title: A rapid agglutination assay for canine brucellosis using antigen coated beads.
abstract: Brucella canis is the causative agent of canine brucellosis and facultative intracellular pathogen. The diagnosis of canine brucellosis is based on bacteriological examination and serological methods including agglutination and gel diffusion tests. In this study, crude antigens were extracted from B. canis using hot saline, coated on to latex beads and their usefulness in the serological diagnosis of canine brucellosis was examined. Mixing the antigen coated latex beads with the sera of dogs infected with B. canis produced clear agglutination, but this was not so for B. canis free dog sera. N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of the crude hot saline extracts, showed that they contained copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, ribose ABC transporter and hypothetical protein of Brucella as antigens. A serological survey of canine serum samples conducted by means of an agglutination test using the antigen coated latex beads, showed that this method was more specific than the tube agglutination test using whole bacterial cell antigens. Although these results suggest that our method in which crude hot saline extracted antigens are coated on to latex beads would be useful in the serological diagnosis of canine brucellosis, we need further investigation using more serum samples to confirm the usefulness of our method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Veterinary Science, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watarai
authors.forename: Suk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Kazuro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kazama
authors.forename: Satomi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chimura
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000032:analysis; D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens; D041002:Brucella canis / Q000276:immunology; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004285:Dogs; D008863:Microspheres; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D000941:Antigens; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase