title: Rapid determination of Trypanosoma cruzi urinary antigens in human chronic Chagas disease by agglutination test.
abstract: Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi in man becomes particularly difficult during the chronic stage of Chagas disease because of the low parasitemia. We were able to develop a simple and straightforward method for determining the concentration of T. cruzi antigens in urine using nitrocellulose micellar suspension (Nitrocell-Mr, Polychaco Argentina) and for their subsequent detection through a "latex" type agglutination test. The latex used was an esferocell nitrocellulose suspension (Esferocell-Mr, Polychaco). Specific antigens for T. cruzi were detected in 54 of 58 urine samples from chronic chagasic patients. The antigens characterized by affinity chromatography and SDS-PAGE were glycoproteins with apparent molecular weights (and pIs) of 100 kDa (pI 5 to 5.5), 80 kDa (pI 6.0), and 50 kDa (pI 6.5 to 7.0). This method is practical and fulfills the requirement of large-scale epidemiological studies. It is also helpful in cases of conflictive serology.
authors.affiliation: Catedra de Microbiologia, Parasitologia e Inmunologia, Facultad de Medicina, UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Katzin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marcipar
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Freilij
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corral
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Yanovsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000652:urine*; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003101:Collodion; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006801:Humans; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D003101:Collodion