Early pregnancy detection is a measure of considerable economic relevance for dairy cattle breeders, and analysis of pregnancy-associated glycoprotein (PAG) values in blood is one of the methods implemented in practice. Starting from d 30 postconception, cows are considered to be pregnant at PAG levels of 2.0 ng of PAG/mL of blood and higher. However, little is known about preanalytic sources of errors that might affect PAG values. Based on blood samples from 65 dairy cows, the present study showed that freezing of samples, such as may be the case during shipping in wintertime, will lower PAG values considerably. Therefore, a Bland-Altman analysis was used to derive a correction factor. Overall, the mean differences (± standard deviation) between frozen and respective fresh samples was -5.5 ± 7.4 ng of PAG/mL of blood and 0.9 ± 6.1 ng of PAG/mL of serum. However, the Bland-Altman plot revealed a concentration-dependent effect of freezing on PAG values with higher variability and larger declines at higher PAG levels. Therefore, to minimize chances of false-negative results, different correction factors are suggested for different levels of PAG (e.g., based on the upper bound of the 95% confidence interval 0.67 for PAG levels between 2.0 and 3.9 ng of PAG/mL and 0.25 for PAG levels between 4.0 and 7.9 ng of PAG/mL). With these concentration-dependent correction factors, implementation into practice will be possible. The accuracy is adequate because no quantitative information but qualitative results (pregnant vs. nonpregnant) are required. However, due to larger chances of false-negative results, the application of the correction factor should only be a last resort if temperature exposure of a sample is unknown.
The pregnancy associated glycoprotein (PAG) test for pregnancy detection in cows necessitates transportation of blood samples to the laboratory. This investigation addresses preanalytic sources of error that might compromise its reliability. During shipping blood samples undergo substantial temperature fluctuations (Experiment 1). Temperatures of whole blood beyond 0°C had no effect, whereas freezing reduced measurements by 22% at -10 °C and by 25% at -20 °C (Experiment 2). Freezing of blood with low PAG content (Experiment 3) caused an increase from 2.4 to 3.7 ng/ml (P < 0.01). Cryopreservation of serum with various PAG concentrations (Experiment 4) brought about increases to varying degrees. The presence of heparin and EDTA in collecting tubes had no effect on PAG measurements, whereas citrate caused an initial reduction, but remained stable thereafter (Experiment 5). In blood stored six months at chilling temperature no change in PAG values occurred as long as samples contained heparin or EDTA (Experiment 6). In Experiment 7 vortexing of whole blood showed no effect, whereas freezing and dilution with water seriously compromised results. In summary, to obtain reliable PAG measurements, contamination with water must be avoided; freezing of whole blood or serum and the use of collecting tubes containing citrate will result in inaccuracies without altogether distorting results. High ambient temperature, physical agitation and long term storage at chilling temperature in the presence of heparin or EDTA will have no impact. PAG determination in blood may thus be considered a reliable pregnancy test for cows in most situations.
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