title: Analytical validation of a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T assay in horses.
abstract: Although cardiac troponin T (cTnT) assays have been used to detect myocardial damage in horses, a cTnT assay has not been analytically validated, to our knowledge. The aims of this study were to estimate the precision of a high-sensitivity cTnT assay in horses and determine the effect of hemolysis on the measured cTnT concentration. Serum samples from horses were mixed in 3 different pools. Pool 1 consisted of samples from 3 healthy horses, pool 2 from 6 horses with heart failure or atypical myopathy, and pool 3 from 10 horses with atypical myopathy. The within- and between-run coefficients of variation were determined for each pool. Pools 2 and 3 were diluted to estimate linearity. To study the influence of sample hemolysis, serum was collected from 4 horses with a high cTnT concentration, in which hemolysis was mechanically induced. In addition, ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid blood tubes were collected from 3 other horses, from which hemolysate was prepared and added to plasma at different concentrations. The within- and between-run coefficients of variation of all pools were <10%, and a good linearity was found. Three out of 4 hemolyzed serum samples had a decreased serum cTnT concentration. Plasma samples with a high hemolysis index showed a negative interference, resulting in a lower cTnT concentration. Results of the high-sensitivity cTnT assay were highly reproducible. Because samples from horses with musculoskeletal damage were included, further studies should test the possible cross-reactivity between troponin T of musculoskeletal and cardiac origin before the assay can be used in equine clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium (Van Der Vekens, Decloedt, Ven, De Clercq, Deprez, van Loon)General Hospital Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium (van Dievoet, De Puydt) nicky.vandervekens@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Nicky
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Der Vekens
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium (Van Der Vekens, Decloedt, Ven, De Clercq, Deprez, van Loon)General Hospital Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium (van Dievoet, De Puydt).
authors.forename: Marie-Astrid
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: van Dievoet
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium (Van Der Vekens, Decloedt, Ven, De Clercq, Deprez, van Loon)General Hospital Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium (van Dievoet, De Puydt).
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: De Puydt
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium (Van Der Vekens, Decloedt, Ven, De Clercq, Deprez, van Loon)General Hospital Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium (van Dievoet, De Puydt).
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Decloedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium (Van Der Vekens, Decloedt, Ven, De Clercq, Deprez, van Loon)General Hospital Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium (van Dievoet, De Puydt).
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ven
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium (Van Der Vekens, Decloedt, Ven, De Clercq, Deprez, van Loon)General Hospital Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium (van Dievoet, De Puydt).
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Clercq
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium (Van Der Vekens, Decloedt, Ven, De Clercq, Deprez, van Loon)General Hospital Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium (van Dievoet, De Puydt).
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deprez
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium (Van Der Vekens, Decloedt, Ven, De Clercq, Deprez, van Loon)General Hospital Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium (van Dievoet, De Puydt).
authors.forename: Gunther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Loon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006736:Horses; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020107:Troponin T
keywords: Cardiac biomarkers; cardiac troponin I; cardiomyopathy; equine