Haptoglobin and serum amyloid a as diagnostic biomarkers for differentiating pregnancy from pseudopregnancy in dromedary camels.

Pseudopregnancy presents a significant diagnostic challenge in dromedary camel reproduction. Reliable, minimally invasive biomarkers capable of distinguishing true pregnancy from pseudopregnancy are scarce. This study assessed the diagnostic potential of two acute-phase proteins, haptoglobin (Hp) and serum amyloid A (SAA), as biomarkers for accurately distinguishing between pregnant and pseudopregnant dromedary camels. Serum samples were taken from 18 pseudopregnant and 18 pregnant dromedary camels. Hp and SAA concentrations were measured and analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The pregnant camels had significantly higher Hp concentrations (9.02 ± 0.33 μg/mL) than the pseudopregnant camels (2.78 ± 0.30 μg/mL), with no overlap between the groups (P = 0.0001). In the ROC curve analysis, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for Hp was 1.000 with a cut-off of ≥ 6.0 μg/mL, indicating 100% sensitivity and specificity. The SAA concentrations were significantly higher (P = 0.0003) in the pregnant camels (416.48 ± 34.88 μg/mL) compared to the pseudopregnant camels (191.37 ± 28.53 μg/mL), with some overlap. In the ROC analysis, SAA had an AUC of 0.877, with an optimal cut-off of ≥ 388.3 μg/L, demonstrating 66.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity. These findings indicate that Hp is a promising biomarker for differentiating pregnancy from pseudopregnancy in dromedary camels, while SAA may provide complementary diagnostic information.