Use of mycelial-phase Sporothrix schenckii exoantigens in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of sporotrichosis by antibody detection.
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for specific antibody detection in serum specimens of patients with sporotrichosis. The assay was made with mycelial-phase Sporothrix schenckii exoantigens and was tested against 90 sera from patients with different clinical forms of sporotrichosis. Potential cross-reactions were analyzed with 72 heterologous sera from patients with paracoccidioidomycosis, cryptococcosis, aspergillosis, histoplasmosis, tuberculosis, and American tegumentary leishmaniasis, as well as 76 sera from healthy controls. We found a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 89% in this assay. Some cross-reactions were seen, as observed in other immunoassays for the diagnosis of sporotrichosis. The ELISA appears to be especially useful for cutaneous forms of disease, since these are not promptly diagnosed with available immunoprecipitation or agglutination techniques. These results suggest that the ELISA using mycelial-phase S. schenckii exoantigens is a very sensitive diagnostic tool for the serodiagnosis of sporotrichosis and can be used in conjunction with conventional methods of diagnosis, particularly in cases where cross-reactions or false-positive results are experienced with the serodiagnosis.
Almeida-Paes
Rodrigo
R
Serviço de Micologia do Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil, 4365 Manguinhos, 21045-900 Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil.
Pimenta
Monique A
MA
Pizzini
Claudia Vera
CV
Monteiro
Paulo Cezar F
PC
Peralta
José Mauro
JM
Nosanchuk
Joshua D
JD
Zancopé-Oliveira
Rosely Maria
RM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000276:immunology*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025282:Mycelium; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012698:Serologic Tests; D013175:Sporothrix / Q000276:immunology*
D000908:Antibodies, Fungal; D000946:Antigens, Fungal