title: Evaluation of three different point-of-care tests for quantitative measurement of canine C-reactive protein.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  C-reactive protein (CRP) is a major acute phase protein in both people and dogs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to evaluate the precision and accuracy of 3 different point-of-care tests (POCT) for canine CRP (cCRP) in comparison to a standard ELISA test, and to assess storage stability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples were collected from 125 dogs (23 healthy and 102 diseased). Serum cCRP measurements were performed using the TECOmedical AG, the EUROLyser Diagnostica, and the LifeAssays POCT. The TECOmedical AG ELISA validated for canine serum was used as a reference method. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, inter assay variance for each POCT, comparison of results from each POCT with the ELISA using Spearman's correlation and Bland-Altman plots, and a t-test to evaluate sample stability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ELISA cCRP values ranged from 0.1-4.7 mg/L (median 1.3) in healthy dogs and from 0-282 mg/L (median 17.3) in diseased dogs. Spearman's correlation coefficient between ELISA and the respective POCT measurements for cCRP concentration was 0.89 for TECOmedical, 0.85 for EUROLyser, and 0.97 for LifeAssays. Bias calculated from Bland-Altman difference plots was 27.6% for TECOmedical, -14.2% for EUROLyser, and -15.7% for LifeAssays. Inter assay reliability was > 0.9 for all POCT. Total observed error of the EUROLyser was 28.2% and therefore met the acceptable total error of 29.6%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All POCTs were able to measure cCRP, but precision, accuracy, and correlation coefficients varied among the 3 systems. Therefore, serial measurements for monitoring of cCRP in dogs should always be performed using the same POCT system.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary-Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Clinic of Small Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne-Katherine
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jasensky
authors.affiliation: Scil animal care company GmbH, Viernheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klenner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary-Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Einspanier
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Small Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kohn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: Acute illness; acute phase protein; analytic validation; dog