Comparison of Dot-ELISA with Sandwich-ELISA for the detection of circulating antigens in patients with bancroftian filariasis.
We compared the performance of a newly developed Dot-ELISA with that of a previously described Sandwich-ELISA to detect parasite antigens in sera from patients with bancroftian filariasis. The same monoclonal antibody and the same sera were used in both tests. In the Dot-ELISA, 67 of 70 sera from microfilaremic donors were deemed to contain filarial antigens when screened at a dilution of 1:50. End titers were 1:80-1:1280. With the Sandwich-ELISA, 64 of the same sera were positive at a dilution of 1:10 and 42 were positive at a dilution of 1:50. End titers were 1:10-1:320. The specificity of both assays was greater than 95%, but their sensitivity was remarkably different. The Dot-ELISA could detect as little as 0.055 ng/ml microfilarial antigen added to normal human sera, whereas the lower limit with the Sandwich-ELISA was 10 ng/ml parasite antigen. Additionally, the Dot-ELISA does not require radioactivity or sophisticated equipment and, therefore, can be performed in virtually all filariasis-endemic areas.
Zheng
H J
HJ
Guizhou Provincial Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Guiyang, People's Republic of China.
Tao
Z H
ZH
Cheng
W F
WF
Piessens
W F
WF
D000818:Animals; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D004605:Elephantiasis, Filarial / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005368:Filariasis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014957:Wuchereria / Q000276:immunology*; D014958:Wuchereria bancrofti / Q000276:immunology*
D000947:Antigens, Helminth