title: Development and comparison of enzyme immunoassays for diagnosis of Chagas' disease using fixed forms of Trypanosoma cruzi (Epimastigotes, Amastigotes, and Trypomastigotes) and assessment of antigen stability for the three assays.
abstract: Three enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for diagnosis of Chagas' disease were developed with fixed forms of Trypanosoma cruzi using a panel of 435 sera from the following groups: Venezuelan subjects positive by immunofluorescence (n = 70), Venezuelan healthy controls (n = 85), healthy Canadians (n = 166), and subjects with other parasitic diseases (n = 114). All assays achieved 100% sensitivity and reasonable specificity for amastigotes (97.6%), epimastigotes (98.3%), and trypomastigotes (99.3%). The fixed-trypomastigote assay was stable over 4 months at 4 degrees C and room temperature. These data suggest that a fixed-trypomastigote EIA may be a suitable candidate for blood bank screening.
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Parasitology, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Mariolga
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berrizbietia
authors.forename: Momar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ndao
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gottschalk
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aché
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vásquez
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lacouture
authors.forename: Mehudy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D002170:Canada; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D014687:Venezuela
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan