Concentration of dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid but not lithium heparin affects total protein determination in equine synovial fluid

BackgroundRefractometric determination of total protein (TP) in synovial fluid (SF) is commonly used for diagnosis and monitoring of synovial sepsis in horses. Previous studies have shown that elevated concentrations of certain anticoagulants may overestimate refractometric determination of TP concentration.ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of dipotassium EDTA (K2EDTA) and lithium heparin (LH) on TP determination by using a hand-held refractometer in equine synovial fluid.Study designCross-section observational study.MethodsThirty samples of synovial fluid obtained from 22 horses with different synovial conditions were collected. Synovial fluid samples were separated into different aliquots and placed in commercially available collection tubes containing K2EDTA or LH at four different concentrations (1.76, 3.52, 7.04 and 17.6 mg/ml for K2EDTA; 16, 32, 64 and 160 IU/ml for LH) . Refractometric TP determination was performed on untreated and K2EDTA and LH aliquots with a hand-held refractometer and by spectophotometric Biuret method as the gold standard.ResultsRefractometric TP determination was overestimated in SF samples containing 10 times the recommended K2EDTA concentrations. Lower concentrations of K2EDTA and LH concentrations did not affect refractometric TP determinations.Main limitationsLimited number of samples mostly obtained from large synovial structures.ConclusionTo avoid incorrect TP determination, the use of LH containing collection tubes may be an appropriate alternative when the SF volume available is not enough to fill the K2EDTA collection tube.

Technological beet quality: Alternative predictive model by utilizing the dry substance of beet brei filtrate

Due to stagnating thick juice purity in Austria, a project was launched in 2010 in order to compare different predictive models for assessment of the technological quality of sugar beet. Preliminary results, which had been published in 2012, demonstrated that classical predictive formulas for the quality evaluation of stored beets give significantly higher calculated thick juice purities than found under technical conditions. However, formulas which take into account the invert sugar content of beet or are solely based on sugar and refractometric dry substance content of the beet brei filtrate delivered results which were close to the values known under technical conditions. After some basic considerations about the technological beet quality the results from the comparative study of the different predictive models are discussed in which the proposed “refractometer formula” performs very well. These comparisons were carried out using fresh beet material from beet variety trials and beet material that had been collected in Austrian sugar factories throughout the whole campaign in the years 2010–2015, respectively. Eventually, some possibilities are pointed out how to maximize the benefit from information obtained by the refractometric determination of dry substance of beet brei filtrate

Technological beet quality: Alternative predictive model by utilizing the dry substance of beet brei filtrate

Due to stagnating thick juice purity in Austria, a project was launched in 2010 in order to compare different predictive models for assessment of the technological quality of sugar beet. Preliminary results, which had been published in 2012, demonstrated that classical predictive formulas for the quality evaluation of stored beets give significantly higher calculated thick juice purities than found under technical conditions. However, formulas which take into account the invert sugar content of beet or are solely based on sugar and refractometric dry substance content of the beet brei filtrate delivered results which were close to the values known under technical conditions. After some basic considerations about the technological beet quality the results from the comparative study of the different predictive models are discussed in which the proposed “refractometer formula” performs very well. These comparisons were carried out using fresh beet material from beet variety trials and beet material that had been collected in Austrian sugar factories throughout the whole campaign in the years 2010–2015, respectively. Eventually, some possibilities are pointed out how to maximize the benefit from information obtained by the refractometric determination of dry substance of beet brei filtrate