Evaluation of two human diagnostic agarose gel electrophoresis kits for bovine serum protein fractionation

Abstract

We evaluated two human diagnostic agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) kits (J711 and J718) for bovine serum protein fractionation using 79 bovine samples, comparing the results with a biochemistry analyzer (BA). While six protein fractions were commonly observed, β₂- and γ-globulin (Glb) fusion (β₂γ-Glb) occurred in some inflammatory and neonatal cases. The results using both AGE kits correlated with those of the BA for total albumin and Glb, with J711 showing superior agreement. However, inter-kit variability was observed for individual protein fractions, particularly α₁-, α₂-, and β₁-Glb, which showed proportional or constant errors and moderate-to-poor reliability, despite good agreement for β₂γ-Glb. These findings necessitate caution in interpreting fraction-specific results and underscore the importance of stating the AGE kit in veterinary diagnostics.