Adaptation of a Point-of-Care Canine Progesterone Test for Use of Parturition Prediction in Captive Asian Elephants (Elephas Maximus): Proof of Concept

Abstract

In the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), progesterone products 5α-pregnane, 3α-hydroxypregnane and 17α-progesterone can be measured as a predictor of impending parturition 2 .Measurement of a sudden decrease in blood progesterone levels is considered one of the most objective ways to predict impending parturition in elephants, and previous trends of serum progesterone in the final stages of ten elephant pregnancies at the study collection showed that the pregnancy progesterone values halved approximately five days prior to actual parturition. Point of Care (POC) tests eliminate the cost involved in transporting samples to an external laboratory and provide an almost instant result, facilitating decision making with regards to animal monitoring and management. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of the AgPlus Point of Care Immunoassay System to measure 4-pregnen-3,20-dione in pregnant elephant samples and adapt the method for detection of the pre-parturient progesterone decrease. Frozen serum samples of two pregnant elephants (N = 86), and fresh serum samples of one pregnant elephant (N = 11) were analysed using both the POC method and a radio-immuno-assay in a reference laboratory. Statistical analysis of the data showed that there was no significant difference between the two methods for detection of the progesterone drop, indicating that the POC method can be considered appropriate for use in elephant parturition prediction.