Stablelab

Incorporate SAA Testing With Stablelab ® Into Your Clinical Exams

By Bobby Cowles, DVM, MS, MBA, Equine Technical Services, Zoetis

Serum Amyloid A (SAA) is a major acute phase protein the liver produces in the face of inflammation caused by infection that’s changing the way equine veterinarians practice veterinary medicine. Within hours of the body being exposed to an infectious agent, the liver produces high enough levels of SAA that can be measured in the general circulation. Circulating SAA levels rise rapidly and dramatically into the hundreds and even thousands during infection.

The obvious advantage of SAA is that veterinarians can rapidly diagnose patients with infectious conditions, often prior to visible or outward clinical signs, such as fever, nasal discharge, diarrhea, etc. And, as quickly and dramatically as SAA elevates, its levels also decrease quickly, by approximately 50% every 24 hours, once the infection is resolved, enabling serial monitoring of SAA to monitor the horses’ response to treatment over time. 1,2

Monitoring response to treatment by measuring SAA daily or every other day is one of the most common ways equine practitioners use SAA. Repeat testing is extremely important to identify and track where within the typical response curve the horse is, in addition to identifying if SAA concentration is increasing or decreasing.

HOW TO TEST SAA USING STABLELAB ®

Because one of the features of SAA is its “real-time” measurement of inflammation caused by infection, stall-side testing with results in 10 minutes is readily available with Stablelab ® from Zoetis to provide practitioners with accurate and immediate results.

The rapid stall-side diagnostic test for SAA can help practitioners detect infectious conditions quickly and guide treatment strategies for optimal outcomes and return to function. The faster an infectious condition is diagnosed, the quicker the veterinarian and barn staff can work together, instituting appropriate biosecurity protocols to minimize disease spread.

SAA testing with Stablelab should be added to the physical exam as standard protocol to evaluate health in high-risk horses. If you can detect a horse as early as possible, you might have time to treat the horse to still be able to perform at the highest level.

LEARN MORE about testing SAA with Stablelab by talking with your Zoetis representative or visit Stablelab.com.

REFERENCES 1 Nolen-Walston R. How to Interpret Serum Amyloid A Concentrations, in Proceedings. American Association of Equine Practitioners 2015; 130-137. 2 Jacobsen S. Review of Equine Acute-Phase Proteins, in Proceedings. American Association of Equine Practitioners 2007; 230-235.

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