[Comparison of five techniques to detect anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) in serum for diagnosing Crohn's disease].
OBJECTIVE
the anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) are diagnostic markers found in Crohn's disease patients. The aim of this study was to compare three Elisa (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) kits with the indirect immunofluorescence (IFI) technique and an immunodot for ASCA detection.


METHODS
we compared the results obtained using IFI (IgA and IgG) and Elisa (IgA and IgG) in 139 patients (37 Crohn's disease). An immunodot (IgA+IgG) was tested in a sub-group of 24 patients (18 Crohn's disease).


CONCLUSIONS
for the different techniques by Elisa (IgA or IgG), the sensitivity ranged from 65% to 76%, the specificity from 88% to 98%, the positive predictive value (PPV) from 84% to 94% and the negative predictive value (NPV) from 88% to 93%. For IFI, the sensitivity was 81%, the specificity 100%, the PPV 100% and the NPV 93%. The immunodot showed a specificity and PPV of 100% and NPV of 33%.


CONCLUSIONS
the detection of the ASCA is useful in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease. IFI appears as the method of choice for its excellent sensitivity and specificity, and affordable costs.
Service de chimie médicale, Université de Liège, Belgium. C.LeGoff@chu.ulg.ac.be
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000908:Antibodies, Fungal; D015415:Biomarkers; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G