title: Performance of Tsol-p27 antigen for the serological diagnosis of cysticercosis in Mozambique.
abstract: The diagnosis of neurocysticercosis (NCC) requires expensive neuroimaging techniques that are seldom affordable for people in endemic countries. Accordingly, there is a need for new low-cost diagnostic methods that offer high sensitivity and specificity. In this study, we evaluated Western blot analysis of the previously described recombinant antigen Tsol-p27 in relation to a commercial or in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for NCC, and compared the results with those provided by a commercial enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (EITB) assay, which was regarded as the reference standard method. The analysed serum samples were obtained from 165 people, 18 of whom were confirmed to be NCC positive by EITB. Comparing our Western blot analysis of Tsol-p27 with a previous evaluation performed in Central America showed similar specificity (96.69% versus 97.8%) and sensitivity (85.71% versus 86.7%). The present results indicate that the recombinant Tsol-p27 antigen provides good sensitivity and specificity, and might be preferable as a diagnostic antigen in poorly equipped laboratories in endemic countries.
authors: Departamento de Microbiologia, Faculdade de Medicina,Universidade Eduardo Mondlane,Maputo,Mozambique.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Nhancupe
authors: Departamento de Microbiologia, Faculdade de Medicina,Universidade Eduardo Mondlane,Maputo,Mozambique.
authors: E V
authors: EV
authors: Noormahomed
authors: Departamento de Paraclinicas,Faculdade de Veterinaria, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane,Maputo,Mozambique.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Afonso
authors: Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden.
authors: K I
authors: KI
authors: Falk
authors: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology,Uppsala University,Uppsala,Sweden.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Lindh
mesh_terms: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015151:Immunoblotting; D009073:Mozambique; D020019:Neurocysticercosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth