title: Evaluation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using purified, deglycosylated histoplasmin for different clinical manifestations of histoplasmosis.
abstract: Diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases remains problematic, especially in undeveloped countries. We have developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of antibodies toHistoplasma capsulatumusing metaperiodate treated purified histoplasmin (ptHMIN). Our ELISA was validated comparing sera from patients with histoplasmosis, related mycoses, and healthy individuals. The overall test specificity was 96%, with sensitivities of 100% (8/8) in acute disease, 90% (9/10) in chronic disease, 89% (8/9) in disseminated infection in individuals without HIV infection, 86% (12/14) in disseminated disease in the setting of HIV infection and 100% (3/3) in mediastinal histoplasmosis. These parameters are superior to the use of untreated histoplasmin in diagnostic ELISAs. The high specificities, sensitivities, and simplicity of our ELISA support further development of a deglycosylated HMIN ELISA for clinical use and for monitoring the humoral immune response during therapy in patients with chronic and disseminated histoplasmosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases) & Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Allan Jefferson
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Micologia, Setor de Imunodiagnóstico, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudia Vera
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Pizzini
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Micologia, Setor de Imunodiagnóstico, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Abreu Almeida
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Mauro
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Peralta
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases) & Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua Daniel
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Nosanchuk
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Micologia, Setor de Imunodiagnóstico, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosely Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Zancopé-Oliveira