Accuracy of Accusport for measurement of lactate concentrations in equine blood and plasma

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate correlations between lactate concentrations in equine whole blood and plasma measured with Accusport¹ and Yellow Springs Instruments (YSI²) (2300) methods. The effect of packed cell volume (PCV) on the accuracy of Accusport was also investigated. Blood samples were collected from Thoroughbred horses at 5–10 min intervals after a treadmill exercise test. Blood was added to NaEDTA (for PCV measurement) and to 2 tubes containing lithium heparin anticoagulant (for lactate assays). At concentrations greater than 10 mmol/1, Accusport¹ greatly underestimated the blood lactate concentration. Accusport¹ also underestimated blood lactate concentration when PCV were greater than 53%. Accusport¹ accurately measured plasma lactate concentration in the range 0.8–20 mmol/1.