Comparación de pruebas diagnósticas de transferencia de inmunidad pasiva en neonatos bovinos

Libnny Gisselle Barajas Hernández; María Fernanda Pinzón Pacheco; Valentina Zambrano Herrera; Dumar Alexander Jaramillo Hernández

doi:10.30972/vet.3719221

Authors

Libnny Gisselle Barajas Hernández Grupo de investigación en Farmacología Experimental y Medicina Interna – Élite, Programa de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Recursos Naturales, Escuela de Ciencias Animales, Universidad de los Llanos, Villavicencio 1745, Meta, Colombia. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7927-1185
María Fernanda Pinzón Pacheco Grupo de investigación en Farmacología Experimental y Medicina Interna – Élite, Programa de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Recursos Naturales, Escuela de Ciencias Animales, Universidad de los Llanos, Villavicencio 1745, Meta, Colombia. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5100-9905
Valentina Zambrano Herrera Grupo de investigación en Farmacología Experimental y Medicina Interna – Élite, Programa de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Recursos Naturales, Escuela de Ciencias Animales, Universidad de los Llanos, Villavicencio 1745, Meta, Colombia. https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3622-5444
Dumar Alexander Jaramillo Hernández Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Recursos Naturales, Escuela de Ciencias Animales, Laboratorio de Farmacología. Universidad de los Llanos, Villavicencio 1745, Meta, Colombia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1377-1747

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30972/vet.3719221

Keywords:

immunoassay, screening methods, neonatal immunity

Abstract

Passive transfer of immunity (PTI) in neonatal calves through colostrum determines their survival and productive performance. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with indirect methods such as sodium sulfite precipitation (SST) and zinc sulfate turbidity (ZST) for evaluating PTI in neonatal calves. A total of 49 serum samples were collected from calves one-hour after birth (pre-colostrum) and paired samples were obtained 48 hours after birth (post-colostrum). Additionally, 49 colostrum samples were collected in one-hour pospartum. Colostrum quality was determined using Brix refractometry. The diagnostic performance of the tests and their relationship with colostrum quality were analyzed using ROC curves, Pearson correlation, and Kappa concordance. ELISA results showed that 77.6% (38/49) of the calves had adequate PTI, whereas 22.4% (11/49) presented failure of passive transfer. The SST and ZST tests showed high sensitivity (Se) (0.97 and 1.00, respectively) but low specificity (Sp) (0.18 and 0.09, respectively), with areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.578 and 0.545, respectively. Brix refractometry indicated good colostrum quality in 79.6% (39/49) of the samples, moderate quality in 14.3% (7/49), and poor quality in 6.1% (3/49). A weak positive Pearson correlation was observed between colostrum quality and PTI (r = 0.312; p=0.029). These results indicate that SST and ZST tests should not be used as confirmatory tests for PTI due to their limited specificity. However, their high sensitivity supports their use as field screening tests, provided that results are confirmed using more accurate diagnostic methods such as ELISA.

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