title: Use of purified parasite proteins from Leishmania donovani for the rapid serodiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis.
abstract: Serodiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) due to Leishmania donovani by using crude parasite antigen is complicated in many endemic areas because of cross-reactions with sera from humans with Chagas' disease. We used affinity-purified parasite proteins to develop a direct dot-blot assay for VL. Double-blind tests were carried out on sera from 40 patients with well-documented VL, from controls in endemic areas, and from patients with other diseases. Using gp70-2, 36 (90.0%) of 40 sera from patients with kala azar were correctly diagnosed; 1 (1.2%) of 86 sera from patients without kala azar was misdiagnosed. With dp72, 21 (100%) of 21 sera from patients with VL were correctly identified; 5 (7.0%) of 71 negative sera were misdiagnosed. None of the 18 sera from patients with Chagas' disease reacted positively against gp70-2. Our assay is rapid, simple, and specific and represents a new method for reliably diagnosing and monitoring VL.
authors: Department of Biophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors: C L
authors: CL
authors: Jaffe
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Zalis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000276:immunology*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan