8. Diagnostics

Question 2

What are the 2 extremes in evaluation of health parameters?

Answer 2

1. Rapid Antigen Diagnostic Tests
2. In-depth analysis of disease phenotypes

Question 3

What does a ProCyte Dx Hematology Analyzer look at?

Answer 3

• Can identify subtle changes in the complete blood count (CBC)

Question 3

What does a Catalyst Dx Chemistry Analyzer look at?

Answer 3

Blood biochemistry
- manage more cases simply and efficiently bc can run multiple samples and get results in minutes
- preloaded CLIPS with tests

Question 3

What are 2 alternatives to modern hematology approaches?

Answer 3

1. Manual differential counts via light microscopy
   - change in ratio provides insight into what’s happening
2. Imaging flow cytometry
   - take whole population, focus on single cells, get rid of debri, then ask q’s; can focus on certain features

Question 4

What can a rapid antigen diagnostic test tell us? What can it not tell us? (in the context of COVID)

Answer 4

Can tell us:
- COVID antigens in sample

Can’t tell us:
- Anti-COVID antibodies in sample
- Level of infection
- Transmission potential
- Effectiveness of host response
- Rate of false +/ false -

Question 5

What are 4 classical approaches beyond screening for infection or dysfxn when assessing immunological changes in animal health?

Answer 5

1. Cell culture: taking cells from an animal and growing them in a flask
   - primary or cell lines
   - provides you w a very homogenous population of cells
   - can’t assume what a cell line tells you will transfer 100% to an animal
2. Evaluation of changes to immune fxn
   - individual or multiparametric
3. In vitro, ex vivo, in vivo
4. Tissue damage and repair
   - gross pathology (surface tissue damage) vs. histopathology (internal damage)

Question 6

What are 3 novel technologies being integrated for assessing immunological challenges in animal health?

Answer 6

1. Genomics
   - Can look at 1000s of genes in the context of a population and single cells
   - You get a genetic view of genes that are not expressed which could be relevant (you can’t get this info with proteomics)
2. Proteomics
   - Give insight into gene fxn
   - Allows you to focus on proteins actually expressed and see the actual fxn of the system
3. High-resolution behavioural analyses
   - We now have the ability to look at behaviour at a high resolution and quantitate them
   - Can look at behaviour of animal at per second resolution
   - Provides a non-bias approach to looking at behaviour