Simple assay for detection of circulating antigens in children infected with schistosomiasis.
The ability of monoclonal based dot-ELISA and a previously described solid-phase ELISA were directly compared to detect circulating schistosomal antigens in sera from 50 Egyptian individuals with parasitologically proven schistosomiasis. The mAb employed, 128C3/3/21, recognized a repeating carbohydrate epitope expressed at all stages of the parasite development. The same mAb and patient serum samples were used i both tests, 17 samples from age-matched individuals infected with other parasites but not with Schistosoma were also tested. In the dot-ELISA, 44 serum samples (88%) were found to contain parasite antigens when screen at a dilution of 1;24, 43 serum samples (86%) were positive in the solid-phase ELISA at 1:8 dilution and only 37 (74%) samples were positive at 1:24 dilution. The specificity of the dot-ELISA was 93% as compared to > 99% for the solid-phase ELISA. The detection limit of dot-ELISA was 0.01 ng/ml, whereas only > 1 ng/ml could be detected by the solid-phase ELISA. As dot-ELISA does not require radioactivity or sophisticated equipment, so it is practically well suited for use in endemic areas in developing countries.
Department of Parasitology, Faculties of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt.
M M
MM
Hassan
N E
NE
Mostafa
N
N
Abbas
M
M
Shalaby
S
S
Mansour
D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012547:Schistosoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012552:Schistosomiasis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000947:Antigens, Helminth