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FAQs concerning Hormonost® for dairy cows

1. What is the mechanism & mode of action of Hormonost®?

Answer:

It is a refined Progesterone rapid tube ELISA. The basis is a biochemical assay with a three-step reaction, e.g. with progesterone as antigen, antibodies and a coupled enzyme reaction. The user does not need to fully understand the tricky mechanism of the reactions. He just needs to carry out the relatively simple steps described in the test procedure. The handling and especially the reading of the results (in ng/ml!) is made even easier with the help of the progesterone testing device Hormonost®-Microlab, which means a further improvement of the already most reliable progesterone rapid assay Hormonost®.

2. Do specific climate conditions such as:  temperature, humidity or altitude have any effect or  influence on the accuracy of the test results on the farms?

Answer:

Yes, but the user is guided through the test by a very exact and illustrated protocol. If he follows these steps he will get almost 100% correct results in spite of other influences.

3. Does Hormonost® also recognise pregnancy in cows?

Answer:

Yes, this is one of the possible applications in fact one of our customers’ favourite. The conditions for this are described in the test procedure. The “early pregnancy check” is of great importance three weeks after an insemination. This phrase was substantially shaped by us, that is Dr. K.-I. Arnstadt and Biolab, and has meanwhile found its way into the technical terminology.

Using a Hormonost milk test to check for pregnancy for example on day 42 is possible, but as of week 7 a manual veterinary diagnosis is considered just as reliable and is therefore recommended.

4. What are the advantages (a) and the economic aspects (b) of the Hormonost® method in comparison to the old methods?

Answer:

a) The main advantage is the shortening of the calving interval by one of the cow’s cycles as apposed to a testing for pregnancy on day 30 (ultrasound or PAG test). Rapid progesterone assays from other manufacturers and seemingly also unprofessional, self-made tests from Universities have problems with this because they tend to give false results and thereby diminish the advantages of this principle. There have been reports of 20-30% false positive results on day 20/21, where embryo death was used as the general excuse.

b) One cycle less in the calving interval is equivalent here in Germany to a profit of 80–130 €. Added benefits are less (unnecessary) inseminations per pregnancy and an increase in service life, as hardly any cows are lost due to fertility problems.

5. In what ways is the Hormonost®-Microlab Farmertest better than the visual test Hormonost Milk?

Answer:

The device guides the user through the test in dialogue. This takes away some of the users inhibitions and makes it easier. Initial errors are avoided. The reliability is measurable and controllable. Often the first test run already gives adequate results.

The Microlab results are given as definite values and are therefore more clear than the evaluation of colours. The farmer or vet then know what the situation is and what is to be done.

 

Unterschleissheim, 13/01/2010                                        Dr. Klaus-Ingo Arnstadt