Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
ELISA blood test accuracy for diagnosing visceral leishmaniasis
By Cândido, Teresinha Cristina et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2008·Departamento de Clinica, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Comparative evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on crude and purified antigen in the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis in symptomatic and oligosymptomatic dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs suspected of having leishmaniasis, a serious disease caused by parasites, were tested using two different blood tests to see which was better at diagnosing the illness. The tests were done on dogs showing symptoms and those with mild or no symptoms. The results showed that one test (FML) was very good at detecting mild cases, while the other test (CTA) was better for dogs with clear symptoms. Ultimately, both tests had their strengths, but neither was perfect, so the choice of test depends on the specific situation.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · dog blood test for leishmaniasis · treatment for leishmaniasis in dogs
Abstract
This study evaluated the performance of crude total antigen (CTA) and fucose-mannose ligand antigen (FML) in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL). The assays used sera from known negative controls (n=30), clinically symptomatic (n=30) and oligosymptomatic (n=30) parasitologically proven infection (by microscopy). Aspirates of popliteal lymph node from infected canines were colleted to score parasitism and compared with the ELISA results. The study indicated that FML used in ELISA provided high sensitivity for detecting oligosymptomatic dogs (90%) and CTA showed greater sensitivity than FML for symptomatic canines (90%). In oligosymptomatic dogs, specificity was 100% for CTA-ELISA, but in symptomatic dogs, FML specificity was higher (96.7%) than CTA-ELISA (93.3%). A significant correlation was observed between the degree of parasitism and the results obtained in CTA-ELISA. Since no available antigen offers 100% specificity and sensitivity for CVL diagnosis, the choice of antigen used must depend on the aim of the investigation.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18823710/