Detection of circulating toxocaral antigens in dogs by sandwich enzyme-immunoassay.

This study describes the presence of circulating toxocaral antigens (CTA) in the sera of dogs infected with Toxocara canis (T. canis) by using a sandwich enzyme-immunoassay (SEIA). A specificity of this assay with different antigens was observed, i.e. the EIA values, which express the antigen concentration, of excretory-secretory antigen from T. canis larvae were higher than those of other antigens (Ascaris lumbricoides, Dirofilaria immitis and Fasciola hepatica). The variability in intra-assay was below 10%. In age distribution of CTA levels, the highest level was observed at 1 month of age. Thereafter, the levels decreased gradually until 6 months of age and then the same levels were maintained until adult age. Also, slightly elevated levels were found in the sera of foetuses. A significant correlation was obtained between age and CTA levels. The positive correlation between the number of worms and CTA levels was significant. As for the IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies, a significant correlation was observed between the IgM antibody activities and CTA levels, but this was not observed with IgG and IgA antibodies. From these results, it was indicated that the immunological response to T. canis infection in dogs may not be reached until 1 or 2 months after birth, although detectable CTA levels were observed in foetal and early life. It was also suggested that the immunological stimulation for canine toxocariasis may be maintained by the excretory-secretory materials from the larvae through life and as a result, IgM antibody production may be observed even in chronically infected adult dogs. The SEIA technique reported in this study may be useful as a diagnostic tool of human toxocariasis, since the CTA can be directly demonstrated by the technique.