Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
New urine test detects histoplasmosis in dogs
By Clark, Kristen & Hanzlicek, Andrew S·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2021·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of a novel monoclonal antibody-based enzyme immunoassay for detection of Histoplasma antigen in urine of dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs suspected of having histoplasmosis, a fungal infection, underwent testing to see how well a new urine test worked compared to an existing one. The new test showed a 70% success rate in detecting the disease, while the older test was more reliable at 95%. However, the new test may still be helpful for diagnosing cases where the infection has spread throughout the body, but it might miss cases where the infection is only in the gastrointestinal tract. Pet owners should discuss these testing options with their veterinarian if they suspect their dog has histoplasmosis.
People also search for: dog histoplasmosis symptoms · urine test for dog fungal infection · histoplasmosis treatment in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Commercially available, noninvasive testing options for histoplasmosis are limited outside of the United States. OBJECTIVES: To describe the diagnostic performance of a novel Histoplasma antigen enzyme immunoassay (IM EIA) for the diagnosis of histoplasmosis in dogs. ANIMALS: Twenty dogs with histoplasmosis, 79 dogs without histoplasmosis, and 11 unclassified dogs providing 202 urine samples. METHODS: This a prospective study using stored urine samples. Samples were analyzed with the IM EIA and with the commercially available Histoplasma antigen EIA (MV EIA). Dogs were classified based on final proven diagnosis and performance of the IM EIA was described and compared with the MiraVista enzyme immunoassay (MV EIA). RESULTS: The diagnostic sensitivity (DSe), specificity (DSp), and accuracy (DAc) of the IM EIA were 70% (51%-89%), 99% (97%-100%), and 93% (81%-100%), respectively. The DSe, DSp, and DAc for the MV EIA were 95% (85%-100%), 99% (97%-100%), and 98% (95%-100%), respectively. The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was significantly smaller for IM EIA (0.87) as compared with MV EIA (0.97, P = .03). This was primarily due to 6 false negative IM EIA results, 4 from dogs with disease localized to the gastrointestinal tract. The MV EIA was positive in 5/6 of these dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The IM EIA might be useful for the diagnosis of disseminated histoplasmosis in dogs, but clinical usefulness will be limited in dogs with histoplasmosis localized to the GI tract.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33368653/