[Use of formalinized epimastigotes for the detection of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies using immunoenzyme technics].

Formalin-fixed epimastigotes of T. cruzi were employed to develop an ELISA and a Dot-immunobinding assay (Dot-IA). The results were compared with those obtained by the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFA). Fifty positive and twenty negative sera for Chagas disease, supplied by the reference center (Institute Mario Fatala Chaben, Buenos Aires, Argentina), were analyzed. When the quantitative indirect ELISA was performed, no overlapping between positive and negative sera was observed and the correlation with IFA was 100%. The sensibility of Dot-IA was greater than that of IFA with 2.5% of false positives. Dot-IA performed with epimastigotes is a simple and qualitative test which could be applied for screening of blood donors. On the other hand, the ELISA presented here is an objective test which does not require specialized equipment and could replace with advantage the IFA test for the serodiagnosis of Chagas' disease.