Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Better blood test for diagnosing leishmania infection in dogs
By Oliveira Dos Santos Maciel, Marilene et al.·Published in Parasite immunology·2020·School of Veterinary Medicine, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Plasmonic rK28 ELISA improves the diagnosis of canine Leishmania infection.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs from an area where Leishmania infection is common were tested for the disease using a new blood test called plasmonic ELISA (pELISA). This test was compared to other methods and showed a high success rate in detecting the infection, with 94.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The pELISA is easier to use and doesn’t require complicated equipment, making it a good option for places with limited resources. This new testing method could help veterinarians diagnose Leishmania infections more effectively in dogs.
People also search for: dog Leishmania infection test · canine leishmaniosis symptoms · blood test for dog Leishmania
Abstract
In this study, we evaluated the performance of a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) variant known as indirect "plasmonic ELISA" (pELISA) for the detection of Leishmania spp. infection. Serum samples from 170 dogs from an area where canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is endemic and from 26 healthy dogs from a nonendemic area were tested by indirect pELISA, and the results were compared to those of an indirect ELISA (both with recombinant antigen rK28) and those of an immunochromatographic test (dual-path platform, TR-DPP®) using real-time PCR on blood samples or conjunctival swabs as the gold standard. The pELISA, indirect rK28 ELISA and the TR-DPP® immunochromatographic test presented sensitivities of 94.7%, 89.5% and 79.0% and specificities of 100%, 92.7% and 91.5%, respectively. The analysis of the results revealed that the specificity of the indirect pELISA was greater than that of the method recommended by the Ministry of Health in Brazil and may increase the feasibility of diagnosis in resource-constrained countries because it does not require sophisticated instruments to read. Thus, this method can be used as an additional tool for the detection of Leishmania spp. infection in these areas.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31729767/