Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blastomycosis antibody test accuracy in dogs evaluated
By Mourning, Alyssa C et al.Ā·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical AssociationĀ·2015Ā·View original on PubMed ā
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Original publication title: Evaluation of an enzyme immunoassay for antibodies to a recombinant Blastomyces adhesin-1 repeat antigen as an aid in the diagnosis of blastomycosis in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs suspected of having blastomycosis, a fungal infection, were tested using a new blood test that looks for specific antibodies. The test showed a 95% success rate in identifying dogs with the infection, which is much better than a previous method that only identified 65% of cases. This new test can help veterinarians differentiate between blastomycosis and other similar infections, like histoplasmosis. While the results are promising, more studies are needed to confirm these findings.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for antibodies to a recombinant Blastomyces adhesin-1 repeat antigen (rBAD-1) to aid in the diagnosis of blastomycosis in dogs and compare the findings with results from other tests used for this purpose. DESIGN: Prospective analytic study. SAMPLE: Serum and urine from 70 dogs with and without blastomycosis. PROCEDURES: Serum and urine samples were collected from dogs with blastomycosis (n = 21), histoplasmosis (8), or nonfungal pulmonary disease (21) and from healthy control dogs living in a blastomycosis-endemic area (20). Serum was tested for antibodies against Blastomyces dermatitidis with the rBAD-1 antibody EIA and an A-antigen antibody agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) assay. Serum and urine were tested for B dermatitidis antigen with a quantitative EIA. RESULTS: Sensitivity of the quantitative antigen EIA was 100% in serum and urine samples from dogs with blastomycosis, with specificity of 95% in urine samples from dogs with nonfungal pulmonary disease and 100% in urine samples from healthy dogs. Sensitivity of the rBAD-1 antibody EIA (95%) was significantly greater than that of the A-antigen antibody AGID assay (65%). Specificity of the antibody EIA was 88% in dogs with histoplasmosis, 95% in healthy dogs, and 100% in dogs with nonfungal pulmonary disease. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The rBAD-1 antibody EIA had greater sensitivity than the A-antigen antibody AGID assay in dogs with blastomycosis. This antibody EIA may assist in distinguishing histoplasmosis from blastomycosis. Further evaluation in a larger prospective study is needed to verify these results.
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Search related cases āOriginal publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26517616/