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Native and recombinant antigens in the immunodiagnosis of human cystic echinococcosis
Author(s) -
Ortona Elena,
Riganò Rachele,
Margutti Paola,
Notargiacomo Sergio,
Ioppolo Salvatore,
Vaccari Sergio,
Barca Stefano,
Buttari Brigitta,
Profumo Elisabetta,
Teggi Antonella,
Siracusano Alessandra
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
parasite immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1365-3024
pISSN - 0141-9838
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3024.2000.00336.x
Subject(s) - echinococcus granulosus , antigen , recombinant dna , antibody , biology , echinococcosis , immunology , immunoelectrophoresis , immunoglobulin e , cystic echinococcosis , virology , zoology , biochemistry , gene
To evaluate the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of immunoelectrophoresis (IEP), indirect haemagglutination (IHA), enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblotting (IB), we compared their ability in detecting IgG antibodies to a hydatid fluid fraction (HFF) and to native and recombinant antigen B of Echinococcus granulosus . We tested sera from patients who had cystic echinococcosis (CE) grouped according to their type of cysts ( n = 204), from patients with other parasitic diseases ( n = 21), lung or liver carcinomas ( n = 6) or serous cysts ( n = 26) and from healthy controls ( n = 90). HFF‐IB gave the highest sensitivity (80%) followed by ELISA (72%), IHA (54%) and IEP (31%), respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity significantly ( P < 0.01) decreased as cysts matured from type I‐II to type VII. Recombinant and native antigen B‐IB yielded similar sensitivity (74%). A large number of clinically or surgically confirmed CE patients (20%) resulted negative. In these patients' sera, IB to assess the usefulness of the recombinant E. granulosus elongation factor‐1β/δ in detecting IgE antibodies yielded 33% of positivity. Our findings underline the need to standardize techniques and antigenic preparations and to improve the performance of immunodiagnosis by characterizing new antigens and detecting distinct immunoglobulin classes .