Evaluation of recombinant Lig antigen-based ELISA for detection of leptospiral antibodies in canine sera.

Abstract. The objectives of this study were to clone the conserved region of leptospiral immunoglobulin-like protein (lig) gene and evaluate the utility of the recombinant Lig as an ELISA antigen for detection of leptospiral antibodies in canine sera. Leptospira kirschneri serovar Grippotyposa strain Moskva V was chosen to be a target for cloning the conserved region of Lig gene. This assay was evaluated with canine sera (n = 91) that were MAT-negative (< 1:100 dilution) and sera (n = 103) that were MAT-positive (> or = 1:100 dilution) using 24 serovars. The ELISA showed a relative sensitivity as compared to MAT of 84.5% whereas the specificity was 76.9%. This assay is simple and can be routinely prepared in large amounts. It was concluded that the GST.Lig recombinant protein-based ELISA could be used as a screening test for serodiagnosis of canine leptospirosis with also for confirmation of MAT-positive test results.