Troponin assays in the assessment of the equine myocardium.
Authors: Rossi T M, Pyle W G, Maxie M G, Pearl D L, Physick-Sheard P W
Journal: Equine veterinary journal
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Troponin assays in the assessment of the equine myocardium Troponin testing has been the gold standard for detecting myocardial injury in human medicine since 2000, following decades of biomarker research, yet equine practitioners have adopted these human-validated assays without equivalent veterinary validation or standardisation protocols. Rossi and colleagues conducted a critical review of troponin assay application in horses, examining the analytical characteristics of various commercial tests and evaluating their suitability for equine use despite being developed and clinically validated exclusively in human patients. The authors identified significant problems arising from test diversity, lack of mandated validation requirements in veterinary medicine, absence of standardised usage protocols, and the absence of equine-specific reference materials—issues that fundamentally compromise the reliability of troponin results in equine practice. Their findings emphasise that whilst many human-designed assays can technically detect equine troponin, this analytical capability does not guarantee clinical validity or appropriate interpretation thresholds for horses. For equine professionals relying on troponin testing to assess myocardial damage, this review underscores the critical need to understand which assays have been properly validated in equine populations, to interpret results cautiously in the absence of such validation, and to advocate for development of equine-specific protocols and reference standards rather than assuming human clinical cut-offs apply to equine patients.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Be cautious when interpreting troponin results from equine patients, as most assays used were designed for humans and lack proper equine-specific validation
- •Standardized protocols and reference ranges for equine troponin testing do not yet exist—results should be interpreted carefully and in clinical context
- •Advocate for development of equine-specific troponin assays with proper validation rather than relying on human-validated tests
Key Findings
- •Troponin assays were adopted in human medicine in 2000 after a 60-year search for a specific myocardial injury biomarker
- •Veterinary medicine adopted troponin testing shortly after human adoption, but exclusively uses assays designed and validated for human patients
- •Wide diversity of available troponin assays in veterinary medicine lack standardized validation protocols, reference materials, and usage guidelines
- •Many human troponin assays can detect equine troponin but lack proper validation, standardization, and interpretation criteria for equine patients