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The C-reactive protein (CRP) is a major acute phase protein
in human and canine patients. Recently, a number of different
assays for the detection of canine CRP (cCRP) have been evaluated;
a few of them are suitable for fast quantitative in-house
diagnostic testing.
The objective of this study was the evaluation of three different
point-of-care (POC) systems for the measurement of cCRP.
Blood samples of 23 healthy and 102 sick dogs were included
in the study. Serum CRP measurements were performed using
three different POC systems (TECOmedical AG; EUROLyser Diagnostica;
LifeAssays). An ELISA (TECOmedical AG) validated
for canine samples was used as reference method. Statistical analysis
included descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation coefficient,
and comparisons of POC systems with ELISA by Bland-
Altman plot. Inter-assay reliability was determined by calculation
of Cronbach’s Alpha.
ELISA cCRP values ranged from 0.1 to 4.7 mg/L (median 1.3)
and from 0 to 282 mg/L (median 17.3) for healthy and sick dogs,
respectively. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient of cCRP values
between the ELISA and the POC tests were 0.89 for TECOmedical,
0.85 for EUROLyser, and 0.97 for LifeAssays. Confidence intervals
for means of differences between ELISA and POC systems
(Bland-Altman plots) were -13.84 74.58 for TECOmedical,
5.75 36.48 for EUROLyser, and 12.02 40.26 for LifeAssays.
Inter-assay reliability was above 0.9 for all POC assays.
All POC tests were able to detect cCRP. The correlation coefficient
differed between individual POC systems. Due to deviating
results, serial measurements should be performed with the same
POC system.