title: Evaluation of direct agglutination test, rk39 Test, and ELISA for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis.
abstract: The study reports an evaluation of the direct agglutination test (DAT) with use of promastigote/amastigote antigen, rk39 strip test, and ELISA for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Out of 94 clinically suspected VL patients, 16 (17%) were seropositive by all the techniques; in addition, 6 were positive in rk39 strip test and ELISA. On retrospective analysis, out of 16 positive by all the techniques, 11 (69%) had demonstrable Leishmania donovani (LD) bodies in their bone marrow samples, while in 5 bone marrow was not examined. Out of 6 that were positive by ELISA and rk39 strip test, 2 had myelofibrosis and 4 had chronic myeloid leukemia. On the basis of bone marrow aspirate positivity, the sensitivity and specificity of DAT were 100% while those of rk39 strip test and ELISA were 100% and 87%, respectively. The study suggests that DAT appears to be the best technique for the serodiagnosis of VL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Jharna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mandal
authors.forename: Sumeeta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khurana
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.forename: Prateek
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhatia
authors.forename: Neelam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Malla
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000469:parasitology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D011934:Reagent Strips; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011934:Reagent Strips