# The diagnostic performance of point-of-care tests for serum amyloid A and C-reactive protein in lame sows

## TL;DR

This study evaluated two portable tests for measuring inflammation markers in lame pregnant pigs but found them unreliable compared to a standard lab test.

## Contribution

The study provides new evidence on the diagnostic reliability of point-of-care tests for acute phase proteins in lame sows.

## Key findings

- The CRP point-of-care test showed poor agreement with ELISA and significant underestimation.
- The SAA point-of-care test agreed with ELISA in only two out of 49 samples and overestimated levels.
- Both tests are currently unreliable for determining acute phase protein levels in blood samples from lame sows.

## Abstract

For acute phase proteins to be implemented in routine diagnostics for pig herds, a fast, reliable, and portable point-of-care test is required. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of two point-of-care tests on lame gestating sows. The two tests were the Cobas b101 CRP test for C-reactive protein and OmniChekTM-SAA for serum amyloid A. The reference test was an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

The C-reactive protein point-of-care test had a concordance with the ELISA results of 0.12 (95% confidence limits: 0.12–0.23) and a mean difference of − 30.98 µg/mL (Limits of agreement: 27.45 and − 89.40 µg/mL), with a clear proportional bias. The serum amyloid A point-of-care test was only in agreement with the ELISA results in two out of 49 samples. The serum amyloid A test overestimated the serum amyloid A levels, whereas the C-reactive protein point-of-care test underestimated the C-reactive protein levels.

Currently, the two point-of-care tests cannot be reliably used to determine acute phase protein levels in blood samples from lame gestating sows.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13028-026-00857-6.