title: Cardiac troponin I as compared to troponin T for the detection of myocardial damage in horses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Different cardiac troponin I (cTnI) assays give different results. Only 1 manufacturer has marketed troponin T (cTnT) assays. Therefore, cTnT often is preferred for detection of myocardial infarction in human patients. Studies of cTnT in horses are limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare a cTnI and a high-sensitive cTnT assay (hs-cTnT) in horses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cardiac troponin I and cTnT were determined in 35 healthy horses (group 1), 23 horses suspected to have primary myocardial damage (group 2a), and 41 horses with secondary myocardial damage caused by structural heart disease (group 2b).
  
  
  METHODS
  All cTnI samples were analyzed at laboratory A (limit of detection [LOD]: 0.03 ng/mL), whereas cTnT samples were analyzed at 2 laboratories with the same hs-cTnT assay (laboratory B, LOD: 10.0 pg/mL; laboratory C, LOD: 4.0 pg/mL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median cTnI concentration in group 2a (0.90 ng/mL; range, 0.03-58.27 ng/mL) was significantly higher (P < .001) than in group 1 (0.03 ng/mL; range, 0.03-0.09 ng/mL) or group 2b (0.05 ng/mL; range, 0.03-30.92 ng/mL), and the optimal cut-off for detection of primary myocardial damage was 0.095 ng/mL (sensitivity: 90.5%, specificity: 100%). Using an LOD of 10.0 pg/mL for all cTnT samples, a cut-off value of 10.5 pg/mL was found, but sensitivity was low (42.9%). When only samples analyzed at laboratory C (n = 58) were included, a cut-off of 6.6 pg/mL was found (sensitivity: 81%, specificity: 100%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite large quantitative differences, cTnI and cTnT are both useful for detection of myocardial damage in horses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Der Vekens
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Decloedt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ven
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Clercq
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Loon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000662:veterinary; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006736:Horses; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D019210:Troponin I / Q000097:blood*; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019210:Troponin I; D020107:Troponin T
keywords: Atypical myopathy; Cardiac biomarkers; Valvular regurgitation