Mahin Farahmand1, Vahid Khalaj2, Mehdi Mohebali3, Ghader Khalili4, Sanaz Naderi5, Padina Ghaffarinejad6, Hossein Nahrevanian1. 1. Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. 2. Department of Biotechnology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. 3. Department of Parasitology, Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 4. Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. 5. Science and Research Branch of Kurdestan, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran. 6. Islamic Azad University of Oloum Tahghighat, Amol, Iran.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Various methods are used for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), such as microscopic examination, culture and inoculation of laboratory animals; however, serological assays are commonly used for the detection of antibodies in serum samples with a wide range of specificity and sensitivity. METHODS: The purpose of this study was to compare three serological methods, including rA2-ELISA, the recombinant KE16 (rKE16) dipstick test and the direct agglutination test (DAT), for the detection of antibodies against VL antigens. The assays utilized 350 statistically based random serum samples from domestic dogs with clinical symptoms as well as samples from asymptomatic and healthy dogs from rural and urban areas of the Meshkinshahr district, northwestern Iran. RESULTS: Samples were assessed, and the following positive rates were obtained: 11.5% by rKE16, 26.9% by DAT and 49.8% by ELISA. The sensitivity among symptomatic dogs was 32.4% with rKE16, 100% with DAT and 52.9% with ELISA. Conversely, rA2-ELISA was less specific for asymptomatic dogs, at 46.5%, compared with DAT, at 88.9%. CONCLUSIONS: This study recommends rA2-ELISA as a parallel assay combined with DAT to detect VL infection among dogs. Further evaluations should be performed to develop an inexpensive and reliable serologic test for the detection of Leishmania infantum among infected dogs.
INTRODUCTION: Various methods are used for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), such as microscopic examination, culture and inoculation of laboratory animals; however, serological assays are commonly used for the detection of antibodies in serum samples with a wide range of specificity and sensitivity. METHODS: The purpose of this study was to compare three serological methods, including rA2-ELISA, the recombinant KE16 (rKE16) dipstick test and the direct agglutination test (DAT), for the detection of antibodies against VL antigens. The assays utilized 350 statistically based random serum samples from domestic dogs with clinical symptoms as well as samples from asymptomatic and healthy dogs from rural and urban areas of the Meshkinshahr district, northwestern Iran. RESULTS: Samples were assessed, and the following positive rates were obtained: 11.5% by rKE16, 26.9% by DAT and 49.8% by ELISA. The sensitivity among symptomatic dogs was 32.4% with rKE16, 100% with DAT and 52.9% with ELISA. Conversely, rA2-ELISA was less specific for asymptomatic dogs, at 46.5%, compared with DAT, at 88.9%. CONCLUSIONS: This study recommends rA2-ELISA as a parallel assay combined with DAT to detect VL infection among dogs. Further evaluations should be performed to develop an inexpensive and reliable serologic test for the detection of Leishmania infantum among infected dogs.
Authors: Anna Raquel Ribeiro Dos Santos; Ângela Vieira Serufo; Maria Marta Figueiredo; Lara Carvalho Godoi; Jéssica Gardone Vitório; Andreza Pain Marcelino; Daniel Moreira de Avelar; Fernandes Tenório Gomes Rodrigues; George Luiz Lins Machado-Coelho; Fernanda Alvarenga Cardoso Medeiros; Selma Maria Bezerra Jerônimo; Edward José de Oliveira; Frederico Crepaldi Nascimento; Santuza Maria Ribeiro Teixeira; Ricardo Tostes Gazzinelli; Ronaldo Alves Pinto Nagem; Ana Paula Fernandes Journal: Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz Date: 2019-02-04 Impact factor: 2.743