Vol. 7, Issue 7 (2018)

Author(s):
Yogalakshmi Sabapathy, Alagu Maruthanayagam, Umadevi Subramanian and Dhinakar Raj Gopal

Abstract:
Ketosis is a common metabolic disorder of dairy cows that occurs mainly due to negative energy balance. The prevalence of ketosis is very high in early lactation period and it occurs even in best managed farms. In order to have a constant monitoring to manage the condition, a low cost cow-side test is needed. Despite many laboratory methods available, due to the cost affairs, those methods cannot be applied for routine monitoring. At TRPVB, a diagnostic kit (KetoCheck) that detects β-hydroxy butyrate (BHB) in urine was developed. In the present study, the sensitivity and specificity of Ketocheck was estimated to demonstrate its effectiveness as a cow-side test. In this study, the performance of Keto Check kit was compared with the commercially available kits such as SD Urocolor (Standard Diagnostics, Inc. USA) and FreeStyle Optium H (Abbott Laboratories, USA) using bovine urine samples. Lactating cows (n=54) were screened using the above mentioned diagnostic methods and the results were compared. Out of 54 samples screened selectively, thirty eight samples (70.4%) were positive in Ketocheck kit, thirty seven (68.5%) in FreeStyle Optium H meter and thirty eight (70.4%) for SD Urocolor. The positive samples were also confirmed clinically as ketosis. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of Ketocheck kit was found to be 94.6% and 82.4% respectively compared to FreeStyle Optium H meter (Gold standard method). The observed correlation between Ketocheck kit and FreeStyle Optium H meter demonstrates the effectiveness of Ketocheck kit as an affordable cow-side test for BHB detection in urine samples for routine monitoring of herds. In addition, the cost per assay in the developed kit was reduced by around 80% of the costs involved in commercial tests.