats in northern Italy was comparable to previously reported frequencies in Italy and world-wide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy. daniela.proverbio@unimi.it
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Proverbio
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spada
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baggiani
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perego
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milici
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferro
mesh_terms: D000371:Agglutination; D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001789:Blood Group Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D002415:Cats / Q000097:blood*; D002850:Chromatography, Gel / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D006384:Hemagglutination; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001789:Blood Group Antigens