Increased sensitivity of the card agglutination test CATT/Trypanosoma brucei gambiense by inhibition of complement.
CATT/Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) gambiense is an antibody detection test currently used in field surveys on Gambian sleeping sickness. The screening test is usually performed on a drop of freshly collected heparinized blood, followed by a more specific confirmation test on diluted blood, plasma or serum. This approach may be biased by the occurrence of a complement-mediated prozone phenomenon causing lower test sensitivity at lower sample dilutions. A simple remedy is by addition of a Ca2+ chelating agent such as EDTA.
Pansaerts
R
R
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
Van Meirvenne
N
N
Magnus
E
E
Verhelst
L
L
D000354:Africa, Western; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D003167:Complement Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D011817:Rabbits; D014347:Trypanosoma brucei gambiense / Q000276:immunology*; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000175:diagnosis*
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan