How accurate is the test in detecting GI tract conditions?

The SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™ is very accurate. In an August 2007 study of 86 horses, the FBT results were compared with visual observation of gastric and colonic tissue following necropsy. The positive predictive value of each strip was determined – Test A, detecting equine albumin as an indicator of colonic ulceration grade 1 or higher – was 95%, while Test H, detecting equine hemoglobin as an indicator of either gastric or colonic ulceration grade 2 or higher, was 96%. Download the monograph (PDF) for complete details of this study.

How accurate is the test in detecting blood from ulcers vs. from other sources?

The SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™ is extremely sensitive to equine blood, detecting even microscopic amounts in a manure sample. Using Test A and H together can allow you to distinguish foregut from hindgut blood sources. However, the test cannot distinguish the source of the blood in any other way. Any source of equine blood at any location in the GI tract will trigger a positive test result. Your veterinarian should combine SUCCEED® FBT results with other diagnostics for a complete diagnosis of your horse.

How do the FBT Test A and H detect blood from different GI tract locations?

The SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™ includes proprietary SmartSignal™ Technology to detect trace amounts of blood, invisible to the human eye, in your horse's manure as a sign of GI tract conditions. This technology utilizes antibodies to unique components of equine blood proteins to create the results.

Test A utilizes antibodies to equine albumin, which is susceptible to breaking down in the face of digestive enzymes delivered by the common bile duct in the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine). A positive Test A indicating the presence of albumin in your horse’s manure suggests that bleeding is occurring in the hindgut, past where this enzymatic activity would have occurred (i.e., caudal to the common bile duct). The blood protein marker detected by Test H is equine hemoglobin, which is more resistant to these digestive enzymes, acids and bacteria throughout the GI tract. A positive Test H indicating the presence of hemoglobin in your horse’s manure could result from bleeding anywhere in the GI tract.

What is an antibody?

An animal’s immune system produces antibodies, specific blood cells, to fight foreign bodies that may enter the animal’s system. By design, each individual antibody relates to a specific foreign body, called the antigen — that particular foreign body that the particular antibody reacts to. In the SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™, SmartSignal™ Technology utilizes specific antibodies to particular equine blood markers (which act as the antigens to those antibodies) to produce the test results.

What is a blood marker?

Protein components of blood that are utilized as antigens to provide a reaction on a test. In the SUCCEED® FBT, the specific blood components utilized include albumin in test A, and hemoglobin in test H.

Is the SUCCEED® test like the human fecal occult blood tests that were available a few years ago?

No. The human fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) use guaiac acid to detect occult blood in feces. Guaiac acid is not utilized in the SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™. The SUCCEED® FBT is an antibody test. In fact, the SUCCEED® FBT was evaluated against guaiac acid and the SUCCEED® test was found to be more sensitive and more specific.

What causes the red lines to appear on the test cassette?

At a microscopic level, specific antibodies are combined with a red dye microsphere and soaked into the SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™ substrate found inside the test cassette. When the antibodies react to the presence of the appropriate antigen (albumin in Test A and hemoglobin in Test H), they carry the red dye microspheres to the TST location on the substrate, appearing as a visible red line in the cassette window. For a complete view of the test mechanism, click here.

Why do we mix the fecal sample with water?

Water mixed with manure produces a slurry that provides an easier medium for utilizing the test. Particles of manure (and any occult blood that may be present) will be suspended in the resulting liquid slurry, making them more accessible for the antibodies on the substrate within the test cassette.